Super sharp.
Super fine grain.
Lovely colours.
Quite high contrast.

Slow of course.
Processing turnaround time.

My favourite film. Just too slow for every day use in dull, overcast England.

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None

Sharpest film on the market.
Most accurate color.
Highest degree of enlargeability.
Eerily realistic.
Incredibly resistant to bad storage conditions.

Slow (is this really a disadvantage?)
Limited processing availability

Guys and gals, this is, in my opinion the finest color film ever made. Why? It has the sharpest image of ANY color film, negative or slide. Not even Velvia is this sharp. Kodachrome images almost look engraved with a fine razor on the film. Contrary to popular belief, this film is not flat and dull. Anything looks flat and dull next to Velvia, but Velvia, for all its virtues, is quite possibly the world's most unrealistic color film. Anyone will tell you that. You may prefer it, but it's not natural looking. Kodachrome maintains a balance between high color saturation and accurate rendition. This is a must for my critical work, and when I want to look back on a scene and see the way it actually looked. It also produces the most pleasing caucasian flesh tones I have seen.
Yep, it's slow at ISO 25. Big deal. If you don't have the time to hold your camera steady or use a tripod, you don't much care about high levels of image quality anyway. Still, in sunlight, I have no trouble getting f8 at 1/125 of a second with Kodachrome 25-very hand-holdable.
Basically, if you haven't give this film a try, you owe it to yourself; it's truly extraordinary. Don't expect candy-coated colors like you get from Fuji Velvia-that's not what Kodachrome is about. At least buy a roll and try it, if only to show some market support for a film Kodak has been trying to discontinue. With the emulsion choices dwindling, soon you're going to have no choice but to use a few films that look the same, and can't quite compete with this one. What a shame.
As the oldest color film on the market, this one slaps around even the newest emulsions. And- I've kept expired Kodachrome, exposed, lying around in hot rooms for 2 years, got it developed and it was perfect.

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Velvia (ugh)
Ektachrome (indifferent)

* super sharp film
* accurate color reproduction
* colors are very stable when properly stored

* some batches tend to have a slight green cast in the shadows, but better than K64
* requires special Kodachrome processing
* colors subject to fading if used in slide projectors (according to a Kodak rep)
* dull colors compared to Fuji Velia or Kodak's other saturated films

What can I say that has not already been written by the others before me? Well K25 is dead, long live Velvia! How is that? K25 is a wonderful film and in its day it was clearly the best film on the market, mainly due to the fact the colors did not fade for 50 years when properly stored. It gained popularity with stock house for that very fact. But they did fade quickly when projected so many pros had E-6 dupes made and used those for show and tell. In reality it is not a color film, it is a b&W film posing as a color film. Don't believe me check it out for yourself. (I got the scope from a Kodak rep)

One of the major problems I had with K25 was the special processing. I had a hard time in locating a good Kodachrome lab and they had a hard time doing a good job over the years. It is much easier to find a A+ E-6 lab (hint A&I).

And of course if you use this film you must be prepared for the slow speed of the film and the impact it will make on your photography. While it is very sharp the shutter speed is very slow and subject movement or in the case of hand held, camera movement can destory that advantage quickly. This not to say this film cannot used, it is to say in low light situations I would not choose this film.

Portraits? Yes you can use this film for portraits, I did and had no problems but then agian I used a flash. Without a flash the colors were to flat and if youare shooting in the shade w/o a flash you can kiss the colors good bye.

Recommendation try a roll of Velvia and shoot it side by side with a roll of K25. Shoot the subjects you normally shoot and then compare the results side by side and make up your own mind. Don't buy into the hype, either Kodak's or Fuji's.

Customer Service

* none

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* Velvia (the king of rock and roll color slide film)

Extremely sharp, very fine grain, outstanding colors that are well saturated but still retain a very natural appearance, high contrast, high archival, K-14 process by Kodak labs (I use the one in Fairlawn, NJ) is very consitent, good skin tones, beautiful tonality

Too slow even for some outdoor still life (like flowers on a breezy day), contrast is a bit too much in some situations (not a true weakness), whites and grays can be too warm if not properly exposed, Kodachrome greens have always dissatisfied me a little bit

I love this film and consider it to be one of the best slide films available. If accurate but saturated colors are your quest, this film will deliver. The tonality, sharpness and grain structure of this film never fail to amaze me. This isn't the easiest film to shoot, especially for beginning photographers, but properly exposed Kodachrome slides definitely have--as another poster stated-- an incomparable look. In addition, 20+ year old Kodachromes that my father had shot when I was a kid still look perfect today. This film is in a class of it's own.

Customer Service

N/A

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Kodachrome 64

Extremely Sharp
Accurate color
High saturation
Very intolerant of exposure errors.
Very tight grain

Very sharp - every pore on a person's skin is visible.
Very intolerant of exposure errors - can be intimidating for a beginner.
Horrible processing at Kodak, Fair Lawn. Try A&I
Slow.

The best film for slides that I have used. I do not like the plasticky, uniformly dense color of Velvia, and I find Ektachrome too flat. The others, in my opinion lack realism. Kodachrome slides have that characteristic realism, subtlety and a luminous quality that no other film has

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Ektachromes
Fujichromes (Velvia)

Very fine grain, sharp

Very, very slow.

I've slated Kodachrome 64, but this I like. No, it's not as good as Velvia overall, but grain is finer and at ISO 32 colour saturation is quite good, with neutral colour balance - so it's sometimes far more acceptable than Velvia.
Don't use it much because it's not that easy to get, but I buy it when I see it!

Customer Service

Slow

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Velvia, K64

incredible sharpness, great colors, no grain.

none

If the Kodak management discontinues this film ( like they did with the kodachrome mediumformatfilms)they have finally lost it to Fuji. K25 (and K64)is the only decent slidefilm manifactured by Kodak, the rest in my opinion, and I've tested them all, is terrible.

Customer Service

didn't use it.

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all current Kodak and Fuji slidefilms.

Unbeatable sharpness. Unbeatable archival qualities. Unbeatable color. Unbeatable!

Slow. Lack of manufacture's support.

I have used Kodachrome film for years. Although many shooting requirements call for the increased speed of Kodachrome 64 (or 200), when possible, I have used K25 exclusively. The sharpness of this film will never be matched in any "incorporated coupler" emulsion or (heaven forbid) digital format. With a good lens, the resolving power is without words and if scanned properly can produce greater than 60MB files. Grain is all but non-existent. All of the coupler type films start to fade when they are processed. Although E-6 is a great improvement over what used to be avaliable (E-4 and Ansco's (GAF) "fadeaway" D type emulsions, it can't compare to the dark storage longevity of Kodachrome, which is almost as good as B&W separation negative keeping (if cooled storage is used for K25). Digital? Well, let's see in 40 or 50 years if files have held up or can be read (or have compatible reading equipment). Kodachrome will still be there - at least if it isn't "phased out" with all the other "low tech" loosers. Kodak is making a BIG MISTAKE if it discontinues Kodachrome 25 - at least for the photo consumer (make that discriminating photo consumer).

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Ektachrome/Fujichrome (Velvia)

It is slow but slow is beautiful!

Requires tripod.

I really hope Kodak doesn't scrap KPM...Kodachrome 25. It's hard to find here in Japan especially with Fuji competition. Not always the best choice but I for one will surely miss it! You can see examples of Kodachrome works at my web site.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/redhawk/gallery/

Customer Service

Good

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Kodachrome 64

Great colors
Extremely sharp
Colors don't fade

Poor and slow processing (lately)
Sunlight required
Hard to get

I have used hundreds and hundreds of Kodachrome 25 films over the years. I love it, I don't want to use anything else. It would be a very sad day if Kodak management decides to stop production of K25.

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Fuji, Agfa