Kodak Kodachrome 64 Slide Film
Kodak Kodachrome 64 Slide Film
[Jul 11, 2003]
Lawrence
Intermediate
Strength:
Consistency of overall "look"; accurate color rendition; excellent longevity in storage.
Weakness:
Doesn't pander to popular taste for punchy color; tendency to reciprocity failure with long exposures. Gives a very distinctive look: crisp and sharp; someone aptly described it as "steely". Colors are much less saturated than with typical modern films, which will disappoint you if you like the unnaturally rich, deep color that is in fashion now. If you like a more realistic palette, you'll probably like Kodachrome. Similar Products Used: Agfa RSX 50 Fujichromes (various) Ektachromes (various) |
[Jul 03, 2003]
Chris Huhn
Casual
Strength:
Definitely the most Archival film available today. The newer slide films all using E6 processing may do better than older E6 slides but still won't match Kodachrome 64. Kodachrome 64 also has the most natural looking colors of all film I use. The pictures look the way I saw them; not color enhanced like the other films I use.
Weakness:
The ISO of 64 is a bit slow for low light and indoor shooting. The slow processing time due to the small number of Kodak labs that still due the K-14 process. This film will give you the sharpest and most natural colors available on any film media to date. I have been using Kodachrome 64 since the earily 70's and these slides look as good as the day I got them developed. I can't say that about some Ektachrome and other E6 process slides that have faded and look washed out. Fourty five years ago my father also started taking Kodak slides. Some were Kodachrome II (25),Kodachrome X (64) and some were Ektachrome slides. Once again the same results. The new slides films from Fuji & Kodak may have sharp color balance but they tend not to look as natural. Kodachrome may be old but lets face it, our technology hasn't come up with a better film. Kodachrome 64 is still KING! Customer Service None Similar Products Used: Kodachrome 25 Kodachrome 200 Ektachrome 64 Ektachrome Elite Films Fujichrome Kodak Print Films |
[Feb 07, 2003]
hegener
Professional
Strength:
utterly sharp (though the extinct 25 was even better than the 64) unmatched colors very long lasting images
Weakness:
In full sunshine the shadowed parts get too dark A bit slow. The fast alternative, the 200, is good, though not stunning, but results in a very dfferent (often more reddish) set of colors. Just take a 64 and a 200 photo at the same place and time and note the difference. It's too big. I've been working with Kodachrome (first the 25 ISO, now the 64 and occasionally the 200) since 1973. For starters: those 1973 slides are still as bright as if they were new, while the Agfachromes I also used occasionally are faded, some of them very faded. But, whoww!!, those Kodachrome colors. Nothing matches them and I have tried almost all other films. When I have to deliver fast I take Velvia which the local lab in The Hague develops and frames in 2 hours. But on longer trips abroad it's always Kodachrome. There is something magical about the colors, something so utterly real... not to mention the sharpness. I had a Kodachrome slide printed on 180 X 120 centimeters and you have to get real close to see any grain. Few digital photography believers know, or want to know, what file size you get when digitizing a Kodachrome without any loss of quality. It's a 80 GB file! You'd need two average pc's to store just one Kodachrome. When Kodachrome pictures taken on trips are required fast (I am a journalist, 2/3 writer, 1/3 photographer) I take, right after I'm back, the EasyJet from Amsterdam to Geneva, and the train (30 minutes) to Lausanne where Europe's last Kodachrome lab is, and have them developed in 4 hours. In before 9 AM, ready by 1 PM. The plane/train ticket plus one night in a hotel increases the price per film on a 40-films trip by 5 euro's. For such a terrific film, that's peanuts. (And Lausanne is a great city.) In 2002 I did an article about Kodachrome for a Dutch newspaper. I visited the K-14 developing section of Kodak Lausanne, and was much impressed. Kodachrome is a triple B&W film, each layer with inbuilt filters to make it sensitive to just one color, and the colors themselves are added later. K-14 involves a series of paint baths, quite unlike E-6. To understand the entire process takes 4 years of study and it's frightening that in Europe there is just one man who really knows all about Kodachrome. My big fear, and I am fortunately not alone, is that one day we'll have to do without Kodachrom, this great film that took Leopold Mannes and Leopold Godowsky from 1922-1935 to invent, and that should be on Unesco's World Heritage list. Is there a "Save Kodachrome from Extinction Society" yet? Kodak keeps the product afloat, albeit without *any* advertisements, but will they continue doing so when sales drop even further? They deleted the Kodachrome 200 professional and the Kodachrome 25 already. Total Kodachrome usage in Europe is now roughly 1 million films per year (that is what Lausanne receives and develops). Customer Service The lab in Lausanne is great and they have a customer support desk. Kodak/Kodachrome 1 Avenue Longemalle CH 1020 Renens (suburb on the west side of Lausanne) Switzerland 00-41-21-6310111 Similar Products Used: Fulji Velvia Fuji Provia |
[Jan 16, 2003]
LongLiveFilm
Intermediate
Strength:
Color Accuracy Depth of DetailG
Weakness:
A bit dry-looking. Rendition of grays I tried this film while I was in Los Angeles and was pleased with the results, although some of the slides came out looking quite "dry". The colors are dead accurate. As an all purpose slide film, this stuff is great. THIS IS A DAYLIGHT-BALANCED FILM - not for indoor snapshots! However, DO NOT overexpose this film, as doing so will cast a gray whitewash over the whole image. As a general rule, I underexpose it by one f-stop and the colors look great. You can get some interesting photos shooting a wet street under the orangish sodium lamps.r Similar Products Used: Kodak Gold 1000 |
[Sep 25, 2002]
Rob W
Intermediate
Strength:
Tight, smooth grain, natural, real depth.
Weakness:
It's a bit cold (though probably dead accurate in that respect; again, we're used to things seeming super warm and colouful). Can seem a bit dull if you want a warm or happy feel to the image - if so you're using the wrong film. A great film if used for the right application; it has a certain steelyness and depth to it that can't seem to be touched by more moderen E6 films. I'm only 26 but can't help feeling we're generally accepting over-saturated (Velvia-type) images as the norm now days and over looking the more natural images you get with K64. Customer Service na Similar Products Used: Sensia II, EBX, Velvia, Agfa Precisia 100, Provia 100F (my all round favourite) |
[May 24, 2002]
maxpics
Professional
Strength:
Absolute acuracy in colour and tones, from skin to rock, landscape to macro.
Weakness:
Kodak are continually scaling back laboratories which will process it. The pro lab in London used to process in 4 hours - now it has to go to Zurich and takes two weeks. The finest slide film in the world. I cannot describe the feeling of disappointment, as this film gets harder and harder to process.I have produced two photobooks, Circles of Stone, and Realm of the Incas, under every type of available light, and nothing comes close to the natural colour balance of kodachrome 64. Customer Service Was excellent in London. Zurich are good , but distant. Similar Products Used: Tried many, found none. Am about to try Agfa, of which I hear good reviews. |
[Apr 30, 2002]
rkinsella
Strength:
Unmatched sharpness, fine grain, 64 is a nice speed, that classic "kodachrome look", true to life color. AWESOME reds and yellows.
Weakness:
Not a weakness, but I used a Kodak mailer and the roll got lost in the mail for close to a month. When I got the slides back, the color had turned slightly to the magenta side. Opps! Only happened once. It's probably not a good idea to develope pro films by surface mail. My all time favorite slide film is Kodachrome 25. But this is a close second. The sharpness is awesome, and the overall "look" of the film is truly unique. I don't think this pro version of the film is worth the extra money. I've had the same great results with regular K64. Customer Service not needed Similar Products Used: Kodachrome 25 Ektachrome E100S Elitechrome 100 extra color Fujichrome Velvia |
[Feb 10, 2002]
BluePowder7
Intermediate
Strength:
Perfect colours, very sharp and detailed, thick film, archivally stable.
Weakness:
Only that the processing time is measured in weeks and not hours - standard E-6 gets done in 3 hours, K64 takes two weeks. Um, WOW! Everytime I drop off the film to get processed I begin to think about which E-6 film I should switch to in order to not have to deal with the long wait to see my results. Then, everytime I pick up the slides and look at them though my loupes (4X and 8X), I laugh at myself for thinking that I could replace such a wonderful film. The results are just incredible - the colours are DEAD ON, a 1/3-stop underexposure from rated adds a nice touch of saturation, and the detail just doesn''t seem to stop - it keep on going and going. The only limiting factor appears to be my eyes'' ability to see the limits of the film''s resolution. So far I''ve used it in outdoor situations, walking though a park after a rainfall. The results are stunning! The leaves are proper green, the rocks have all the right texture, the shadows are quite deep (I haven''t done enough work there to see just where that stops). Everything is just RIGHT, the way it''s supposed to be. I haven''t yet used it for portraits, but seeing how accurate it is for nature shots, I''m sure I''ll be floored. I only hope Kodak doesn''t discontinue this film (since I''ve just started using it a few months ago!). Customer Service Never had to bother with it! Similar Products Used: Velvia, Provia 100F, Astia, E200 |
[Jan 01, 2002]
bobinarabia
Expert
Strength:
I got away from photography and especially slides for many years. I just spent several hours scanning in 35 year old slides with my Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus. All of the Kodachrome 64 and 25 slides were still perfect. The various non-Kodachrome slides were chancy. Some still perfect, many faded, many with mold.
Weakness:
Some prefer more saturated colors - but with a computer one can add saturation and contrast to any file. I you want to have originals to pass to your grandchildren, don''''''''''''''''t use anything else. Customer Service I hope they keep this process alive. Similar Products Used: Ektachrome, Agfachrome, Anscochrome. |
[Oct 16, 2001]
rkinsella
Intermediate
Strength:
Sharpness, Pleasing color palette, 64 is a nice speed Unmatched archival qualities
Weakness:
expected it to be a little less grainy This is a terrific slide film! Although it is not my favorite. Kodachrome 25 is still tops in my book. K64 looks great, but it doesn''''t quite have that unbelievable eye popping sharpness of K25. This film does have the same great color palette though. The reds are wonderful! Once K25 is completely gone, and I''''ve used my last roll, this will be an acceptable replacement. It does have that "Kodachrome look." Buy a few rolls. Keep K-14 processing alive! Customer Service not needed Similar Products Used: Kodachrome 25, Fujichrome Velvia, Elite-Chrome 100 Extra Color |