Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
1/3/11 9:23 PM
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End of an era: Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 3:02 PM on 31st December 2010
It was a photographic breakthrough that helped capture some of the 20th century's most iconic images. But now Kodachrome, the first commercially successful colour film, has become history itself after it was developed for the last time yesterday. Dwayne's Photo, a family-run business in Parsons, Kansas, was the last place in the world where the 75-yearold Kodak product could be developed. The die was cast after Kodak announced in June last year that it would stop making the chemicals needed to develop Kodachrome in a round of cost-cutting after the company reported a ÂŁ84million loss.
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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Final hurrah: Wearing commemorative T-shirts, Dwayne's Photos employees Val Addis (left) and Tricia Stone (right) process the final rolls of Kodachrome. The processor is due to be sold for scrap
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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Kodak announced in June last year that it would stop making the chemicals needed to develop Kodachrome as part of a round of cost-cutting
But it pledged to supply Dwayne's Photo in Kansas with the chemicals until the end of 2010. The shop's machine was shut down for the last time yesterday but only after fans of the film had travelled there from cross the world to get theirs developed.
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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Capturing the times: The Kodachrome's treatment of colour gave photographs an individual depth and contrast
British artist Aliceson Carter, 42, travelled from London to get her rolls developed, while a railway worker from Arkansas spent $15,798 (ÂŁ10,198) developing 1,580 rolls of film of pictures of trains. Veteran photographer Steve McCurry, best known for his 1985 portrait of an Afghan girl that made the cover of National Geographic Magazine, had a roll of film shot in New York City and India developed. Before running out of chemicals, Dwayne's Photos was still processing 700 rolls of film a day. Its employees took to wearing T-shirts with the epitaph: 'The best slide and movie film in history is now officially retired. Kodachrome: 1935 - 2010'. The last roll to be processed was an image taken by Dwayne Steinle, the shop's owner. The machine is due to be converted into scrap. Grant Steinle, who manages Dwayne's Photo, said: 'The real difference between Kodachrome and all the other colour films is that the dyes that make up the image you see in the film, in Kodachrome, don't get incorporated into the film until it is actually developed. 'It's a really sad day, it was an important part of our business and Kodachrome was an important part of the history of all of photography. 'Lots of really iconic images of the 20th century were captured on Kodachrome.'
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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But as the world turns increasingly digital, Kodachrome sales have plummeted and the camera giant made the decision to axe the first commercially successful colour film last year after a remarkable 74 years. Although it had become iconic, Kodak took the decision to stop production. A spokesman said: 'For all its magic, Kodachrome is a complex film to manufacture and an even more complex film to process.'
Recording history: John F Kennedy's assassination was filmed by Abraham Zapruder on Kodachrome
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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Iconic: Kodachrome film became an essential part of 20th century culture, even having a 1973 Paul Simon single named after it (scroll down to listen)
Kodachrome's heyday came in the 1950s and 1960s when it was favoured by still and motion-picture photographers for its rich tones and vibrant colours. In 1963, Abraham Zapruder used Kodachrome to film President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas. The film was even immortalised in the 1973 song Kodachrome by Paul Simon. The lyrics read: ‘They give us those nice bright colours. They give us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day.’ Many professional photographers feel this richness is missing from modern digital images. Kodak were the only company producing the chemicals.
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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Photographer Steve McCurry looks at his famous portrait of an Afghan girl, used on the front cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1985. The influential picture was taken on Kodachrome stock
Kent Miller, a professional photographer, told CBS that Kodachrome captures events in a way that modern digital cameras cannot. 'It just reproduces colours in a way that most other films never did, and it lasts forever,' he said. 'It's something that is difficult to do with just shooting digital until you bring it in to Photoshop and restorate and do all your work in there. 'But just straight out the camera it doesn't have that density and dynamic ranges as the Kodachrome does just naturally.' Listen to Paul Simon's 1973 single Kodachrome: People: Paul Simon Places: London, India
Comments (49)
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all I feel so lucky to be old enough to have lived and worked in both traditional, and now the digital photography scene. My granddad, who worked all his life in photography, I just know would be fascinated by todays digital cameras. And though I now work with Photoshop, I miss the thrill and smell of a proper darkroom, and kudos to all those highly skilled people who years ago did it all by hand. My only regret is ironically not bothering to photograph my old darkrooms, and so keep a record of all those first steps that set me on the road to so much enjoyment. To see the end of something like Kodachrome is very sad, but in practical terms the greatest advantage of digital is perhaps that there won't be any more wasted images to end up in a landfill site. - Andy, Cornwall, 04/1/2011 01:49 Click to rate
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Report abuse I used Kodak film up until one summer in San Diego. I was photographing houses. When I got my prints back, the greens were washed out. I returned to the subjects and observed that the colors were actually wrong. I shifted to contacts to gain better control over exposure before printing. After that I switched to Fuji Film for color accuracy. The only Kodak product that performed as well Fuji was a tungsten film that had to be pushed for use out doors. And then Kodak stopped making it. I eventually found that processors were simply undoing all my work. Since I couldn't afford to develop my own film, I just stopped. Decades later I bought a Nikon DSLR. I now have complete control over the result and hopefully we will eventually push digital to where it performs as well as film. For me it wasn't so much film vs digital, as it was that I was having to fight both the film and the processors to get accurate color and exposures. That is why I gave up on everything Kodak. - Richard, Colorado Springs, USA, 04/1/2011 00:35 Click to rate
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Report abuse Kodachrome was the first slide film I ever used, and was also the last slide film I've used -- had four rolls left to shoot before Dwayne's deadline. Over the past 27 years or so I've shot thousands of frames of Kodachrome, but I guess I always thought I'd be able to shoot more whenever I wanted. Guess I kinda took Paul Simon's prose to heart and thought Mama would never really take my Kodachrome away. Sure, I shoot digital now, and I have a lot of respect for its capabilities, but I don't care what digital aficionados say, it is not as permanent as Kodachrome. I have a box of slides my dad took while he was in Korea between 1952 and 1954 and they look just as good now as they did when he first took them. Will we be able to say the same about digital images in 60 years? Keeping track of slides will always be easier than keeping track of image files because I don't have to be using a computer to do so. I'll continue to shoot E6, but I'll tell ya, it just ain't the same. - Michael M, Houston, TX, 03/1/2011 18:06 Click to rate
Rating 1
Report abuse I like black and white film but can can you can only develope the film at home as it cost to much now. I don,t think there is any skill in taken pictures now. - lilly, dundee, 03/1/2011 12:22 Click to rate
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Report abuse Kodachrome was not 'just any film'. It was a high quality colour slide film that used a special dye system and had to be developed http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1343015/Last-roll-Kodac‌evolution-brings-75-years-camera-history-close.html?printingPage=true
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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in special process called K14. It was refined over decades to provide stable, consistant archive quality intense colour unmatached before and since. My only regret is that I did not use it more often and the two dozen rolls I have here are cNOW, ompletely useless. It's like saying goodbye to something I've certainly enjoyed, all the time I've been taking photos. I'd like to think Kodak will have a change of heart on this their long lasting product... especially considering some of the stinkers they've come up with over the years. Stephen, in London. - Stephen Walters, London, UK, 02/1/2011 21:13 Click to rate
Rating 5
Report abuse I was a die-hard Kodachrome user right up until 2007 - by then the Swiss lab had stopped processing the film and Kodak sent it to Duane's in the US to be processed. I got my first DSLR a year after that. I'm now the proud owner of a Canon 5D mk II, which produces 21mp images and shoots virtually grain-free up to around ISO 3200 - and this is tech from 2 years ago! Kodachrome was great and years ahead of its time when first invented, but digital photography is the new frontier, and gives results that a film user like me could only have dreamed of up to only a few years ago. Oh, and to correct a few people - print and slide (E6) processing is not dead, hence you can still get your films processed at Asda. Kodachrome used the unique K14 process, involving toxic chemicals and calibrated machinery. Ektachrome, Elite Chrome, Velvia etc. use the far more common E6 process and can be processed anywhere. Or get a kit from Jessops and do it yourself in your bathroom! - John, Hampshire, UK, 02/1/2011 21:06 Click to rate
Rating 3
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Last roll of Kodachrome film developed as digital revolution brings 75 years of camera history to a close | Mail Online
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