No color film in 1973
Mar 14, 2017 10:12:05 #
tstear22
Loc: UT USA
I am new to the HOG but have been reading daily posts for about 6 months. I watched Kong Skull Island last Saturday - no spoilers, I promise. The photographer on the expedition (based in 1973) used a camera with black and white film. Was color film not yet around or was it still in it's infancy? Or was it around but expensive and black and white film was the norm and cheaper? Please forgive my ignorance but I know many of you will know this history better than me. I also appreciate the many "regular users" who use tact, wisdom and sometimes restraint to answer somewhat ridiculous questions. I hope this question is not in that category. Thank you in advance for your input. Tim.
Mar 14, 2017 10:17:44 #
Keldon
Loc: Yukon, B.C.
Color film certainly was around in '73. In fact it was around in the '40's. Somewhat ridiculous that the photographer wouldn't have used it in the movie.
Mar 14, 2017 10:18:22 #
tstear22 wrote:
I am new to the HOG but have been reading daily po... (show quote)
It was around and not in its infancy.
Mar 14, 2017 10:21:05 #
Jim Bob wrote:
It was around and not in its infancy.
Many of us with SLRs used color slide film.
We have thousands of slides waiting to be scanned someday.
Mar 14, 2017 10:23:34 #
MtnMan wrote:
Many of us with SLRs used color slide film.
We have thousands of slides waiting to be scanned someday.
We have thousands of slides waiting to be scanned someday.
Yep.
Mar 14, 2017 10:31:31 #
I've got many color photos & slides to say otherwise....B&W was cheaper & cost effective to process yourself (as I did)...
Mar 14, 2017 10:34:44 #
There was color film. Kodachrome was released in 1935. But before that there were glass plates that could record color, and other experimental approaches dating back to the mid-1800s. Kodachrome, Ektachrome and Agfachrome where both pretty standard color reversal film used in the 60s and 70s. There was also color print film - Kodacolor, Extar, Agfacolor, Fujicolor, etc. The problem with color was always getting the color balance right, and the generally low ASA. TriX B&W film was a standard medium - wide latitude, base ASA of 200, but could routinely be underexposed to 400 without any special processing, and pushed to 1600 or higher with off the shelf developers. Color print films really were 200 ASA or slower, so lighting was also an issue. (ASA is the same as ISO, for all intents and purposes).
Mar 14, 2017 10:35:31 #
A quick Google search found this:
The most well-known movies to use color were "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind", both from 1939. However, pre-dating those classics by more than 20 years was a 1912 film called "With our King and Queen Through India", and a 1918 silent film called "Cupid Angling"
.....and:
The first color photograph made by the three-color method suggested by James Clerk Maxwell in 1855, taken in 1861 by Thomas Sutton. The subject is a colored ribbon, usually described as a tartan ribbon.
The most well-known movies to use color were "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind", both from 1939. However, pre-dating those classics by more than 20 years was a 1912 film called "With our King and Queen Through India", and a 1918 silent film called "Cupid Angling"
.....and:
The first color photograph made by the three-color method suggested by James Clerk Maxwell in 1855, taken in 1861 by Thomas Sutton. The subject is a colored ribbon, usually described as a tartan ribbon.
Mar 14, 2017 10:35:50 #
Mar 14, 2017 11:04:23 #
Certainly color film was around, but at that time, many photojournalists still used B&W. Think of all the photos of the Vietnam War that were in B&W. Newspapers at that time still published mostly B&W photos, as well as magazines like Life.
Mar 14, 2017 12:03:19 #
Pablo8
Loc: Nottingham UK.
Agree about the regular use of B&W, mainly because that is what the newspapers were geared up for in the '60's. I remember brides asking for just " 6 or so colour pictures" along with the 36 or so B&W pictures. Colour printing costs as well as 'iffy' results from some labs were the main drawbacks in those days.
Mar 14, 2017 12:12:47 #
I was in the Navy from 1974-78. I think it was 1975 that Kodak begin making a 400ASA color film for 35mm cameras.
Mar 14, 2017 12:26:25 #
Pablo8
Loc: Nottingham UK.
An often used Ektachrome film 35mm glorified by Kodak as...HSE... High-Speed Ektachrome (200 asa). Same (lowest setting) speed now, in some digital cameras.
Mar 14, 2017 12:31:35 #
I am sure color film was available in 73. I came to the US in 75 and color film was widely available. However, I know that there are large number of photographers during that time prefer B&W. Only after the introduction of the 1 hr mini lab that fewer people shoot B&W. Nowaday, I think the number of film users use B&W as much if not more than color film because color film processing becomes difficult to obtain. Most B&W shooters do the processing themselves.
Mar 14, 2017 12:36:30 #
tstear22 wrote:
I am new to the HOG but have been reading daily po... (show quote)
Color film has been around for a long, long time in the 70's, he's probably a photographer that prefers Black & White film!
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