JasonC Loc: Houston, Texas

Remember Ektachrome?

As I recall, this slide film was recommended for underwater photography because it reduced the "blue" hues that are so prevalent underwater. The attached "guide" was included with each role of Ektachrome film and I thought it was quite helpful in setting up a manual film camera. Ah, the good-old-days!

I stumbled across this document recently while organizing my film cameras for sale on eBay and thought it may be of interest to some folks on UHH.

Jason

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

And Jason, I could process Ektachome in my darkroom.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I had to use about 250' of that stuff, bulk-loaded, all pushed one stop, back in my senior year of high school (1973). A friend's mom had hired me to photograph a bunch of civic leaders for a "thank-you" multi-image slide show to be presented at a banquet for donors and influencers in the community. I could never use flash at the meetings where I photographed these folks. The meeting rooms were very poorly lit, so I had to use available light, a monopod, an 80A or FL-D filter, and push the stuff to E.I. 320 (E.I.=altered ASA back then). There was one local lab in town that could push it, for $2.00 extra per roll (expensive for 1973!). I got decent results, considering the marginal nature of it all!

Later, I became a multi-image slide show producer at a yearbook/school portrait company, where I used thousands of rolls of Ektachrome 400, 50 Tungsten, 64 Daylight, SO-366 special order slide duplicating film, and 5071 duplicating film. I processed much of it myself, in 20-roll batches — we had an E6 sink line with five gallon tanks, temperature control, and nitrogen burst agitation.

I DO NOT miss the E6 darkroom. But I sometimes miss the medium of multi-image. Making 430 high school yearbook editors and their advisors scream with glee at workshops was a lot of fun. Here's a scene from the early 1980s. That's my then assistant, now wife. We were assembling and programming a 12-projector show with a Clear Light Star 3 system. The binders and trays on the shelves are full of slides.

(Download)

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

Interesting. I remember Ektachrome as having a slightly bluish cast.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Always! And when it fades, it tends to go Cyan or Cyan-Magenta. Most of the Ektachrome varieties made until the late 1990s have faded significantly now.

As for underwater work, by 33 feet, nearly all of the red and green light has been filtered out of sunlight. And since the entire water canopy typically faces open blue sky, that's a very blue, soft, diffused light source anyway. So... the only proper way to get realistic color underwater is to use a flash or a continuous diving light.

JasonC Loc: Houston, Texas

Great piece of personal and film history; thank you for sharing!

Jason

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It was my life for 8 years. My hands had near-permanent contact dermatitis from the E-6 stabilizer. It contained formaldehyde back then.

alfeng Loc: Out where the West commences ...

DITTO ...

... The "Kelvin" rating (or, whatever it was called) was toward the blue end of the spectrum.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I always found Ektachrome produced blueish sort of photo's, at least more than say Kodachrome.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

It's supposedly making a comeback this year? I developed a roll of Ektachrome 30 years ago (gasp) once but never again...have several trays of E-6 and beloved Kodachrome slides that I haven't looked at in a while (25+ years)... should take a look how time has affected them...but I do recall the bluish cast back then even on newly processed slides....I think Fuji had a competing version that produced warmer colors towards the reddish end? But I don't recall using anything but Kodak brand.

JasonC Loc: Houston, Texas

Hmm, perhaps I got mixed up on which film produced blues and which did not. For reasons that I'm now confused about I shot Ektachrome underwater--but that was in the early 1970s and I've forgotten a thing or two since then.

Jason

Petesfixit Loc: Houston Texas

In the early 80s, I couldn't afford to shoot much Colour, but from what I remember ektachrome tended toward blue, fujichrome towards green and yellow, Kodachrome more towards red. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Personally I always liked the ektachrome the way it looked but apparently I am alone on this?

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

If they’ve been dark stored I think you’ll find fading or at least color shifts in the pre-1990s Ektachrome but remarkably preserved colors in the Kodachrome. Kodachrome fades fast when exposed to light but is very resistant to fading in the dark. Kodachrome movies have lasted so long because even with frequently viewed reels each frame gets on a fraction of a second of light while a slide projected gets far more.

ELNikkor

The Ektachrome Plus Professional was by far the best Ektachrome ever produced IMHO. I preferred Kodachrome just for it's better color until EPP came out. Wish they would bring it back...

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Kodachrome is history, now - as with the reorganization - there is no more in-house processing facility for Kodachrome. But, Kodak Alaris has re-introduced the entire Ektachrome line (I believe.)