lea001a Loc: Catskills Region in New York

Greetings to all you Hogs out there. I have some Kodachrome 64 which has been frozen (purchased from the Kodak Company store in 2012) and frozen ALL the time since then.

Now, here is the biggie. Do any of you know where to get this stuff processed to a full-color transparency and mounted as such? Lots of folks will do it to a B&W image; I probably could even do it myself, but I'd like to have images in full color.

Thanks in advance for any helpful informtion you may have?

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

I'm afraid you're out of luck. Dwane's Photo in Parson's, KS quit K-14 processing in 2010. The only other lab I came across, Rocky Mountain Film Lab, is not real clear about Kodachrome processing. Check their website: http://www.rockymountainfilm.com/.

Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

It can only be processed as b&w which is what the company suggested above will do. The chemicals for K-14 are no longer manufactured. There are some people that have managed color processing well below the quality of actual processing but it is very difficult. One person with a full chemical lab was able to create the necessary chemicals, color couplers and dyes but it prohibitively expensive

Here are some links

http://www.apug.org/forum/index.php?threads/kodachrome-with-rockland-polytoner-colour-couplers.136024/page-7#post-1802262

http://www.apug.org/forum/index.php?threads/future-kodachrome-colour-developing.96646/

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Correct (http://www.rockymountainfilm.com/services/still/k14oldslide.htm). The chemicals can be manufactured, but the processing machines have all been dismantled. It was an extremely complicated process involving many steps.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I have previously searched for K14 chemicals or processing companies without success. E6 and C41 chemicals are available (and can be done at home with good temperature control), but not K14. A Google search will provide details on processing as B&W. Maybe someone else has been able to locate some, but I haven't - it was always a very complex process.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

One of the things I was told when I expressed an interest in developing Kodachrome was that the development process produces cyanide gas as a byproduct of that process. Thus, the need for specialized developing equipment. Home processing could be deadly.
--Bob

jrh1354 Loc: Dayton, Ohio

There was a post on a photo forum (not UHH) several years ago that identified a lab in Germany that still processed Kodachrome. Afraid that's all I remember. K-25 was my favorite.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Kodachrome is dead. It had the most complex film processing system on the planet. Demand for Kodachrome and processing fell like a rock, all throughout the period from 1998 to 2010.

AgfaPhoto and Fujifilm still make slide films, but labs are starting to kill off E6 processing for them. Parts and maintenance for processors are no longer available. Slide boxes and mounts are harder and harder to come by, and demand for slide film processing is falling to tiny levels.

You may have to process your own E6, soon, using Arista or other chemistry kits. If you can maintain temperatures of all chemicals and wash water at 100.4°F ± 0.5 degree for 30 minutes, knock yourself out.

Back when I used 200 to 300 feet of Ektachrome 400 and 64T and 5071 duplicating film every month, I had access to a sink line with nitrogen burst agitation, tempered water, and a water bath temperature regulator. It was an ideal setup. We had all the right tools for mixing chemicals, replenishing them, testing them for activity, etc. Of course, that was when the process had eight steps (1st Dev, Reversal Bath, wash, Color Dev, Bleach, Fix, wash, Stabilizer). It is now down to three chemicals, but takes about as long. You can find some rather crappy videos on YouTube showing how it is done.

rfmaude41 Loc: Lancaster, Texas (DFW area)

Only the 1st development requires the temp control that is critical, and, in reality 99 - 103 degrees will be fine; I know because, over the years (in the past), I've probably done about 2500 - 3000 rolls of E-6 (in my home darkroom).

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I can do E6, but haven't yet. Two Jobo processors each can control temps to within the required tolerance. So far, in the years I've owned them, I have only processed black and white. I just can't see spending the money for an E6 kit to do one roll of film just to say I did. However, someday, I just might.
--Bob

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Ever roll two strips of film back to back on each reel?You do have to unreel and spool or agitate separately for the fix, wash and stabilizer. Am I giving away an old trade secret?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

For casual use, with the new kits, you're right.

Back in the day, it WAS critical for all chemicals and washes to be as close to 100.4 as possible. Kodak and others reformulated emulsions and chemistries over the years, especially once formaldehyde was determined to be a potent carcinogen. If the final stabilizer bath wasn't at the right temp, we would get reticulation. It looked really strange on a 6'x9' screen!

I used to do big AV shows on the road at yearbook company summer workshops. We would use 18 to 24 rolls of slides, and process and mount the last of them the evening before the final show would run at 10:00 AM the next morning. (I pulled all-nighters to edit, tray, and program the shows.)

Usually, I'd soup the film in 4-roll batches, if I couldn't find a local lab. I had a four-roll Nikor tank and reels, water bath, chemical kit, thermometers, etc. all packaged for road use in the host school's darkroom. The first time I used it all on the road, I had serious reticulation, because I let the temperature slide after the first developer and reversal bath. I lost half the first roll's emulsion in my squeegee. After that, I let the rest of the film just hang to air dry... NEXT time, I paid more attention to the temperature of my water bath for the tank and chemical bottles. No more problems.

It's a lot harder to maintain temperature at or above 100F than it is at 68F, unless it's summer with no A/C.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Not after the first time. It tends to exhaust the chemistry faster than it was designed to be exhausted, resulting in speed loss, contrast loss, color issues... Not worth it.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It isn't difficult if you can control temperature. I know you like film, Bob. Try it! But if you do, buy enough film to exhaust the chemicals in a month or so. A one quart kit does about 8 rolls.

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

As Paul Simon said:

When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the words of a sunny day
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match
My sweet little imagination
Everything looks worse in black and white

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the words of a sunny day
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Leave your boy so far from home
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away