A bit of background. The other day, I mentioned that I was taking my Russian Kiev-19 35mm film camera out of the proverbial mothballs and giving it a test run for a photo project.
Last Saturday, the ammunition for my photo project came in the mail. Three packages of 200 speed Kodak Kodachrome KL film. I’m expecting some 64-speed Kodachrome in the mail later today.
Yes, your man is actually going to start shooting with real 35mm film. But only until the end of the year. Unlike the Paul Simon song, mama only gave me the Kodachrome – just to take it away.
Kodachrome, the iconic slide film produced for many years by Kodak, was discontinued in 2009, a victim of the digital photo revolution and the difficult and exacting process involved with developing Kodachrome film. And although it is possible to develop Kodachrome into black-and-white photos (sort of like transferring a Blu-Ray DVD to a VHS tape), the only place in the entire world that can still develop Kodachrome into color slides – the Kansas-based Dwayne’s Photo – will stop developing Kodachrome film on December 31, 2010.
That only gives me less than nine months to try this film out. In addition to shooting photos with my digital Nikon D700 DSLR camera and its bountiful bevy of interchangeable lenses, I want to also use my 35mm manual Kiev-19 film camera to take – for the rest of the year – photos with the brilliant and deep color separation provided with Kodak Kodachrome film.
There are plenty of opportunities throughout the Capital District this year, where someone can photograph brilliant colorful subjects – Tulipfest, the fireworks at the Empire State Plaza, the Altamont Fair, the neon signs of the local movie palaces like the Madison and the Jericho and the Spectrum – as well as several other interesting and provocative images throughout the Northeast. I’m even going to set up an appointment with Teri Conroy to visit Wunsapana Farm with this camera on a sunny day. I’m not even limited to the Capital District – I’m sure there are tons of colorful and distinct subjects worth photographing throughout my travels. I’m also not limited to Kiev’s Russian lenses – since the Kiev-19 has the equivalent of a Nikon “F” lens mount, I can slap several of my Nikon lenses on the Kiev without any trouble.
Of course, shooting in film means I can’t just trust the camera to pick the best shutter speed or aperture. I also can’t view the finished product in a tiny little screen on the back of my camera. I’ve got to make that decision on settings BEFORE I press the shutter button, then I have to wait until the reel is shipped off to Kansas, and then I have to hope that I didn’t over-expose or under-expose or took perfect photos with an expired roll of film (Kodachrome has an expiration date, although you can extend the date if you store the film in a freezer).
Sunday morning, I went to several of my favorite “first shot” locations in the Capital District (for me, “first shot” means a place that captured my attention when I originally began photography, and any time I get a new camera or a new lens, I go back to those locations once again). Some of those “first shot” locations include the Delaware & Hudson bridge spanning New Scotland Road in Slingerlands, the Jericho Drive-In marquee in Glenmont, the Kenmore Hotel in Albany, and others.
In fact, here are the photos now…
Oh yeah, forgot…
They have to be developed. That means sending them out to Dwayne’s Photo in Kansas. So that part of the blog post will unfortunately have to wait until another time.
Even so, I have now begun a new art project – the last year of Kodachrome.
Chuck The Writer 
One of my friends ordered a bunch of Kodachrome off of ebay. The pictures he got were really gorgeous- too bad it’s fallen victim to new technology.
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Erin – The only thing that scares me about Kodachrome right now is that people are trying to sell undeveloped Kodachrome reels with an expiration date of 1996 or 1983 or something. I understand that if the film has expired (although shelf life can be extended if the film was placed in a freezer after purchase), the developed pictures will look foggy. Not what I want. So for now, I’m buying a few reels here and there, just until I’m comfortable with the product.
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Hey Chuck I know you are away’s looking for ghost sings. I seen one the other day you might want to check out. FUR COATS on the back off a building a old school freind of mine is doing over. It’s the old WPTR building on Central Ave , you can see it from Kole’s or Otoole’s parking lot next to the Starbuck that closed across from Vly Rd.
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Thanks Rick, I’ve seen that sign a few times on Central Avenue. I didn’t know the building was the old WPTR facility; I did remember it as the location for Sounds Great stereo equipment, then for a vacuum cleaner resale company. It’s definitely on my Kodachrome photo list for this year. Thanks for the tip!
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When we were kids in the 50’s Boom Boom Branigan would broadcast from there on the second floor and give us free 45’s . They moved to Albany St. in the late 60’s.
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wait — you have to make shutter speed and aperture decisions BEFORE taking the photo? what the hell did we do before digital??? time to get the light meter out! …Wow, been a while since I said that. All these posts about cameras and film makes me want to get my Hasselblad 503CW out and go to some of these places and take some photos of my own Chuck.
If you have fun with Chrome film at the 35mm level you should try out some sheet film with a 4×5 for some of these locations you’ve been talking about.
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Chuck,
If you get some good shots and are willing to scan and post them, send me a link. I’ll add it to the collection on my Kodachrome tribute website (http://www.randrews4.com/kodachrome.html). Some of the historical collections are dramatic. The contemporary stuff runs the gamut from ordinary family photos to outstanding professional work.
Erin,
You are correct. If you are buying outdated film, you have only the seller’s word that it was stored in the freezer or refrigerator. There is still some K-64 available that is not yet expired. Ask for the expiration date before you buy anything.
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