Photo Essay: Kodachrome 40 Test

There was one reason and one reason alone why I wanted a batch of Kodachrome 40 film.

It was because of this photo on flickr.

Oh my lord, that beautiful blue hue on the exterior of the buildings.  And that long exposure, giving a rainbow effect to the highway lights below.  Absolutely breathtaking.

I wish I took that photo.

I got in touch with the person who took the photo, “Mobs,” and he gave me as many pointers as he could, considering the picture was taken in 1993.  Essentially I would need to make sure my 35mm camera had a steady tripod and either a timer or cable shutter release.   Time to grab the commie camera, my Kiev 19, slap on a Helios-81H 50mm fixed lens, and go from there.

In order to get the best settings possible, I needed a 100 speed color film as a “test film.”  That way, I could get all the settings aligned properly (f-stop, focus, shutter speed) on print film, which I could take to my local CVS and develop that day, rather than burn off a roll of nearly-hard-to-find Kodachrome 40 and experiment with that.

Anyways, I got a pack of 100 speed Kodak Ektar color film from B&H Photo.  The test subjects would be such buildings as the Empire State Plaza and the Madison Theater.  I set my camera at f/8, and took shots at 1 second, 4 seconds, 16 seconds and 30 seconds.  Oh yeah, it’s fun being out there in the middle of the night, going “One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi…”

Then I realized – sadly – that I had not placed the film properly into the advancing spool, and, unfortunately, the end result was that I wound back a roll with NO photographs on it.  Yike.  I just wasted $5 because I wasn’t careful with this project.  That sound you hear is me banging my head against the wall, shouting “STUPID! YOU’RE SO STUPID!!”

However, all this meant was I had to work on whatever I knew about Kodachrome 40.  The film is at least 1 1/3 stops less light sensitive than 100 ASA film, I could keep the same time settings as on my best photos, but open up one full stop.

And a few days ago, a kind soul from California who read my blog sent me a package, with his compliments – four previously frozen packages of Kodachrome 40 KPA 36-exposure film.   Much thanks, Larry.  Greatly appreciated.

I slugged a cartridge into my Kiev-19, and tested it out.  And already I realized I need a little something.

That something was a Tiffen #85 50mm filter.

See, Kodachrome 40 Type “A” film is balanced for 3200 degree Tungsten lighting.  Since I wasn’t using this as part of flash photography, I needed a Tiffen #85 filter, which looks like an orange piece of glass, onto my camera.

The image on the left was shot without the Tiffen 85 filter, and as you can see, there’s a nasty blue shift to the picture.  The image on the right was shot with the Tiffen 85 filter installed over the lens.  Photos by Chuck Miller.

But I needed to test this stuff out somewhere.

And where’s a good place to test a film stock you’ve never used before?

That’s right.

I took it to Quebec City.

I packed a cartridge of Kodachrome 40 into my Kiev-19 and hit the road for Canada.  Since I was going to be in the Great White North anyways for a Quebec Kebs / Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry PBL basketball game, I figured I’d set up my camera for some night scenes in Quebec and bracket off some shots – 1/2 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 7 seconds – and see how they turned out.

During the trip up to Quebec City, I photographed some unique roadside buildings, including a drive-in twin-screen theater and an abandoned gas station.

But where to find a location where a photographer can get an actual clear shot of some of the lit buildings of a city’s skyline or architecture … hmm…

Oh … did I forget to mention that Quebec City’s “old city” neighborhood is surrounded by a series of walls, and is in fact the only walled city in North America?

From my vantage point along Rue St-Louis, which features a beautiful stone archway, I was able to get several photos.  Then I sent the cartridge off to Dwayne’s Photo in Kansas and hoped for the best.

The photos came back Saturday.  And thanks to the crack team at Ritz Camera in Crossgates Mall, who scanned my slide into a digital image…

There it is, my first test of Kodachrome 40 KPA film, both with a night shot and with filtered day shots.  I like this stuff.  I definitely like this stuff.