Momma, They Took My Kodachrome Away....

Well, sometime in the next few days, the absolute, final roll of Kodachrome film will be processed.  A place in Kansas, known as Dwayne's Photo is the last lab in the world to process Kodachrome. Kodak stopped making the film about a year or so ago, and Dwayne's is shutting down the final line and selling the machinery for scrap.


Years ago, when I got heavily into photography, I became fascinated by the who mystique of Kodachrome.  Unlike other color films, it could only be processed at certain labs.  The process was extremely complex, and at the time, required specially trained staff, including an on-site chemist.  


Of course, that seemed like a challenge to me.  I wanted to become the first person to "home process" Kodachrome.  I actually managed to talk someone at Kodak into sending me detailed information on the process.  Now, the actual processing manual were described as being the size of a phone book, but I got my hands on a document that included information like the actual chemicals required (they had to be mixed from raw ingredients) and the specific color filters and lighting needed for the three exposures needed to do the color reversals.  It also included other details like the timing, and temperatures for each step.


Kodachrome was not like other color films.  It was, essentially, a black and white film with color filters that created three layers.  The first step required removing a black coating, which could be quite messy.  In fact, if Kodachrome film accidentally found its way into a machine designed to process other films, it would likely cause the other rolls of film to be ruined.


Next, was simply black and white processing.  Then, through a series of steps involving exposure to very specific colors of light, and complex chemical baths, the various color layers were created.  This was where Kodachrome processing became complicated.


The chemicals involved were extremely toxic.  And outrageously expensive.  This was what stopped me dead in my tracks.  I might could have built the processing equipment out of parts scavenged from local labs's outdate equipment.  The filters would have been costly, but would be a one time expense.  But when I checked the Kodak catalog where, amazingly, the chemicals were all listed (though there was no indication what they were actually for) I found that the cost would have run into several thousand dollars. Some of the chemicals were hundreds of dollars for a few grams, and there were a lot of chemicals involved.  In time, Kodak would develop a simpler machine, that used packaged chemicals, but at the time I was looking at the process, that was not available.


I look back fondly on those dreams.  It would have been a grand experiment, and would have surely won me fame, and possibly even fortune.  But, alas, it was simply not to be.


And now, Kodachrome is all but gone.  The last rolls will soon pass through the last processor, and an era will end.