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Ektachrome 100 is BACK!!!!


Nick Collingwood

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Holy cow. I kind of can't believe my eyes but it's true! Available Q4 2017!

 

 

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/Press_center/Kodak_Brings_Back_a_Classic_with_EKTACHROME_Film/default.htm

 

 

Kodak Brings Back a Classic with EKTACHROME Film

Las Vegas, NV, Thursday, January 05, 2017 --

To the delight of film enthusiasts across the globe, Eastman Kodak Company today announced plans to bring back one of its most iconic film stocks. Over the next 12 months, Kodak will be working to reformulate and manufacture KODAK EKTACHROME Film for both motion picture and still photography applications. Initial availability is expected in the fourth quarter of 2017.

KODAK EKTACHROME Film has a distinctive look that was the choice for generations of cinematographers before it was discontinued in 2012. The film is known for its extremely fine grain, clean colors, great tones and contrasts.

“It is such a privilege to reintroduce KODAK EKTRACHROME Film to the cinematography community,” said Steven Overman, Kodak’s chief marketing officer and president of the Consumer and Film Division. “We are seeing a broad resurgence of excitement about capturing images on film. Kodak is committed to continuing to manufacture film as an irreplaceable medium for image creators to capture their artistic vision. We are proud to help bring back this classic.”

Kodak will produce EKTACHROME at its film factory in Rochester, N.Y., and will market and distribute the Super 8 motion picture film version of EKTACHROME Film directly.

Kodak Alaris, an independent company since 2013, also plans to offer a still format KODAK PROFESSIONAL EKTACHROME Film for photographers in 135-36x format. KODAK PROFESSIONAL EKTACHROME Film is a color positive film, also known as “reversal,” “slide,” or “transparency” film. Unlike all of the other KODAK PROFESSIONAL Films available today, which are color negative films, EKTACHROME generates a positive image that can be viewed or projected once it is exposed and processed. This makes it ideal for high-resolution projection or presentations. It is also well suited for scanning and printing onto a range of professional-grade photographic media. Availability is expected in the fourth quarter of 2017.

 

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I wonder however how this will affect Ferrania?

 

I don't see how it can do anything but help them. On the one hand, if their film isn't as good looking, it'll push them to improve. On the other, it will just mean more options available, and potentially more competition thus lower prices for filmmakers, thus more people using it/more film purchased. Win-Win.

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This makes me SOOOO happy. I don't know what's better, it's return to S8 or 35mm. I hope it also gets cut for 120! My Rolleiflex would love to shoot the hell out of this stock.

Unfortunately 120 film base is much thinner so it's not just a matter of cutting. If the 135 market is tiny, 120 must be well nigh invisible. Sorry. You can still get Velvia in 120.

Edited by Mark Dunn
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Unfortunately 120 film base is much thinner so it's not just a matter of cutting. If the 135 market is tiny, 120 must be well nigh invisible. Sorry. You can still get Velvia in 120.

 

Oh, wow that's interesting. I just always assumed they cut everything from the same sheets. Learn something every day.

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Oh, wow that's interesting. I just always assumed they cut everything from the same sheets. Learn something every day.

 

Thicknesses from Kodak datasheets.

135 160NC 0.13 mm (0.005 inch)

acetate

120 160NC 0.10 mm (0.004 inch)

acetate

 

Sheetfilm would 0.18mm

 

Some special films could be as thin as:

Kodak High Definition aerial Film, 3414 on an Estar ultra-thin base, (1.5 mil = 0.0375 mm

Or Kodak SO-208 so-1.2 mil = 0,03048mm

To get more on a spool in a reconnaisance aircraftcamera or even in Keyhole spy satellites

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Ferrania should have put more into releasing their film much sooner to help establish it. Now they have almost no chance to successfully introduce a vastly inferior product going head to head against Kodak Ektachrome. Ferrania film will probably be more expensive with too few resources to help them improve it.

 

Hopefully, Ferrania will have options to repurpose their equipment. Perhaps they can help Kodak introduce their Ektachrome in other formats that Kodak can no longer address (assuming Ferrania has the perforators and slitters on hand). Or, they might cut a deal with Fuji to reformat and load Provia that can better compete with Kodak quality.

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Ferrania should have put more into releasing their film much sooner to help establish it. Now they have almost no chance to successfully introduce a vastly inferior product going head to head against Kodak Ektachrome.

 

I am not sure that this statement is fair to Ferrania and those who are trying very hard to succeed in what must be a most difficult task. Just remember that when Kodak was abandoning those who wanted a colour reversible stock in all three gauges we needed (35mm, 16mm and Super8) those involved with the rebirth of Ferrania committed themselves to a task which has proven to be monumental. They committed themselves from the beginning to produce stock in all three of the gauges I have mentioned, whereas at this point in time Kodak have said little in the way of a firm committment to do the same. Furthermore, in terms of timescale, even Kodak are saying that they need time to reintroduce Super8 alone and it is clearly not a case of just going to the start switch and setting it to "on". Ferrania, on the other hand are having to reconstruct a process and a processing plant which had been abandoned many more years ago.

 

I say nothing about quality, at this time, as there is no example of the finished product from either team, but I do wish both teams great success.

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Ferrania should have put more into releasing their film much sooner to help establish it. Now they have almost no chance to successfully introduce a vastly inferior product going head to head against Kodak Ektachrome. Ferrania film will probably be more expensive with too few resources to help them improve it.

 

Hopefully, Ferrania will have options to repurpose their equipment. Perhaps they can help Kodak introduce their Ektachrome in other formats that Kodak can no longer address (assuming Ferrania has the perforators and slitters on hand). Or, they might cut a deal with Fuji to reformat and load Provia that can better compete with Kodak quality.

What a laughable and arrogant nonsens.

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Quite many people think that Kodak re-entry to the E-6 market again is going to be detrimental to Ferrania's success. While this way of thinking does seem logical, in the big picture it doesn't really go that way. Film world is a large ecosystem of companies producing filmstock, resellers, labs and customers. Quite surprisingly on APUG the Harman Ilford people often stressed that Kodak or Fuji leaving the market would not be a jackpot for them -- on the contrary, it would bad for their business.

 

It is much more likely that Ektachrome is a good thing for Ferrania. A big company supporting E-6 against the tide of cutting E-6 stocks gives a signal to laboratories and customers: it's worth it to shoot and process E-6 film. That way E-6 film has a much bigger chance of surviving. For Ferrania it's a good thing -- otherwise labs would disappear, people would forget about E-6 film, etc. Now Kodak delivered a great advert for slide film: we believe in it, we are bringing it back, if you have forgotten how great it looked now (or rather Q4/2017) is the time to come back. :)

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Perhaps Ferania can piggyback on the PR Kodak's announcement is generating but to have a chance they will have to get into the market quicker than Ektachrome and establish a foothold, if only by a few months. The other thing Ferania may be able to do is if they can make the film more easily available than Kodak, this could be difficult for Ferania but Kodak's last mile distribution eco system is pretty withered so Kodak may not enjoy an adavantage here. The other thing is I don't think Kodak has set out how they will make the new Ektachrome available in S8 e.g. it may only be available as a process paid package to go with the new camera which will limit its reach whereas if Ferania makes it possible to get stock in a variety of ways and in both 8 and 16 then that's more attractive.

 

If Ferania has the resources and energy left over to be nimble then they could build a place alongside Kodak and you and I win, if both companies are nimble then that could still pay off for everyone as well.

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I still plan to buy and shoot whatever Ferrania comes out with. It will be another choice with it's own look, different film stocks with different looks make film making better. I'm hoping Kodak will give us a 40ASA daylight Ektachrome, and maybe a 160T

40t would be awesome, just hope they re-formulate the ghastly and unsharp 100d is was bloody awful stock. 64t was better with more natural colours.

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40t would be awesome, just hope they re-formulate the ghastly and unsharp 100d is was bloody awful stock. 64t was better with more natural colours.

 

I am happy 100 d is back always been good with it , love this film then with with home cooking . 64t was to soft .

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I am glad too that Kodak takes on this challange.

 

However, I wonder how many actually edit and project their ciné

The same for 135 or 120 stills.

 

Or is all because of the color representation and ambience of that?

 

Somebody ought to work out a processing scheme for RAW images to get to Ektachrome look as close as possible.

Nobody asks about originals :)

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I inadvertently obtained an Ektachrome look when I was writing software to correct for the orange mask in scanned neg. I didn't realise it at the time.

 

The software I wrote was written under the mistaken impression that the orange mask in negative film is something to be removed after scanning negative film. But in fact the mask itself is not to be removed. It is only the orange bias that needs to be removed (be it by software means, or otherwise using filters or light). But if you otherwise remove the mask (in addition to removing the orange bias) you will transform the result into that which colour reversal obtains. And that is what I ended up inadvertently writing. I was doing the opposite of what I thought I was doing.

 

So if anyone needs to know how to obtain a colour reversal look from scanned neg I have the answer!

 

Carl

Edited by Carl Looper
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