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Kodak stops production of Ektachrome 100D


Jurgen Lossau

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I put my order in for the Retro8 scanner and pretty excited for it. I have 12 rolls of E100D coming back from the lab this week, only 3 more to shoot, and quite a lot of archive footage to transfer. But i'm really looking forward to the next version of the software that can do negative. if i can work with 50, 200, and 500ASA neg film that I can scan at home then hell yeah!

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Just for the record, Wittner is at the moment testing another color reversal film for use in super-8 and 16mm. Should the tests be successful, Wittner will be bring Agfa Aviphot 200D (polyester base) to 16mm 1R, 2R and super-8.

 

There's a still from this new filmstock on the cover of the next issue of Schmalfilm http://www.schmalfilm-online.de/news/Neue+Super_8_Filme+kommen/1346 and for the news go to Wittner's news (in German): http://wittner-kinotechnik.de/neu/news2013.php#20130205-1

 

While polyester certainly isn't the base to choose for shooting with high speed 16mm cameras, I wonder if it's more suitable for 8mm work. After all, single-8 material was to my knowledge on polyester base as well...

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It's here!!! Now the temp outside just has to get over 10 degrees here in New England so I can actually use it!

 

post-58529-0-94864100-1359228185_thumb.jpg

 

Is that Farenheit? Otherwise, just wondering why you would need to wait until the outside temp is above 10 degrees Celcius! It won't be above 10 degrees C here in my part of Sweden until late April! ;)

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  • 1 month later...

KODAK's decision to stop all production of their last remaining color reversal filmstock, was a BIG MISTAKE! I don't care what excuses they state, they are all bull. This was afterall, the ONLY remaining Color Reversal film they were manufacturing, and there was and is a sufficient niche market to make it available in the small gauge formats. IF KODAK can justify making Color Negative in Super 8mm, they could've kept making the EKTACHROME 100D since it had just as wide a use market.

AND, IF they had only advertised at all, that Super 8mm film was still being made over the past 20+ years, there are many families that would've loved to shoot some movies of their events, even if only a few rolls per year. That extra amount would have added up.

 

There's no bones about it, this was a MAJOR blow to the Super 8mm and Regular 8mm and even 16mm filmmaking world. While we still have other filmstocks to use, NOTHING beats the incredible experience of seeing one's footage projected on the big screen. Maybe, after their bankruptcy reorganization, they could be coaxed into introducing a Color Reversal filmstock again, but it would take a millionaire willing to put money into it, regardless if it earned enought back to justify it. This exact same thing happens in other hobbies and pursuits, where there are those that will pay to get something made or keep it going, regardless of cost. I would do it, IF I were wealthy.

 

Film will live on as long as there is filmstock to shoot, and perhaps even with what we have left to use. It has nothing at all to do with whether or not some electronic format has higher quality. It's like telling an artist to stop bothering with Water Color paints, Pen & Ink, Charcoal, Oil, Acrylic paints, or even pencils, and start using a computer digital palette. All bullcrap, people will pursue whatever their passion or method of expression will work for them.

 

Even if all film ceased tomorrow, there will be those using their frozen caches of film years from now, albeit sparingly, just so they can still indulge in using an analogue film camera and all the associated equipment. Is it worth it? Well, is anything worth it? Is it worth it for somebody to pay $10k or more for an old Ford model A, or any other automobile, or pay more for a restoration??? Who's right is it to judge what flavor icecream one person prefers over another? If you really want to, you can use virtually any camera ever made, with a few limitations of course. Try telling a 9.5mm filmmaker that their format died officially back in 1961 and they should cease their passion. I bet they would bury you in the sea weighed down with tons of now passe video cameras. So, long live Film, as long as it can. If this is your passion, pursue it to whatever length you're able to, and forget what some idiot tells you.

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I shot my last Super-8 in 2001 in Venice. K40/ E160 (which by then had to go to Rocky Mountain).

Of course I didn't it was my last at the time, just as I didn't know in 2003 that I'd shot my last frame of film. In Valencia.

In 1978 a 50' cartridge cost about as much as a 36-exp slide film. By 1996, it was three times the price. No way am I going from £12/50ft to nearly £35. I'm not interested in video transfer.

These things creep up on you.

Edited by Mark Dunn
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Here is a little test that I filmed with Vision3 50d. This film has almost no grain and very high definition, love it!

The film transfer is made in Ochoypico.

https://vimeo.com/62358313

Very good, very, very sharp. The only fault is the contrast is slightly low on some shots.

 

What camera did you shoot it with?

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Wow, that's good.

 

Has that been noise-reduced to kill the grain a little? I notice a bit of smearing in the grain, but none in real detail, so if it's been NR'd, it's been NR'd with an appropriately light touch. I may be seeing compression artefacts, which can look similar.

 

It could of course be dustbusted too.

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