They gave us the greens of summers

This year will see the demise of possibly the most famous film stock ever produced. Kodachrome was first made by Eastman Kodak in 1935 and survived through thick and thin (exposure-wise!) until 2009. But now the final nail is being hammered into its coffin. The very last day that the reversal film, closely associated with venerable publications such as National Geographic, will be processed is December 30, 2010. And if you live in Europe the deadline is November 30. Now I'm not being too sentimental here; when I shot transparency film (that's slide film to digital newbies!) Fuji was the brand of choice for action and in particular Velvia 50 for its shocking cartoon colour punch. But I had experimented with Kodachrome 64 and loved sending the bags away and receiving a small box of mounted slides sometime later.
So, when a friend over in Vancouver showed me a pic of some boxes of Kodachrome and said he was going to send some over I was tickled. Then I forgot all about it, and then I heard the door bell ring and then the postie delivered the brown package with the familiar airmail and customs stickers. Game on! So, I have five rolls of Kodachrome 64. And that sounds like a project. I have roughly a month to expose the film before the final process deadline makes them redundant. The only 35mm film cameras I still own are a Nikon 801, a Lomo LC-A and an Horizon Perfekt. Should be interesting to say the least. Watch this space as I cuss loudly at things like winding on, catching the end tab, getting the perfect exposure from a compact etc.etc. blather, blather...... Until then, here's Paul Simon's ode to the famous emulsion