Ektachrome RIP

Posted by: Rick_D

Ektachrome RIP - 03/01/12 04:05 PM

Commie alert! Kodak is discontinuing the Ektachrome (color slide) Professional films.

This differs a little from the sad death of Kodachrome, as these E-6 films can still be processed at any color lab, which means you can stock up and actually use it for a long while.
Kodak announcement

Sniff.
Posted by: Kent W

Re: Ektachrome RIP - 03/03/12 09:42 AM

Rick you seem to be a proffesional Photographer. I see allot of pros gone digital. I have 2 Canon eos elans and a xti digital. In your opinion do the new high end digitals take the quality of photos that the 35 mm do?
Posted by: Rick_D

Re: Ektachrome RIP - 03/03/12 02:00 PM

Hi Kent,

Did commercial work half a lifetime ago, but am strictly a hobbyist today. Most pros are all digital now because the clients demand it. Fine art and portrait work is still often done on film when there's less deadline pressure. But the bleeding away of film, paper and chemical production and the loss of labs and custom print services are eliminating that path.

Film and digital will always look different; to some, film will always look better. And a lot of film cameras and lenses will never be replicated, so there are great cameras that are still lovely to shoot with, so long as we can still buy and develop film (and get the batteries).

I wouldn't suggest going film to anybody starting out, unless they were interested in exploring the darkroom side of the photographic experience. Fiddling with printer color profiles just isn't the equivalent of crafting the perfect black and white print.

Cheers,
Posted by: Kent W

Re: Ektachrome RIP - 03/04/12 10:53 PM

Your reply is kinda what I expected. I dont plan to get rid of my old Canon Cameras. Especiallly , my dads favorite old FTB. The convinence of digital and digital editing has kinda changed the demand for the perfectionist photographer. I told my wife not long ago, film is becoming a thing of the past. I also think the masters that knew how to use will as well? We dont have to be as consise when shooting a RAW image. The software makes it easier for rank amatures as myself to create nice photos. Doesnt make me a photographer does it?
Still being able to read the light is significant to ultra high quality. However, I have to think digital has made it more feasable for more people.
Like all change it can be a total shame, I think?
MY wife is in Radiolgy. She is old school, manualy set KV and Mass etc. She is slowley losing her film suppliers. Within a year or two they will have no choice but to go digital. Agfa quit making her film. She had a hard time finding a replacment of sutible quality! The replacment will be gone soon too. A era is ending. History happens yesterday,is a sad reality!
Posted by: kevonionia

Re: Ektachrome RIP - 03/05/12 04:44 AM

Kent:

"...my dad's favorite old FTB"

In high school I had an ancient Nikon FTN, and my best photo buddy had a Canon FTB, which led to endless bickering and attempts at one-upsmanship:



Compared to today's digitals, it looks like those squared late-'70s Volvos to today's cars.
Hang on to it. The Antiques Roadshow might not have come to your town yet. smile smile
Posted by: Kent W

Re: Ektachrome RIP - 03/05/12 08:47 AM

Kev , I dont know that it will ever have any great value. The Ftb does still take some great photos. They are a durable heavy bodied camera. I had a nice old canon from the 50s. Dad bought it on leave when he went to Korea. I dont know if it is still around or not. The Canon Camera mueseum has one just like it.
Posted by: Rick_D

Re: Ektachrome RIP - 03/05/12 01:47 PM

Radiology hadn't occurred to me, but now that you mention it, it's been quite awhile since I was "shot" on xray film. (My dentist finally relented and went digital, and confesses the new gear uses a fraction of the xray intensity of the old, so there's that.)

I don't know of I'll ever be able to show my daughter the magic of a print appearing in the developing tray, and that's kind of sad. Back in the day, I loved the darkroom as much as I loved shooting.

Cheers,

Originally Posted By Kent W
Your reply is kinda what I expected. I dont plan to get rid of my old Canon Cameras. Especiallly , my dads favorite old FTB. The convinence of digital and digital editing has kinda changed the demand for the perfectionist photographer. I told my wife not long ago, film is becoming a thing of the past. I also think the masters that knew how to use will as well? We dont have to be as consise when shooting a RAW image. The software makes it easier for rank amatures as myself to create nice photos. Doesnt make me a photographer does it?
Still being able to read the light is significant to ultra high quality. However, I have to think digital has made it more feasable for more people.
Like all change it can be a total shame, I think?
MY wife is in Radiolgy. She is old school, manualy set KV and Mass etc. She is slowley losing her film suppliers. Within a year or two they will have no choice but to go digital. Agfa quit making her film. She had a hard time finding a replacment of sutible quality! The replacment will be gone soon too. A era is ending. History happens yesterday,is a sad reality!
Posted by: BZH

Re: Ektachrome RIP - 03/06/12 01:37 PM

I still shoot with my Nikon FN2. Its a beautiful piece of equipment and makes wonderful pictures, but I have noticed the quality of film available has been going down recently. The one advantage film still has is sensor size. Most digital slr's use a smaller ccd than 35mm film. You can pay through the nose for a full sensor size if you want but you can't get medium format much less large format digital cameras. P&S cameras spend all of there time talking about how many megapixels they have all the while each successive generation has a smaller and smaller sensor. My first digital P&S camera was only 5 MPx but had a nice large sensor. You would have to get an slr for equivalent optics today, but of course the electronics of that camera are blown away by what's standard on current low end p&s's.

I will have to admit that instantly knowing if you got the aperture, shutter speed, and lighting correct is a huge advantage that usually outweighs any quality advantages of film. I would switch to digital but I have higher priorities for my money and I still love the pictures that I can make with my old film camera.