[Leica] Kodachrome in Ecuador

["Birkey, Duane" <dbirkey@hcjb.org.ec>]

You can't even buy Kodachrome in Ecuador, let alone get it processed,
supposedly you can send it to Panama...... But I hate to think how long it
would take through the mail... and the probability of it not returning is
about 75%.

I'm using E-6 since I can develop it with my Jobo in house...  I'll take
that over every Ecuadorian lab any day of the week and a number of labs I've
used in the U.S...... 

When I first came to Ecuador I brought a number of rolls of Kodachrome along
with Fujichrome.....   I now recommend anyone visiting Ecuador to not bring
Kodachrome if they are going to shoot in the highlands..... My brothers and
father were die-hard Kodachrome users...... And they went against my
recommendations.... At some point during their time here they ran out of
Kodachrome and I gave them some rolls of Fujichrome Provia.....   After
seeing the images side by side from the same trip, they wish they had
listened to me and now rarely use Kodachrome..  They mostly use
Ektachrome..... I think it is a Kodak loyalty or availability thing....
Anyhow, if you want to see a really sick looking Ecuadorian tropical
rainforest, use Kodachrome.... It is also brutal to the highlands indigenous
skin tones which are bit on the red side to begin with...  And the
Equatorial sun makes contrast jump as well

But some people are a bit color blind or take pictures where Kodachrome's
failings are not a problem and can even be a benefit.  So in the end we
return to the fact that one film will never meet the needs for every purpose
nor every person.....  I've met photographic "artists" who use 4 or 5
different films depending on the subject and what colors they want to
emphasize or de-emphasize

I was a die-hard Kodachrome user until 1988..... I would say at this point
though, that I will probably never shoot another roll of it. 

Duane Birkey
HCJB World Radio
Quito Ecuador
Duane's Photographs of Ecuador
http://duane_birkey.tripod.com