[Leica] Kodachrome

[Alastair Firkin <firkin@netconnect.com.au>]

Dear Friends,

I just loaded a fresh roll of Kodachrome into the M6 yesterday. There is
something about Kodachrome. It is perhaps the most famous of emulsions
[others?], though maybe made so by the Paul of Simon and Garfunkel fame,
and has a colour balance that seems so normal, that most other films are
labelled warm or cool to its "normal". I love the red and yellow of the
box, the pre-paid mailer, the yellow plastic containers it comes home in,
but lament the loss of the individual slide mounts cardboard and even
plastic with their Kodachrome label :-(

It is so much a part of my memory of "photography", including the 2 minute
reels of Standard 8 my father was so fond of. It seems one of the few rocks
on which you can build. One of the few things in photography which is not
changing so fast, that no-one has the time to learn them or to develop
their craft. Most things now are like computer texts. By the time the book
is released, the programme is updated, or more likely dead. The craving for
change is so strong, that the writers of these books have to act as experts
and give advice on beta programmes.

My only fear, is that Kodak will hear that Alastair Firkin uses Kodachrome,
which may well spell it's end --- kiss of death firkin has already a track
record with reel to reel tapes, super 8 movies, 8-track cartridges, betamax
video's, and most recently, Newton PDA's. Why it was AF who steered clear
of CD's because I was not going to get trapped by that fad ;-)

Alastair Firkin,

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~firkin/AGFhmpg.html