Ektachrome comes back, photographers delighted

CLASSIC SLIDE FILM

TODD C. FRANKEL WASHINGTON • Film photography faded so swiftly that some days it can be hard to recall a time before digital photos.

Just two decades ago Eastman Kodak was selling a billion rolls of film a year. In 2012, Eastman Kodak — down to selling millions of film rolls — filed for bankruptcy. Kodak was forced to stop production of many of its film brands — including in 2009 the iconic Kodachrome, the world’s first successful colour film.

In 2010, photographers with their last rolls of Kodachrome film made rushed pilgrimages to Parsons, Kan., home to the world’s last processor of a once-ubiquitous film brand.

Ektachrome, which first hit store shelves in 1946, is known first as a slide film. It was celebrated for its rich, distinctive look — and for being particular about how it was exposed. Professional shooters, like those at National Geographic, swore by it.

“It really was the gold standard,” said T.J. Mooney, product business manager for “film capture” at Kodak Alaris, one of the companies that emerged from Eastman Kodak’s bankruptcy.

Then Ektachrome was killed off in 2012 — the last of A spinoff company from the Kodak breakup is bringing back Ektachrome slide film. Kodak’s chrome films.

On Wednesday, Kodak Alaris announced that it was reviving Ektachrome. The 35mm film will be available later this year.

Photographers — pros and amateurs — took to Twitter to express their joy, including, “My timeline has been filled with so many happy likes and retweets of #KODAK #ektachrome joy”

“Kodachrome will not be coming back,” Mooney said. “We took a look at it and decided Ektachrome was the better choice.”

Part of the reasoning was technical. Kodachrome is notoriously difficult to process. Not just any film processor can do it. “You almost needed a PhD in chemistry,” Mooney said. That skill was lost when Kodachrome disappeared seven years ago.

And some things just can’t be replaced.