Last Kodachrome Developer Stops Developing

Kodachrome film is truly dead.

Dwayne's Photo, a lab in Parsons, Kansas, was the last lab still processing popular film, which was created by Kodak in 1935. Dec. 30 was the last day Dwayne's would still accept rolls of the film for processing, according to Mashable.

Kodak announced they would cease production of the film in June 2009, as sales had declined. The rise in digital camera use among everyday people and professionals contributed to its decline.

At one point, 25 labs in the world processed the near extinct film, according to the New York Times. The Kodak-run facility closed a few years ago, and since then processing facilities in Japan, Switzerland, and other locations around the globe have since stopped developing Kodachrome.

Despite its use in many iconic photographs, including Steve McCurry's National Geographic 1985 cover image, many photographers have traded in for newer films or digital cameras. According to Mashable, Kodak actually gave McCurry the last roll of Kodachrome film last year, and he has since posted the pictures he took to his blog.

Comments

[Homer Strump]

08:16 AM on 01/03/2011

Along with Kodachrome, we also said good-bye to the last manufacturer of player piano rolls that makes the player piano work.

[Fabini]

07:43 AM on 01/03/2011

We'll always have camera obscura.

[NonPrawf]

02:06 AM on 01/03/2011

What is film?

[engchina]

01:41 AM on 01/03/2011

Since vinyl records have made a return you can expect film to return on a limied basis.
For some of us there is a splendid joy about mucking around in a dark room while waiting for that magical moment when a light image that was super imposed on a piece photographic paper becomes an photograph- that was earlier captured on film.
All this while standing over trays of developer and fixer while bathing ones hands in this chemical stew and breathing various toxins.
I miss those days!
-EngChina

[hugotoyota]

10:40 PM on 01/02/2011

I thought it dies years ago?

[MikeyJaii]

06:50 PM on 01/02/2011

Good times... my grandpa will miss it.

[ProudToBeVeryLiberal]

05:36 PM on 01/02/2011

Those professionals who still use film swear by Fuji Velvia and wouldn't use anything else. 99% of amateur photographers use digital cameras. Bottom line: Kodachrome is a dinosaur.

[jdevans]

06:57 PM on 01/02/2011

Kodachrome may be a dinosaur, but photos still look great on it 50 years later. Digital technology changes so fast that 50 years from now you won't be able to read digital files made today. Just try finding a computer that takes floppy disks.

[Anastasia]

01:45 PM on 01/02/2011

Gorgeous film. RIP Kodachrome.

[tonewheel]

01:01 AM on 01/02/2011

Digital can't hope to touch the depth of the raw images taken by my 1982 Hasselblad 500C...without lots of post processing. And yes, I can tell the differences when looking at them.

[yukoner1]

12:08 AM on 01/02/2011

It appears that Dwayne's has stopped developing Kodachrome not because there are no more rolls of film but it has run out of the chemicals required to develop the film. Would it have killed Kodak to make another batch of the necessary chemicals?

[dhinds]

06:48 PM on 01/01/2011

KODACHROME Discontinuation Notice

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=15359&pq-locale=en_US

KODACHROME 64 Film / KR

KODACHROME Discontinuation:

Eastman Kodak Company announced on June 22, 2009 that it will discontinue sales of KODACHROME Color Film this year, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon. Sales of KODACHROME, which became the world's first commercially successful color film in 1935, have declined dramatically in recent years as photographers turned to other films or digital capture. Today, KODACHROME represents just a fraction of one percent of Kodak's total sales of still-picture films.

Despite all its outstanding features, KODACHROME involves a highly complex development process that led photographers to experiment with and adopt newer KODAK films that deliver outstanding color images through a simpler workflow.

Although KODACHROME has very distinct characteristics and no film will give the exact same results, current users are encouraged to try other Kodak films. Kodak continues to bring innovative new film products to market, having released seven new professional films -- over the last three years alone.

KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA 160NC and VC Film
KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA 400 NC and VC Films
KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA 800 Film
KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX 400 Film
KODAK PROFESSIONAL EKTAR 100 Film

[dhinds]

06:31 PM on 01/01/2011

Sorry to interrupt the nostalgia, but Kodak continues to sell Five different 35mm Print Films and Four diffferent 35mm Slide Films.

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=164/7010/6994/1095&pq-locale=en_US

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=164/7010/6994/1094&pq-locale=en_US

Digital cameras are still hard pressed to match the quality of a 35mm film because the sensors found in the vast majority aren't large enough to do so and the few full frame digital cameras available (i.e the Sony A900 & A850) cost thousands of dollars (and those from Canon and Nikon are much more expensive).

[blurredmolly]

11:16 AM on 01/02/2011

It ain't Kodachrome. That stuff was special.

[lisakaz2]

05:06 PM on 01/01/2011

Has Paul Simon been told? Has he given a funeral song? I still hear "Kodachrome" in my head whenever I see a reference to it.

[G52]

06:48 AM on 01/03/2011

HA!

Same thought!

[Shaun Dawson]

03:10 PM on 01/01/2011

Its the end of an era. However as time marches on things get better. Digital photography today does offer a lot more.

[lee959]

01:42 PM on 01/02/2011

As a photographer digital photography is not better and never will be. Same with digital music. The majority of time convenience is only an improvement for the lazy.

[blurredmolly]

12:59 PM on 01/01/2011

Sad, sad day. I saw some 50 year old Kodachrome a couple weeks ago and it looked like it came from the lab that day. RIP