Lomopedia: Kodak Kodachrome

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During its heyday, many film professionals and amateurs alike considered Kodachrome one of the best film stocks out there because of its rich tones, fine grain and durability. When we think of life in the majority of the 20th century, the distinguishable color of Kodachrome images immediately come to mind.

In this edition of Lomopedia, we're taking a look at the iconic Kodak Kodachrome and highlighting some photos taken by our community members with the film stock.

Credits: mackiechartres, novista, igmaro, vikkki & wiese

Used in both motion picture and still photography, Kodachrome was introduced by film giant Eastman Kodak in 1935. Because of its commercial success, the film stock became available in many formats such as 35 mm, 16 mm, 8 mm, Super 8 movie, 120 and 110.

Numerous important photos were taken with Kodachrome, including the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, Abraham Zapruder's 8 mm reel of President Kennedy's assassination in 1963, mountaineer Edmund Hillary's ascent to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953 (the first ever successful expedition to the highest point in Earth), and more.

Credits: mackiechartres, wiese & novista

Kodachrome has also graced many pages of the National Geographic magazine and was widely used particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps one of the most iconic photos taken with the film stock was Steve McCurry's 1984 Afghan Girl.

According to McCurry, to whom Kodak also gave the last Kodachrome roll to shoot in 2009, the film stock offered the "best rendition of reality."

Before 1955, Kodak exclusively processed Kodachrome film until a legal ruling stopped the practice. In 1961, Kodak introduced Kodachrome II with a speed of 25 ISO and improved quality, increasing the film stock's versatility in terms of usage before its popularity waned against faster and easier to process film stocks, and ultimately to digital photography.

Here are more articles diving deep into the rich history of Kodachrome and its avid users:

Flashback to 1940's: The American Life in Kodachrome
A Glimpse Into the Kodachrome Era With @wiese

Information in this article was sourced from TIME, CNN and National Geographic.

Do you have favorite memories or photos taken with Kodachrome? Share them with us below!

written by sylvann on 2023-08-26 #gear #culture #lomopedia #kodachrome #kodak #national-geographic #lomopedia

2 Comments

  1. hervinsyah
    hervinsyah ·

    The main problem are the discontinuing chemical of kodachrome process.

  2. stereograph
    stereograph ·

    I'll own one roll of Kodachrome, it sleeps in my fridge.
    The capsule is all orange and i also have the envelope
    with which you send it to the lab!

    And i own a gigantic collection of View-Master reels, all Kodachrome.
    the older ones are fine the newer ones getting red by itself.
    i read once, that after a projectiontime of 30min or so
    the colors of a Kodachrome slide are noticable bleached.

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