120 Kodachrome - a possibility

[Fredrik]

Here's an idea for those of you that happen to have some unexposed 120
Kodachrome. Shoot panoramas on the middle 35mm portion of the film
(putting an appropriate mask in your viewfinder for precise framing).
Slit it down to 35mm width in a darkroom, and send it off to Dwayne's.
Do you think they could process this, or does the machine require
perforated film? This would be similar to shooting 35mm film in an
XPan or in a medium format camera with a 35mm adapter, but it would
give you a 50% increase in picture area as there are no perforations.

I haven't asked Dwayne's if they would accept such film for
processing, as I don't have any myself, but I'd think it'd be worth a
shot! (Pun not intended.)

--
Fredrik Sandström
fs@...
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[Ron Schwarz]

Why slit 120 to 35mm, when you can already get 35mm Kodachrome?  OK, you'd
get a "marginal" [pun intended, of course] increase in usable real estate,
but I'd think a better use for 120 Kchrome would be -- IF they'd process it
-- to cut it down to 16mm, for use in 110 and submini cameras.

Don't scoff at 110 cameras, BTW.  I've got some Kodachromes I shot in a
Kodak Pocket 60 (with a tack-sharp Tessar-type 2.8 Ektar lens and coupled
rangefinder) -- these slides are incredible.  Projected from a Pocket
Carousel onto a piece of white mat board to about 11x14 proportions, and
examined at close range, they are incredibly sharp, could easily pass for
35mm.  (Better than *most* 35mm, in fact, since the limiting factor is
usually camera shake and focus error.)

Keep in mind that 120 film base is thinner than the 35mm base.  This means
that you can have longer rolls when slitting for use in tiny cassettes, but
it may also mean that there might be issues when spicing it into a reel to
be threaded through a processor.  (Since 110 film, like (all?) rollfilms,
is also thinner -- and, since Kodachrome *was* made in that format -- I'd
think that it shouldn't be a problem, but who knows?)

We now enter The Fantasy Zone... where common sense prevails, and the
wildest dreams of sane men are realized (in other words, don't get yer
hopes up, mateys! <g>)

Can you imagine the incredible goodwill -- and free publicity/positive
press -- that Kodak would accrue if they were to announce that they will be
starting a "Boutique Line" that will specialize in limited-run (i.e.,
annually) production of the great classics of yore, *and*, to kick off the
festivities, they'll be issuing Kodachrome (as long as we're dreaming,
let's say "25") in 35mm cassettes, 120, 110, 828 rolls, *and* 4x5, 5x7, and
8x10 sheets?

They would also set up a "Boutique Lab" to handle the sheetfilm formats and
120 rolls.  (Polaroid is still doing something like that with their 20x24
camera, aren't they?  Or was it a 30x40?)

But, the deal-breaker is that a program like this -- while it would produce
amazing "secondary" benefits -- would highlight things that film can do --
and digital *can't* do.

And since the plan is to move toward the "all-digital Kodak" anything that
promotes film as superiort to digital, well... think about the implications.

It sure seems like it's seen as a zero-sum game -- if film is promoted,
it's to the detriment of digital.  None of that "rising tide lifts all
boats" nonsense!

The thing is, this strikes me as nutty, since Kodak has relegated
themselves to the commodity sector of the digital market.  (They did kill
off their pro cameras, didn't they?)

If this *is* the philosophy behind the push for an "all digital Kodak" then
I'm afraid I find it a stretch to entertain the idea that a Kodachrome
enthusiast, in lieu of the ability to buy *more* Kodachrome, will toss his
pro gear, and toddle on down to the local StuffMart to buy a new Kodak P&S
digital camera.

"Gee, I can't put Kodachrome into my Nikons anymore.  Oh, dear, what
*shall* I do?  Oh, I know!  I'll go get me a Kodak Digital P&S!  That's a
*much* better idea than doing something truly silly, like start using
*Fuji* slide film!  Yeah, that's the ticket!  Heck, now that I've been
Liberated From Kodachrome, I won't have to haul around those yukky
complicated SLR cameras, with all those confusing lenses and stuff. Yay!"

Um, yeah, sure.

Or am I missing something?



02:09 PM 2/4/2008 +0200, Fredrik Sandstrom wrote:
 

>Here's an idea for those of you that happen to have some unexposed 120
>Kodachrome. Shoot panoramas on the middle 35mm portion of the film
>(putting an appropriate mask in your viewfinder for precise framing).
>Slit it down to 35mm width in a darkroom, and send it off to Dwayne's.
>Do you think they could process this, or does the machine require
>perforated film? This would be similar to shooting 35mm film in an
>XPan or in a medium format camera with a 35mm adapter, but it would
>give you a 50% increase in picture area as there are no perforations.
>
>I haven't asked Dwayne's if they would accept such film for
>processing, as I don't have any myself, but I'd think it'd be worth a
>shot! (Pun not intended.)
>
>--
>Fredrik Sandström
>fs@...
>_______________________________________________
>Kodachrome mailing list
>Kodachrome@...
>http://lists.kjsl.com/mailman/listinfo/kodachrome
>
>

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  Suggestion: Watch "Cabaret!" (It's a documentary, not a musical;
              a portrait of the end-game of a decadent culture.)
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[Fredrik]

Ron Schwarz <rs@...> writes:
> Why slit 120 to 35mm, when you can already get 35mm Kodachrome? OK,
> you'd get a "marginal" [pun intended, of course] increase in usable
> real estate,

Full 35mm instead of 24mm is almost a 50% increase. It'd be only
marginally smaller than a 645 transparency, think about that!

--
Fredrik Sandström
fs@...
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