Re: PHOTO-3D digest 1656

[P3D John Weiler <jweiler@xxxxxxx>]

Greg E. posted:

>>I have switched to using Kodachrome 25 for almost all of
>>my 35mm shooting. I like the colours and fine grain. The
>>skin tones seen very good to me for outdoor and flash
>>shooting ...

>>Some complaints about Kodachrome colours may be due to
>>variable Kodak processing...

>>I have seen some odd colours with K64 but none since
>>I switched to K25...


I've used K25 exclusively for years.  Occasionally I've tried a roll of
K64 in hopes that I could switch to a faster film, but I've never liked
it as well, and my comparisons were made by shooting the same subject
at the same time, and bracketing to ensure optimal exposures for each
film.  So I've continued to use K25.  Others have had considerable 
success with K64, but my results weren't as good.

Kodachrome that's too fresh can exhibit a slight overall greenish
cast.  Professional Kodachrome is regular film that's stored and tested
periodically until optimum color balance is reached, then it's packaged
and shipped to retailers.  However, I have heard that sometimes it is
greenish too.  I buy KM well in advance of when I need it and let it
age, and generally it looks just fine.  I haven't seen the greenish
problem in years.  Once the film is "aged" it seems to maintain its
color balance - I've shot film several years past its expiration date
and the slides looked great.  Once I paid $7.00 for a 20 roll brick of
36 exp. KM that was >5 years past its expiration date .  I have no idea
how it was stored during that time.  The slides exhibited no color
bias.

As with any film, Kodachrome should be processed promptly after exposure.
The latent images can shift toward magenta if months or years elapse
before processing.

Processing can also induce variability in color, although I have heard
that this happens with E6 films too.  Such differences should be very
slight, but I have seen some color shifts from time to time even though
other rolls from the same emulsion looked fine.

K25 and K64 used to be criticized for having overly saturated colors, but
many slide films today offer much more saturated hues, with Velvia
being the current champ.  I prefer a more Realistic tonal balance, but
the popular highly saturated films do have their uses.  Realistic color
is another component of the real world around us that we're trying to
capture with our stereo cameras.  But no film is perfect, and everyone
should experiment to see which films work best for the subjects they
prefer to shoot.

John Weiler
Columbus OH


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