Are we really THAT rare?

Dartmoor Dave · 10-17-2021, 09:29 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Trey45

It's a bit surprising to me that anyone shooting film for 40+ years hasn't begun developing it themselves. Then again, thanks to die-hard film shooters like him it's kept the industry alive.

I shot Kodachrome for 30 years. If you've got a way to develop that at home then please let me know how. If only I could shoot just one more roll of Kodachrome 64 again in my life then I'd be a happy photographer indeed.

(I'm actually making a serious point here. One of the main reasons why I only shoot one or two rolls of film each year nowadays is that the emulsions that I really love just don't exist any more.)

**Alex645** · 10-17-2021, 01:59 PM

Originally posted by Dartmoor Dave

I shot Kodachrome for 30 years. If you've got a way to develop that at home then please let me know how. If only I could shoot just one more roll of Kodachrome 64 again in my life then I'd be a happy photographer indeed.

(I'm actually making a serious point here. One of the main reasons why I only shoot one or two rolls of film each year nowadays is that the emulsions that I really love just don't exist any more.)

The K-14 process for developing Kodachrome was a very involved process and as far as I know, a DIY hand developing was never an option.

It can be developed as a black and white slide, but adding your own RGB dyes to the precision of a machine is nearly impossible.
How to Develop Kodachrome Film (B&W Hand Processing & Kodak's K-14 Process) « Photography :: WonderHowTo

As far as I know, Dwayne's Photo Lab was the last K-14 processor on the planet, so you may want to reach out to them for any suggestions.
Film Developing Lab | Dwayne's Photo

Even with E-6, I tried for years to do it better than a lab, but a good lab can process E-6 better than I can.

Bottomline: Where are you going to buy Kodachrome? The film was discontinued in 2009, and every Kodachrome addict bought all stock they could and I doubt will part ways with it.

The closest thing I've found to the look of Kodachrome is Fujifilm's Fujichrome Velvia 50 using 120 and a polarizer. Tripod becomes a must if you need depth of field or unless you're shooting wide angle. Low contrast overcast diffused light also helps. Kodachrome the King is sadly not rare....it's extinct.

Dartmoor Dave · 10-18-2021, 01:26 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by Alex645

The K-14 process for developing Kodachrome was a very involved process and as far as I know, a DIY hand developing was never an option.

Thanks Alex, I knew that already but it might well be useful information for others.

My comments were really in reply to this earlier post in this thread by Trey45: "It's a bit surprising to me that anyone shooting film for 40+ years hasn't begun developing it themselves."

I just wanted to point out that those of us who shot Kodachrome for decades didn't have the option to develop that film for ourselves. I also wanted to suggest that there are probably lots of us old film shooters around who would shoot more film nowadays if the emulsions that we used to prefer were still available. When I talked about how much I'd love to be able to shoot just one more roll of Kodachrome, I was being nostalgic rather than claiming it as an actual possibility when I know it isn't.

Apologies for not making myself clearer in my original post.

steephill · 10-18-2021, 02:04 AM - **1 Like**

I saw three Pentax DSLR users at a classic car racing event at Goodwood in the UK at the weekend. It always attracts a lot of photographers.

Lord Lucan · 10-18-2021, 02:08 AM

Originally posted by Trey45

It's a bit surprising to me that anyone shooting film for 40+ years hasn't begun developing it themselves.

I grew up helping my father develop and print B&W in his darkroom, and to him it was a hobby (and semi-profession) in itself. Fascinating at the time, but very time consuming and hard work, and I would not want to go through that again. I did do a term of colour printing at evening classes, and getting the colour balance right was very frustrating and wasteful of materials - I think I thew away 5 prints for every keeper. I have also developed Ektachrome for transparencies which is easy enough, and scanned them later.

Even if I did my own D&P today it would only be for a few special pictures, not record shots of holidays, aircraft, family events etc. I wish well of anyone doing film D&P these days, but I have too many other things to do, and life is too short for them all.

**jersey** · 10-18-2021, 03:31 AM

You are lucky that you are meeting normal camera shooters at all. I was two weeks ago at Westerplatte, it is a "must see" touristic spot here, a place where second world war started so lots of people. There were 2 camera shooters, including myself (the other one was some young girl with Canon). Everyone else used cellphones. Yesterday I was a National Museum to see new exhibition of old Gdańsk porcelain and cruise through the normal exhibition and paintings. Lots of people, some tourists from Germany, I was the only one with camera, everyone was using cellphone. Same on streets of old town. It is not that Pentax is rare, it is cameras that are more and more of old school thing.

**Cerebum** · 10-18-2021, 03:35 AM - **1 Like**

Tonight we are doing a portrait shoot. There will be five Pentax cameras there ....... OK, I am taking four of them (KP, K3, MX & Spotty) but there will also be another K3

**cometguy** · 10-18-2021, 12:22 PM

Originally posted by photoaki

I guess I’m another one, just don’t want to spend the extra time.

I used to, back in the days that I had free darkroom access (for printing too, of course) at the Kodak camera club. That was in the early 90s.

Yep, I put in lots of time in numerous darkrooms that I had free access to during the 1970s-1990s, and even had the small, plastic, black, round developing tank that you'd put a single roll of film in (wound on a spool) for developing at home without a huge darkroom. But after a while, you tire of that and lose interest in being around all those chemicals (can't be good to inhale those vapors a lot). And I only did black-and-white developing anyway; color was too much, and I always have sent those off for professional labs to do...

---------- Post added 10-18-21 at 12:36 PM ----------

Originally posted by jersey

You are lucky that you are meeting normal camera shooters at all. I was two weeks ago at Westerplatte, it is a "must see" touristic spot here, a place where second world war started so lots of people. There were 2 camera shooters, including myself (the other one was some young girl with Canon). Everyone else used cellphones. Yesterday I was a National Museum to see new exhibition of old Gdańsk porcelain and cruise through the normal exhibition and paintings. Lots of people, some tourists from Germany, I was the only one with camera, everyone was using cellphone. Same on streets of old town. It is not that Pentax is rare, it is cameras that are more and more of old school thing.

I have done a fair amount of travel and hiking in the mountains of the eastern USA during the past couple of months, and I have seen a lot of DSLR photographers, even on long hikes where one is a mile or more from a parking lot up a mountain, and some with some pretty hefty lenses. When I know there'll be some good scenery, I'll bring my K-1 II or K-3 II, usually with a single prime or zoom wide-angle lens; but if I think it's going to mostly be woods with not much chance for good photos, I'll often just bring my iPhone along (occasionally wishing I'd brought a DSLR, but not always).

OrchidJulie · 10-18-2021, 04:42 PM

Originally posted by cometguy

the small, plastic, black, round developing tank that you'd put a single roll of film in (wound on a spool) for developing at home without a huge darkroom. ----

Sounds like a Paterson rig -- I still have mine, although I have done any darkroom stuff in decades. Had access to the company darkroom when I worked for an agency with in-house photography studio, and we actually puttered around with E5 a few times. We did all the BW developing in-house, but usually sent the color out to a lab that could turn it around for us in a few hours regardless of the film size (135, medium formats, 4x5)

JC13839 · 11-21-2021, 11:55 PM - **2 Likes**

After beginning to do my own B&W D&P in 1968, I've just sold all my darkroom gear. Problems were that I did not have access to a permanent darkroom, and setting everything up in the kitchen (and sending my wife to bed early!) just became too much. In addition there is now only one good shop for chemicals and film in my city, and their range is limited. I still have half-a-dozen or more Pentax film cameras of varying vintage, including what was my first ever Pentax, an SV, as well as my last, an MZ-S. Great cameras both of them and the SV works as well as it did when new. I also have a Rolleicord and a Russian rangefinder, but if I am going to choose film, I do tend to gravitate towards the MZ-S. Attached is a shot I made with my SV and a Super-Takumar 55/1.8, at maximum aperture and 1/8th of a second, in 1968 on Kodachrome 64.

**steamloco76** · 11-22-2021, 04:59 AM - **2 Likes**

I posted quite a number of images made with a Pentax DSLR body and two lenses which I said was going to be for sale soon.
Several friends on facebook messaged me asking about the camera equipment, all were immediately uninterested when I mentioned it was Pentax. Okay? You complimented the photos I posted made with the gear, but think it is beneath you to own Pentax…. Ugh.

lotech · 11-22-2021, 09:26 AM

Originally posted by abmj

I've read the "pros dissing Pentax" thread and had a bit of a laugh. I shot high-end Canon for 30 years in my film days but am at a more laidback place now during semi-retirement. For the switch to DSLR, I couldn't justify the expense - particularly for good glass - that Canon entailed and went with Pentax. I am very happy with that choice despite the occasional sneer from my former Canon compatriots.

Now, my topic. During the recent Worldwide Photo Walk, I joined 40+ area photographers for a fun day of shooting followed by a group lunch and wrap-up. In that group, I saw exactly zero Pentax DSLRs - aside from my own. I found myself "justifying" my choice not to go with Canikon during good natured discussions. Not so much distain but more "why in the world would a serious photographer NOT buy Canikon??"

Are we really that sparse out in the world?

We used to be rare, but ever since the release of K1-II and K3-III eyeballs slowly turned, and Pentax lenses are on the top of the list for adapting to MILC, who don't want a Takumar !

**Serkevan** · 11-22-2021, 10:01 AM

Originally posted by steamloco76

I posted quite a number of images made with a Pentax DSLR body and two lenses which I said was going to be for sale soon.
Several friends on facebook messaged me asking about the camera equipment, all were immediately uninterested when I mentioned it was Pentax. Okay? You complimented the photos I posted made with the gear, but think it is beneath you to own Pentax…. Ugh.

I can't fathom any of my friends saying that kind of stuff about my photos. Like, the heck. If the photo is good the photo is good. Any interest in the gear used should be purely academic curiosity - not out of any sense of vindication, confirmation bias or somesuch.

**Alex645** · 11-23-2021, 11:24 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by steamloco76

\Complimented the photos I posted made with the gear, but think it is beneath you to own Pentax…. Ugh.

Most people are ignorant or just biased, not critical thinkers or with enough experience to know quality comes from the photographer, not the name on the camera.

But perception does affect reality and I struggled back in the day when Minolta made pro gear and I was seen as a second rate photographer until I got a bigger camera (645) and a Nikon. Now that I teach photography, I make students aware it's not about the name, it's about the photography.

**Photos-by-Chas** · 11-23-2021, 04:33 PM - **1 Like**

Pentax was one of the forerunners in SLR camera development. The name "Pentax" is based on the first camera to use the pentaprism for a through the lens view finder. Look at the number of Pentax film cameras still around and functional. The name Pentax has a firm following and a very solid history of making good quality, durable and efficient cameras and lenses. I have been using Pentax for about four, or maybe five, decades. I've taken some good natured (and some not so good natured) ribbing about Pentax. I just figure those people may never have used a Pentax. Consider the source of the comments that disrespect the name and know we have good quality equipment that is reasonable priced.

10-18-2021, 12:22 PM	#6668
cometguy Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2020 Photos: Gallery Posts: 131	Originally posted by photoaki I guess I’m another one, just don’t want to spend the extra time. I used to, back in the days that I had free darkroom access (for printing too, of course) at the Kodak camera club. That was in the early 90s. Yep, I put in lots of time in numerous darkrooms that I had free access to during the 1970s-1990s, and even had the small, plastic, black, round developing tank that you'd put a single roll of film in (wound on a spool) for developing at home without a huge darkroom. But after a while, you tire of that and lose interest in being around all those chemicals (can't be good to inhale those vapors a lot). And I only did black-and-white developing anyway; color was too much, and I always have sent those off for professional labs to do... ---------- Post added 10-18-21 at 12:36 PM ---------- Originally posted by jersey You are lucky that you are meeting normal camera shooters at all. I was two weeks ago at Westerplatte, it is a "must see" touristic spot here, a place where second world war started so lots of people. There were 2 camera shooters, including myself (the other one was some young girl with Canon). Everyone else used cellphones. Yesterday I was a National Museum to see new exhibition of old Gdańsk porcelain and cruise through the normal exhibition and paintings. Lots of people, some tourists from Germany, I was the only one with camera, everyone was using cellphone. Same on streets of old town. It is not that Pentax is rare, it is cameras that are more and more of old school thing. I have done a fair amount of travel and hiking in the mountains of the eastern USA during the past couple of months, and I have seen a lot of DSLR photographers, even on long hikes where one is a mile or more from a parking lot up a mountain, and some with some pretty hefty lenses. When I know there'll be some good scenery, I'll bring my K-1 II or K-3 II, usually with a single prime or zoom wide-angle lens; but if I think it's going to mostly be woods with not much chance for good photos, I'll often just bring my iPhone along (occasionally wishing I'd brought a DSLR, but not always). Last edited by cometguy; 10-18-2021 at 12:39 PM.

11-21-2021, 11:55 PM - 2 Likes	#6670
JC13839 New Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 3	After beginning to do my own B&W D&P in 1968, I've just sold all my darkroom gear. Problems were that I did not have access to a permanent darkroom, and setting everything up in the kitchen (and sending my wife to bed early!) just became too much. In addition there is now only one good shop for chemicals and film in my city, and their range is limited. I still have half-a-dozen or more Pentax film cameras of varying vintage, including what was my first ever Pentax, an SV, as well as my last, an MZ-S. Great cameras both of them and the SV works as well as it did when new. I also have a Rolleicord and a Russian rangefinder, but if I am going to choose film, I do tend to gravitate towards the MZ-S. Attached is a shot I made with my SV and a Super-Takumar 55/1.8, at maximum aperture and 1/8th of a second, in 1968 on Kodachrome 64. Attached Images

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10-17-2021, 09:29 AM - 1 Like	#6661
Dartmoor Dave Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Dartmoor, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,890	Originally posted by Trey45 It's a bit surprising to me that anyone shooting film for 40+ years hasn't begun developing it themselves. Then again, thanks to die-hard film shooters like him it's kept the industry alive. I shot Kodachrome for 30 years. If you've got a way to develop that at home then please let me know how. If only I could shoot just one more roll of Kodachrome 64 again in my life then I'd be a happy photographer indeed. (I'm actually making a serious point here. One of the main reasons why I only shoot one or two rolls of film each year nowadays is that the emulsions that I really love just don't exist any more.)

10-17-2021, 01:59 PM	#6662
Alex645 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2015 Location: Kaneohe, HI Photos: Albums Posts: 3,527	Originally posted by Dartmoor Dave I shot Kodachrome for 30 years. If you've got a way to develop that at home then please let me know how. If only I could shoot just one more roll of Kodachrome 64 again in my life then I'd be a happy photographer indeed. (I'm actually making a serious point here. One of the main reasons why I only shoot one or two rolls of film each year nowadays is that the emulsions that I really love just don't exist any more.) The K-14 process for developing Kodachrome was a very involved process and as far as I know, a DIY hand developing was never an option. It can be developed as a black and white slide, but adding your own RGB dyes to the precision of a machine is nearly impossible. How to Develop Kodachrome Film (B&W Hand Processing & Kodak's K-14 Process) « Photography :: WonderHowTo As far as I know, Dwayne's Photo Lab was the last K-14 processor on the planet, so you may want to reach out to them for any suggestions. Film Developing Lab \| Dwayne's Photo Even with E-6, I tried for years to do it better than a lab, but a good lab can process E-6 better than I can. Bottomline: Where are you going to buy Kodachrome? The film was discontinued in 2009, and every Kodachrome addict bought all stock they could and I doubt will part ways with it. The closest thing I've found to the look of Kodachrome is Fujifilm's Fujichrome Velvia 50 using 120 and a polarizer. Tripod becomes a must if you need depth of field or unless you're shooting wide angle. Low contrast overcast diffused light also helps. Kodachrome the King is sadly not rare....it's extinct.

10-18-2021, 01:26 AM - 2 Likes	#6663
Dartmoor Dave Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Dartmoor, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,890	Originally posted by Alex645 The K-14 process for developing Kodachrome was a very involved process and as far as I know, a DIY hand developing was never an option. Thanks Alex, I knew that already but it might well be useful information for others. My comments were really in reply to this earlier post in this thread by Trey45: "It's a bit surprising to me that anyone shooting film for 40+ years hasn't begun developing it themselves." I just wanted to point out that those of us who shot Kodachrome for decades didn't have the option to develop that film for ourselves. I also wanted to suggest that there are probably lots of us old film shooters around who would shoot more film nowadays if the emulsions that we used to prefer were still available. When I talked about how much I'd love to be able to shoot just one more roll of Kodachrome, I was being nostalgic rather than claiming it as an actual possibility when I know it isn't. Apologies for not making myself clearer in my original post.

10-18-2021, 02:04 AM - 1 Like	#6664
steephill Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2018 Photos: Albums Posts: 590	I saw three Pentax DSLR users at a classic car racing event at Goodwood in the UK at the weekend. It always attracts a lot of photographers.

10-18-2021, 02:08 AM	#6665
Lord Lucan Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Wales Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,978	Originally posted by Trey45 It's a bit surprising to me that anyone shooting film for 40+ years hasn't begun developing it themselves. I grew up helping my father develop and print B&W in his darkroom, and to him it was a hobby (and semi-profession) in itself. Fascinating at the time, but very time consuming and hard work, and I would not want to go through that again. I did do a term of colour printing at evening classes, and getting the colour balance right was very frustrating and wasteful of materials - I think I thew away 5 prints for every keeper. I have also developed Ektachrome for transparencies which is easy enough, and scanned them later. Even if I did my own D&P today it would only be for a few special pictures, not record shots of holidays, aircraft, family events etc. I wish well of anyone doing film D&P these days, but I have too many other things to do, and life is too short for them all.

10-18-2021, 03:31 AM	#6666
jersey Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: 3City agglomeration Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,062	You are lucky that you are meeting normal camera shooters at all. I was two weeks ago at Westerplatte, it is a "must see" touristic spot here, a place where second world war started so lots of people. There were 2 camera shooters, including myself (the other one was some young girl with Canon). Everyone else used cellphones. Yesterday I was a National Museum to see new exhibition of old Gdańsk porcelain and cruise through the normal exhibition and paintings. Lots of people, some tourists from Germany, I was the only one with camera, everyone was using cellphone. Same on streets of old town. It is not that Pentax is rare, it is cameras that are more and more of old school thing.

10-18-2021, 03:35 AM - 1 Like	#6667
Cerebum Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Lancaster Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,829	Tonight we are doing a portrait shoot. There will be five Pentax cameras there ....... OK, I am taking four of them (KP, K3, MX & Spotty) but there will also be another K3

10-18-2021, 04:42 PM	#6669
OrchidJulie Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Magic City Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,999	Originally posted by cometguy the small, plastic, black, round developing tank that you'd put a single roll of film in (wound on a spool) for developing at home without a huge darkroom. ---- Sounds like a Paterson rig -- I still have mine, although I have done any darkroom stuff in decades. Had access to the company darkroom when I worked for an agency with in-house photography studio, and we actually puttered around with E5 a few times. We did all the BW developing in-house, but usually sent the color out to a lab that could turn it around for us in a few hours regardless of the film size (135, medium formats, 4x5)

11-22-2021, 04:59 AM - 2 Likes	#6671
steamloco76 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Pennsylvania Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,710	I posted quite a number of images made with a Pentax DSLR body and two lenses which I said was going to be for sale soon. Several friends on facebook messaged me asking about the camera equipment, all were immediately uninterested when I mentioned it was Pentax. Okay? You complimented the photos I posted made with the gear, but think it is beneath you to own Pentax…. Ugh.

11-22-2021, 09:26 AM	#6672
lotech Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 1,312	Originally posted by abmj I've read the "pros dissing Pentax" thread and had a bit of a laugh. I shot high-end Canon for 30 years in my film days but am at a more laidback place now during semi-retirement. For the switch to DSLR, I couldn't justify the expense - particularly for good glass - that Canon entailed and went with Pentax. I am very happy with that choice despite the occasional sneer from my former Canon compatriots. Now, my topic. During the recent Worldwide Photo Walk, I joined 40+ area photographers for a fun day of shooting followed by a group lunch and wrap-up. In that group, I saw exactly zero Pentax DSLRs - aside from my own. I found myself "justifying" my choice not to go with Canikon during good natured discussions. Not so much distain but more "why in the world would a serious photographer NOT buy Canikon??" Are we really that sparse out in the world? We used to be rare, but ever since the release of K1-II and K3-III eyeballs slowly turned, and Pentax lenses are on the top of the list for adapting to MILC, who don't want a Takumar !

11-22-2021, 10:01 AM	#6673
Serkevan Site Supporter Join Date: May 2019 Photos: Albums Posts: 5,976	Originally posted by steamloco76 I posted quite a number of images made with a Pentax DSLR body and two lenses which I said was going to be for sale soon. Several friends on facebook messaged me asking about the camera equipment, all were immediately uninterested when I mentioned it was Pentax. Okay? You complimented the photos I posted made with the gear, but think it is beneath you to own Pentax…. Ugh. I can't fathom any of my friends saying that kind of stuff about my photos. Like, the heck. If the photo is good the photo is good. Any interest in the gear used should be purely academic curiosity - not out of any sense of vindication, confirmation bias or somesuch.

11-23-2021, 11:24 AM - 2 Likes	#6674
Alex645 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2015 Location: Kaneohe, HI Photos: Albums Posts: 3,527	Originally posted by steamloco76 \Complimented the photos I posted made with the gear, but think it is beneath you to own Pentax…. Ugh. Most people are ignorant or just biased, not critical thinkers or with enough experience to know quality comes from the photographer, not the name on the camera. But perception does affect reality and I struggled back in the day when Minolta made pro gear and I was seen as a second rate photographer until I got a bigger camera (645) and a Nikon. Now that I teach photography, I make students aware it's not about the name, it's about the photography.

11-23-2021, 04:33 PM - 1 Like	#6675
Photos-by-Chas Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Northwest Pennsylvania, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,318	Pentax was one of the forerunners in SLR camera development. The name "Pentax" is based on the first camera to use the pentaprism for a through the lens view finder. Look at the number of Pentax film cameras still around and functional. The name Pentax has a firm following and a very solid history of making good quality, durable and efficient cameras and lenses. I have been using Pentax for about four, or maybe five, decades. I've taken some good natured (and some not so good natured) ribbing about Pentax. I just figure those people may never have used a Pentax. Consider the source of the comments that disrespect the name and know we have good quality equipment that is reasonable priced.