Kodachrome is Gone for Good

June 22, 2009, Kodachrome is discontinued. The last roll ever made was developed for Steve McCurry on July 14 of the following year. That final roll marked the end of a 74 year long era for Kodak, and the death of one of the 20th century’s most iconic products. Sadly, Kodachrome had it coming. During its fateful final days it only managed to eke out a mere fraction of 1% of Kodak’s annual sales.

Since Kodachrome’s death there have been continuous rumours that it might be returning some day soon. The 2017 re-release of Ektachrome, another film stock Kodak canned in an effort to nurse their bleeding accounts, stirred up a lot of excitement for such a possibility. Comments that Kodak was “investigating” the possibility a Kodak executive during an interview made kicked up enthusiasm on the topic.

I’ve given the question “could Kodachrome come back?” a lot of thought. Kodachrome is a complex film. It’s difficult to manufacture, and even more difficult to process; requiring dedicated, specialised facilities and chemistry. Unlike E6 or C41, the K14 process Kodachrome relied on couldn’t be done just anywhere. It would require a herculean effort on Kodak’s part to revive the film. I would however hazard to say that the complexity & difficulty of the task isn’t the reason Kodachrome isn’t coming back. I have faith in the good people of Rochester NY, I’m sure that they would pull of such a stunt, given the funding.…

Funding, there’s the problem. Look at film prices today. They’re astronomical. A roll of conventional E6 or C41 colour film from Kodak is already an expensive luxury for many. Kodachrome was expensive in days where your could buy a roll of film for mere dollars or less. Scale that up to today, figure in the costs Kodak would need to incur to revive manufacturing Kodachrome, add the film developing costs, and suddenly, a single roll of “new Kodachrome”, should such a thing ever exist, would become unaffordable to most. Unaffordable to most equals very few sales.

An expensive product that doesn’t sell doesn’t make sense. This is why Kodachrome isn’t coming back. Not because it’s too complicated or difficult to make and develop. For those are issues that can be conquered with time and money. Simply because no one would be able to afford the product that would result from such an effort.