Can old Kodachrome II still be developed in color, or only as black and white?
Asked 4/6/2017
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I have several undeveloped Kodachrome II rolls from the 1960s that belonged to family members. They’ve been stored for a long time. I know Kodachrome color processing ended in 2010, but I’d still like to know whether any real color development options remain today. Is there any commercial lab or home process that can still produce color from old Kodachrome, and if not, is black-and-white development the only practical alternative?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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At the moment I don't believe there is any way to develop your Kodachrome, either yourself or commercially. It's a complicated process that never AFAIK was able to be done at home. There were rumors that Kodak Alaris would consider restarting manufacturing of Kodachrome, but Kodak later said that that would be expensive and environmentally problematic, so unlikely to happen.
I know you specified color, but if that fails, some people have had success developing Kodachrome to create B&W negatives...
Originally by user11772. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user11772
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
True Kodachrome color processing is essentially no longer available. The original Kodachrome process was unusually complex and was not a practical home process, and the community consensus is that there is no established commercial option for reliable color development now.
There have been reports of experimental one-off services or individuals attempting Kodachrome color development, but with no guarantees. If preserving images is the priority, the practical option is to develop the film as black and white.
Kodachrome can be developed in standard B&W chemistry, and people have reported usable results with developers such as D-76 or even Caffenol. By contrast, C-41 color processing has generally produced disappointing results on Kodachrome.
Because your rolls are old and likely irreplaceable family images, test one roll first rather than all of them at once. If possible, use an experienced lab or darkroom worker for B&W processing and careful scanning. So: color is not realistically available in any dependable way; B&W recovery is the most viable path.
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