Scanning large Kodachrome Slide collections

Introduction

Kodachrome needs to be scanned in a different way than other slide films in order to prevent second-rate scans. At slides.com scanning Kodachrome film is our specialty, we use special equipment and techniques to produce the best possible scans from this amazing film. Please join us while we explore the history, technical aspects, and ideal methods to digitize this splendid media.
About the film

The original Kodachrome slide film was first made publicly available in 1935 and quickly became one of the most popular films of all time. Being the first majorly accepted color photographic film Kodachrome played an integral part of colorizing the way we captured and viewed the world. The film has been a favorite for professional’s armature’s alike. There is a certain look or feel to a Kodachrome that sets it apart from other films. It has very natural mid-tones, yet is capable of producing extremely robust pure colors. Many famous still images and movies were shot with the film. It was a favorite film for photographers at National Geographic, Life, and Time. It was the film used in the famous image of the Afghan Girl, for the June 1985 issue of National Geographic magazine.
The sharpness or resolvability is higher with Kodachrome then any other color film that I know of. Even today it takes an expensive digital camera and a skilled image specialist to come close to producing what Kodachrome gave you with a single click. While now discontinued Kodachrome has earned a place in history through the millions of memories it has captured.

What made it different?

Among its 74 year production lifespan many variations of the film and process were introduced but they all basically worked the same way… Three layers of light sensitive silver halide particles known as the emulsion were added to a sheet of clear film, each layer is sensitive to a different primary color (Red, Green or Blue). During processing chemicals react to the silver halide particles and form photographic dye couplers. The amount of dye an area of the image receives depends on the amounts of Red Green or Blue light received during the exposure. The dyes filter part(s) of the light spectrum from light that is transmitted through the slide allowing for a wide degree of color tones to be reproduced.

This differs from other types of slide film in that the dyes actually come from the film processing chemicals and form on top of the film emulsion rather than being included in the emulsion itself from the start. Because other films include the dye couplers in the emulsion, you get a thicker emulsion increasing the amount of light scattering during the image capture making it less sharp then Kodachrome.

Reasons to have Kodachrome slide collections digitized (scanned):

This will allow you to edit, print, and share your images.

Also, a digital image can be persevered indefinitely; it will not mold, fade, or change color over time. A digital image can be copied and shared with 100% integrity. Images can be stored at multiple locations providing a secure back up of your precious images.
Even under ideal conditions, color slide film degrades over time, while much can be done to restore faded or shifted colors digitally, there is always a level permanent and irreversible damage associated with aging color film.
Scanning can restore faded slides to close to their original appearance.

Best methods to scan (digitize) Kodachrome slides:

We strongly believe the best method for you to digitize (scan) your Kodachrome is to send the us and have us scan them on our very expensive and highly specialized Kodachrome-calibrated HR-500 plus scanner. The quality of Kodachrome scans on this equipment is second to none, and due to also being faster and more automated we are able to offer you the best value around. The value compared to scanning your slides is extraordinary; even if you borrow a film scanner from a friend it could easily take you 40 hours or more to scan what we would only charge you $200 for… We feel the choice is clear for anyone who values their time.

Generally scanning Kodachrome is more difficult than scanning other types of slide film due to three main reasons:

1. Kodachromes have a higher D-max (blacker blacks) than most slide film. Lesser film scanners have trouble capturing the tones and details in dark areas of the film. In addition a poor quality scanner will produce more noise and may have related image issues such as banding in dark areas.

2. Kodachromes have an odd reddish blue cast when scanned with most film scanners. Removing the cast takes significant time and the results still might not be as good as our system which includes true Kodachrome calibration settings that surpass the quality of automatic correction, and even the “hand correction” in most examples we have seen.

3. The emulsion interferes with the infrared sensors used for all kinds of Digital ICE except for digital ICE 4 which is not available on any current retail slide scanner. Our scanner uses this special kind of Digital ICE to automatically remove dust and scratches.

Our opinion is that competing services are not fully optimized in these three criteria required to produce the best scans from your Kodachrome slide film… Either that, or they charge a radically higher amount then we do. For value and quality slides.com is the place to get your scanning done.