For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas

New York Times ^ | December 30, 2010 | A. G. SULZBERGER

[meyer]

No, not really. A Lens Cap serves as a lens cap. You can burn through the shutter of a film SLR with a telephoto lens pointed at the sun, too. Especially on the focal plane shutters most film SLRs used. It was rubberized cloth. The later ones had metal focal plane shutters, but even those could be damaged that way, and the hot spot on the shutter can't much good for your film, either. I suspect that would be true on a digital camera, as well, having spent some time as an electronics tech.

My first reply got blown away - web site failure!

Anyway, the reason I mention the shutter as a protector to the sensor is that the shutter mechanism is much cheaper to replace than the sensor. Shutters today are made from carbon fiber or titanium, not rubberized cloth. While they can still be damaged by sunlight through a telephoto lens, they are more durable than they used to be.

The reason that I mentioned sensor damage is that pointing a DSLR at the sun while in live-view mode (sensor is exposed, real-time image displayed on back) is cautioned against by the manufacturer. Also, I know of at least two incidents where sensors have been damaged while shooting video at a laser show when the laser light shined directly into the camera.

Can't argue with that, as I got out of the photo business back when digital cameras were in the $10K range. I still have my Canon A1, but it is dying, and too expensive to fix right now. Either the mirror pivots are worn out, or some other problem has happened to cause the mirror to move VERY slowly when the shutter is released. I've also got an Elan 7E, but not gotten to play with it much. Film cameras have gotten to expensive to play with. The A1 has had over 10,000 rolls of film through it; I used it professionally from 1980 to 1985, working as an Air Force photographer.

I have an A1 also. It was my dad's camera, and it's sitting proudly on display in the curio cabinet next to my old FT-QL (which was also my dad's until he got his A1) and the Argus that Dad used in the mid-1960s. They all work mechanically, though I can't vouch for their performance since I haven't used any of them in years. Haven't even shot film since 2003 when I got my Canon 10D.

If you really like, a place called KEH.com might be able to repair your A1, or you may be able to buy one in good condition there. They specialize in used camera gear and repairs, though they also sell new gear.

I always enjoy Travis McGee's posts, but I haven't read any of his books yet. I need to, but I'm so behind in my book reading that I really need to catch up with what I already have before moving forward. Since the commies took over the federal government in 2008, I've been on overload, alternately going into reading, home improvement, and yardwork. Just trying to keep something positive going.

[FrankR]

I used a lot of Tri-X in Germany in the 1960's, but I didn't save any of those cannisters. I also used a lot of Ectachrome color slide film.

We had a photo hobby shop on base (Hahn AB) and I did a lot of developing and printing there, even developed one roll of color slide film, about 20 chemicals involved having to keep them all within about 2 degrees of each other...we stored the chems in "snap-cap beer bottles" and set those in big pan of warm water for a couple hours to prepare them. Good thing we had endless hot water on tap there on base.

All of that is history now, photoshop is my darkroom.

[meyer]

That’s typically not a problem on a DSLR as you still get the mirror response when the shutter trips.

Dang!! The mirror. I forgot completely about the mirror, which does serve to protect the shutter from direct light (and I failed to mention it in my response to "Old Student". The mirror is obviously in the light path and redirects the majority of the light to the pentaprism and away from the shutter.

[Paladin2]

I’m hoping that flash memory will last for quite a while. There are CF and SD boards that can make the flash memory act as an IDE drive.

[Paladin2]

"Therefore, a picture of a race car in motion might be sharp; but it would make the car, and especially its wheels, appear to be leaning forward."

I have a digital video camera that produces the same effect, especially for objects near the camera.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Willie Green pushed public train systems for years and years before this happened. I kinda miss Willie.

[Kenny Bunk]

Kodachrome for me will always be the absurdly rich color photographs of the old National Geographic. Fuji tried to recapture the feeling.

But for me. it was always Ektachrome!