This August 2023 I turned 64 years old. For this reason, and until my next birthday, I decided to shoot all my home movies with Ektachrome 64T film (type 7280), which I have kept in my refrigerator since the second half of the first decade of this century.
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| European and American cartridges for Ektachrome 64T |
The 7280 was the option that Kodak offered to us the filmmakers when, in 2004, the beloved brand from Rochester decided to stop manufacturing the legendary, unique and inimitable Kodachrome (which Dwayne's laboratory continued to process until 2010, being my documentary about La Coruña the very last commercial work filmed in the world in Kodachrome, in 2010; see it below this screen -English subtitles availabe pressing CC:
2010: A CORUÑA EN SUPER-8 KODACHROME from IB CINEMA Motion Picture Films on Vimeo.
At 2004, Kodak's choice of the 7280 to replace the Kodachrome 40 was strange because the 7280's film speed is 64 ASA, a value that the vast majority of consumer cameras cannot read accurately.
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| Bauer C900 Egido version camera can read properly 64 ASA film speed |
Some film laboratories adjusted the processing times, but what then happened to the films when correctly exposed to 64 ASA and not 40? At first the filmmakers, with his retinas accustomed to Kodachrome, were also bothered by the texture of the 7280, with a very visible grain.
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| Two boxes, one film |
Why did Kodak choose the 7280 and not go straight to the 7285, fine grain despite its film speed of 100 ASA, as it would do starting in April 2010? It was rumored, I don't know if correctly, that the reason was to market the unsold 35mm master rolls of the 7280 that were left uncut at the factory when sales of 35mm slides fell abruplty between 2003 and 2004. Despite to the lack of suitability of the 7280 for Super-8, the market "digested" all the 7280 stock in less than five years!!!
Initially, some master 7280 rolls were sent to the Kodak factory in France to be cartridged in Super-8. These rolls incorporate a surprising warning:
"Do not turn the cartridge core by hand."
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| European box with the warning |
It is surprising for me because, in Super-8, to avoid jams, always the first thing I always do is tap the cartridge a little and then turn the spindly by hand to check that the film to check the film advance (first, I moisten first frame of the emulsion, in the upper in the cartridge gate, with a bit of saliva with my finger - so emulsion changes colour - and, in this way, I can check if the film progresses correctly -one centimeter is enough-).
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| American box, on the left |
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| Super 8 machinery moved to Colorado from France. Photo by Greg Kurtz |
On some cameras whose winding clutch systems were either week or did not lock when the camera stopped, a broken restraining pin would allow the wound roll to clock-spring outward. Thus, when the camera turned on, the camera’s winder would be winding up the already exposed film rather than the just exposed film and the camera would never catch back up winding a tight roll. The new film coming into the wind-up side of the cartridge would thread back and forth on the outside of the sprung roll until I could not push the film inward, and that would lead to the film jamming.
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| Super 8 machinery moved to Colorado from France. Photo by Greg Kurtz |
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| Super 8 machinery moved to Colorado from France. Photo by Greg Kurtz |
64/64T
This personal film of my 64 years old full 12 month, which due to my age and the emulsion I will title "64/64T", I began to film with the oldest 64T cartridges in my fridge, the ones loaded with 7280 from the master rolls sent from America to France to be cartridged in Super- 8 (this cartridges were returned to the United States to be distributed worldwide and, after going through different distribution channels, it ended up in Spain and, finally, will be processed in Holland).
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| Beautiful memory of Kodak factory in Australia |
But the question is why Kodak pack this 7280 in France? In the good old days, Kodak manufactured Super 8 film cartridges in a number of plants but as volumes changed due to the incursion of video systems, first to close down was Coburg, in Australia. Others closed, too, leaving only Kodak factory in Chalon-sur-Saône, in France, and Kodak Colorado (which had moved from Rochester in the late 1980’s).
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| 2.000 workers in this factory in France. They made film but mostly of the workers were using digital cameras when the factory was closed! |
Eventually, sometime around 2005, Kodak closed the French factory and production was moved to the Kodak Colorado operations, which then moved back to Rochester around 2010-2011 when the Colorado operations was closed. The dedicated team of people working the Super 8 finishing line, many who were here since the day it came back from Colorado premises, continue to strive to make each cartridge one worthy of the Kodak name.
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| Nowdays, its economic impact is smaller, but the Kodak name is still a staple in northern Colorado |
Over the years, I got several 7280 cartridges from the different batchs sold by Kodak between 2005 and 2010: since they were in my possession I kept them in the refrigerator, but before that, God knows!, so it was a lottery to know what I'm going to get.
- IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR THOSE FILMMAKERS WHO WISH TO INCORPORATE SUPER-8 INTO THEIR PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO:
For those readers in the professional field who believe it is convenient to offer Super-8 in their service portfolio, I always recommend Pro 8mm, the same provider used by Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee or J.J. Abrams.
My recommendation is proven: it certainly makes me proud to work with Phil and Rhonda Vigeant, whose efforts on Super-8 have been recognized by the ASC.
At Pro 8 mm they serve in Spanish and English, in the following link, and shipping to Europe takes only 3 days!
The complete catalog of products and services can be seen at the following link:
I was born in 1964, so I like that number. I bought once a camera and received with it 3 cartridges of Ektachrome 64T, same batch. I shot one, developed by Riccardo Pascucci, and the result was quite good. I used the second one for a shot that now is the loop image under the menus of the blu-ray disc of "L' Arminuta", a beautiful film I shot as a cinematographer, with Arri Alexa cameras. A digital movie with a tribute to Super 8. Ektachrome 64 cartridges are now difficult to find and you can't know the way they were stored. A friend of mine have some, but they were not stored into a fridge, who knows what can come out from them.
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EliminarYou are too a baby boom man, like me, but I am a bit older. During last years, I have purchased 64T from several sources, so, results will be a lottery.
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