Questions About Processing Old Kodachrome Movie Film
A few days ago, Liz and I went to Wolff’s Flea Market over the Labor Day weekend. There, I happened across three reels of old movie film, and decided to buy them for $1 apiece.
I later learned from Alex that the film I got was Kodachrome, a type of film that is no longer processed. There was one place in Parsons, Kansas (Dwayne’s Photo), that used to do all the developing work (even Kodak outsourced their lab work to these guys)… but Dwayne’s processed their last roll of Kodachrome on December 30th, 2010.
To give you a sense of why no one is really processing the film anymore, here’s a great video by Xander Robin:
With that overview out of the way – I’ve got a few questions that I thought I’d post up here. I know little about developing film, and even less about movie film (which is what I purchased).
I know that from regular film, you can process it and get either photographs or slides. But what happens when you process movie film? Is the film itself converted into the thing you put into a projector and play? Or is the movie film used to create some other thing, some other playable roll of film?
I ask this because I’m not sure whether the film I have has been developed, if it’s playable, or if it’s simply all lost causes.
So here’s what I got. Three boxes in total, with the one of the left different (thinner) than the ones on the right. They’re all Kodachrome, but I don’t see a lot of identifiers about the one on the left. On the right, it seems to be Kodachrome 40 movie film.
I know of 8mm film, but I’m not sure what “Double 8mm Roll Cameras” implies. I know certain films are meant for certain devices, but I honestly don’t know: is everything pictured here considered 8mm film?
Out of the packaging. The one on the far left looks like it’s already been processed. That, along with the tag on the box, suggests to me tha this film has already been to the store and been worked with. So my question is: can I pop this thing into a (8mm?) projector and watch it?
As for the cannisters on the right: I don’t know if I should even open these up to check. Does the yellow tape mean that the cannister has been opened and possibly processed somewhere? Or does the tape mean that it’s never been opened? Would opening either of these two ruin the film, kind of how you can ruin regular camera film by exposing it to daylight?
If I am able to open them up, how would I tell if they’d been processed? Or does that simply not matter, if they’re not playable rolls of film?
Just curious to hear back from camera/movie folks, as I’m secretly hoping it’s not a lost cause.
Related:
A Brief Excursion To Wolff’s Flea Market
I Wonder What’s On Here
Found Film Developed: Goodbye, Columbus
1. Movie film is exactly like still film, it’s just longer and skinnier. In fact, some still photographers buy film made fo 35mm movie cameras, cut it up into shorter strips, and load it into cartridges.
Alex (September 5, 2012 at 9:58 am)2. Yes, what you have there, when processed, is what physically goes through your projector.
3. I wouldn’t open those bags, but the one on the left is either processed or completely ruined. There’s no risk in taking a look.
4. The unprocessed film, if exposed to light, will be ruined.
5. Like I said, Kodachrome can be processed as black and white. However, my guess is that it’ll be expensive if you can even find a place to do it.
6. You could do it yourself, but be prepared for a learning curve.
7. I would guess that the double roll means that it was intended for cameras with greater capacity. Shouldn’t be an issue if you have an 8mm projector.
Thanks, Alex! With the links you recommended, I don’t think I’m going to undertake processing the film – it seems pretty expensive (and no way am I going to try to learn how to do it myself). If I ever come across a huge cache of film, maybe… but not for three.
For sure the one on the far left is processed. And I think the yellow tape one has been as well (maybe). Going to try to open that guy up to check. I heard from Chris that some 8mm film starts inside a kind of cartridge, which may suggest that what I have here has already been processed.
I guess my next thing to keep an eye out for is an 8mm projector.
avoision (September 5, 2012 at 2:18 pm)On the movie film, the one on the left has been processed. It is double 8mm film, which has slit along the middle and spliced together to make 2 25-ft long films into one 50 ft film. This can be loaded into a regular 8mm or super 8 projector and projected. The other films have not been processed. They are most likely past expiration date. If you have an 8 mm camera you can shoot them. They will run approximately two minutes. Then you have to open the camera up and turn film over and rethread it. Super 8 came in cartridges that merely had to be popped into cameras. They have akarger hub on the projector to mount reel on. Film has be rewound onto that little reel when finished showing.
I used to have an 8 mm camera so know how they work.
Dwayne’s photo distributes Double 8mm film. They no longer process Kodachrome as the chemicals are extinct. Film Rescue (www.filmrescue.com), will process Kodachrome as black and white but at about $40 per roll.
Hope this helps.
George R Carlislel (October 14, 2013 at 4:34 pm)Can’t wait to see what you discover on those reels.
Maureen (September 5, 2012 at 5:51 pm)The yellow band means it has not been opened. It is ready to be loaded and used. I am up against the same issue. I bought a Bell and Howell 414 (Zapruder camera model) that I want to use. I have some Kodachrome film that has long since expired, but I want to try it anyway. I cannot find anyone who will process it.
Joe Bitner (September 8, 2012 at 1:17 pm)My friend Alex mentioned a way to process the film yourself, or possibly one other shop that might do it. Check the comments here.
And thanks for the tip about the yellow band. I have no real use for the film, and it sounds like you might. Would you like it?
avoision (September 10, 2012 at 7:55 am)Hello Avoision,
I recently purchased a Super 8 camera and have been looking for more film for it. If you still have the unused reels and nobody else has offered to take them off your hands, I would love to talk with you about getting those. You can email me. Great post here, and thanks for posting the video!
Julia Fensterman (January 16, 2013 at 7:29 pm)Just sent you an email, Julia!
avoision (January 17, 2013 at 7:56 am)…
You probably know this by now but “Double 8” is not Super 8. Doubledesigned for older (pre-Super 8) types of movie camera. It’s actually film with different perforations. You run it through the camera once, flip it over, reload it and then run it back the other way. Then the film gets processed and slit along its length to form one strip for viewing.
As for processing Kodachrome as BW then yes it can be done, although results may vary!
greets from London
phil (May 21, 2013 at 8:37 am)My husband recently died and I found an entire shoe box full of processed Kodachrome movie film and I want to know what kind of projector I can rent to watch these movies. Can anyone help me?
Summer (May 21, 2013 at 3:28 pm)Wow, I am glad to stumble on this thread – I recently was given about 50 rolls of various old film rolls of old family footage! Here is what I have learned:
Some 8mm CAMERAS took “double 8mm” rolls – think 16mm, which goes thru the camera, gets taken out, reloaded backwards, and run again.
You take this 16mm size “double 8mm” to the store and they develop it. Cut it in half lengthwise. Splice it together. Now you have one long filmstrip that is ready to watch, and 8mm size. That is what you have on the left in your pic, it is ready to watch on a 8mm projector
My question is…how do you tell if double 8mm has been exposed? Obviously you can’t look at it. I have a few rolls, some of them have a black tape around the film itself, some of them have a black tape around the tin canister. What does that mean?
Also I have some super8 cartridges. Is there anyway to tell if there is any footage on them, before I spend $$$ to send them off to get developed?
Andrew (June 13, 2013 at 12:16 am)Film Rescue International will process Kodachrome film as B&W for $34.00
http://www.filmrescue.com/old-movie-film-developing/
mielr (August 26, 2013 at 4:00 am)Thanks so much for this link! I am trying to get some old family films converted and am completely lost…
Jessica (September 2, 2013 at 2:09 am)Hi everybody! I’m a student film maker and i’ve recently made an amazing discovery two days ago. I came across a working Revere 85 8mm projector! Considering its from the 1940’s im shocked it still works and is in such great shape. I figured now that i have the projector i should get a camera to go with it right? i purchased a kodak brownie online that takes double 8mm film. the only problem im having now is im having difficulty finding information about film for it and how to process film or what kind of processing needs to be done for it? im extremely new and extremely lost at with this process. I know that the film needs to be cut down the middle when processed because of the whole “double” 8mm part.
Chelsea (April 12, 2014 at 12:18 pm)I also found some “Fomapan R100 Double Standard 8mm Black and White Transparency Film (10m)” on the B and H website. Im assuming this film will work with it considering its double 8mm.
i know im talking in circles! If anyone has any information on the film processing; like the basics i neeed to know and WHERE I can send it to get it processed that would be extreme helpful! thank you so much for reading this ridiculously long post! please email me!! lombardochelsea@gmail.com
Hi — I found one “double 25′ roll” of Technicolor color movie film. It’s still in the can, never opened or used. The box says “for roll cameras only”. Does anyone know what a roll camera is? Is it just an 8MM camera? Just curious. Thanks!
Karen D. (February 26, 2015 at 1:50 pm)hi…i recently found kodachrome moive films from 1960’s that was from my family and want to watch on a projector …is it possible to buy a projector for this film or any ideas what i should do? any comments would be much appreciated…kindest regards, kate:)
kate (February 24, 2020 at 9:18 pm)Kate, you’re better off getting the family films scanned than put them through a projector. If they are old then the projector may very well chew them up. A clean scan will look great and you can watch them without endangering the original reels.
ben (August 25, 2020 at 8:50 am)