Articles

Interview with Dr. Adelstein: What is the future of my Kodachrome slides?

Dr. Peter Adelstein

We are glad to introduce a new series of articles that will contain short interviews by Dr. Peter Adelstein. Each interview will address some aspect of photo preservation.

Dr. Adelstein retired from Eastman Kodak Company after 37 years and then joined IPI in 1985. He is a well-known, worldwide expert in the permanence of photographic materials. For the past 25 years he has also been chairman of ANSI and ISO committees dealing with the permanence of imaging media. In 1998 he was awarded the Fuji Gold Medal by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, and in 2003 he was recognized by the International Imaging Industry Association for his contributions to international standards.

What is the future of Kodachrome slides?

Archival Advisor (AA): We have recently read with dismay that Kodak will no longer be manufacturing Kodachrome slide films. How can this be?

Dr. Adelstein (Dr. A): The answer is very simple. The sales of the product have decreased to the point where it is no longer profitable to manufacture. This is directly attributable to the widespread use of digital photography.

AA: But this was such an excellent product.

Dr. Adelstein (Dr. A): It certainly was. The color stability when stored in the dark is excellent and the color rendition will be very satisfactory for decades when kept under reasonable storage temperature and humidity.

AA: Many people have boxes and boxes of Kodachrome slides. What can they expect?

Dr. Adelstein (Dr. A): Discontinuing manufacture obviously has no effect on the permanence of your collection. The real problem is that 35 mm slide projectors are no longer available. If the one you have breaks down, it will be very difficult to replace. This is typical when a product becomes obsolete. How many music lovers can play their 33 rpm vinyl records? I would assume not very many.

AA: Our slide collections represent many years of family gatherings and wonderful trips. We don’t want to lose these memories.

Dr. Adelstein (Dr. A): You have a few options. One is to keep your existing slide projector in good working order and purchase several spare projector bulbs, as these also may not be available in years to come. You can also digitize your collection. Depending on the number of slides you have, the most economical way may be to purchase a slide scanner. These start at around $100. After scanning and saving your pictures to your computer’s hard drive, you can view them on your monitor, print them yourself, or order prints from on-line labs or from a local retailer for about 20 cents. If you don’t want to buy a scanner or don’t have enough slides to warrant the cost, your slides can be sent to a scanning service. The combined cost of the scanning service and subsequent printing is usually on the order of 50 cents each. You can even take your prints to a photographic store to be scanned and printed; however, this is likely the most expensive approach as cost varies between $1.30 and $2.00 per print. This works best if you have only a very small number of slides.

AA: Will the prints then have good stability?

Dr. Adelstein (Dr. A): Yes. These prints should have satisfactory color rendition after many decades if stored under reasonable conditions. And prints are ultimately easier to view than slides, so they’ll be viewed more often.

AA: This all sounds very logical, but it also seems complicated.

Dr. Adelstein (Dr. A): It certainly is, but how important is it to save your pictures?

AA: So what is the bottom line?

Dr. Adelstein (Dr. A): The bottom line is that the discontinuance of Kodachrome will have no affect whatsoever on the longevity of your collection. The lack of slide projectors in the future and how you store your slides will. Take time to scan and print your photos. You’ll be happy you did.