The Evolution of Slides

[NW Mailing List]

April 13, 2019

 The Evolution of the Slide in the World of Digital Railroad Photography           

                  by Norris Deyerle N&WHS Member Number 0211

When I  It was more forgiving than slide film for a novice photographer.  I took my railroad photos with print film until I wanted to start participating in presenting our Blue Ridge Chapter, NRHS and Roanoke Chapter, NRHS slide shows.  So I asked advice on what type of slide film I should use. The preferred side film of choice back in the day was Kodachrome 64. The Reverend David Leonard was one of the Blue Ridge Chapter’s most talented railroad photographers. He shot with Kodachrome 64 quite a bit but would also use professional grade Kodachrome 25. His slides were a true pleasure to view. Before Kodachrome’s unfortunate demise they had developed Kodachrome 200. I shot a number of slides using the Kodachrome 200 speed slide film. It was more forgiving like the print film I originally used. I really never felt that I mastered using Kodachrome 64. Not even sure if I ever ventured into Kodachrome 25 territory more than a few times because it was not very forgiving for a “picture taker” like me. In 2010 Kodak {Dwayne’s Photo} stopped developing Kodachrome slide film due to the harsh chemicals known as the “Secret Sauce” that it took to develop the slides. To purchase a striking yellow and red Kodachrome 1935 – 2010 Commemorative T-Shirt visit www.dwaynesphoto.com.  I have purchased a number of train slides over the years taken by other photographers. The slides that seem to hold true to their original color are Kodachromes. I have Red Border Kodachromes that were taken in the late 1950’s that are just as vibrant as new ones. Kodachrome slides are easy to recognize due to their distinctive emulsion side. The emulsion side is less shiny and has a bit of texture to it when held up to light. All slides have an emulsion side but if you compare an Ektachrome or Fujichrome slide to a Kodachrome you can see the difference. 

Due to dropping customer demand and complex manufacturing issues Kodak stopped manufacturing slide film in 2012. Inventories of Kodak’s other slide film, Ektachrome and Elite Chrome Extra Color lasted another 6 or 9 months.  This essentially left Fujifilm as the sole remaining player in the market.

 Then we were told that slide film and print film were obsolete and were going to be replaced by digital images. Serious and novice photographers switched to digital photography and sold their SLR film cameras. Then we were advised to digitalize our prints and slides so they would last for eternity.  Some railroad slide photographers even went as far as digitalizing their slides and prints and throwing their originals away! Gasp!

Well those digital images are in a digital format and the photography word is in a better place. Or is it? Computers with your digital images crashed and the formats you saved them on have been lost. So aspiring entrepreneurs decided to use reverse sales tactics to get photographers digital images turned back into slides! Statements such as slides are forever, easier to store and locate the ones that you are looking for.  I found out about converting digital images while I was bidding on slides on eBay. One eBay slide seller named Steve was using the description of some of the slides he was offering for sale as a digital image made into a slide! I was confused about that statement so I emailed the eBay slide seller. Steve told me that he was just starting to list some digital slides for sale to test the market. He’s a photographer and writer that still “shoots” slides. I asked him if Dwayne’s Photo processes his digital to slide images. He told me that they did not. He said that you send a digital file via an upload and a lab does it. Amazing work, you look at it with a loupe and it’s unreal! To see if he has any digital slides offered on eBay at this time check out his eBay site “sams3163”. Google “Converting digital images to slides” for tons of info including how to videos. For a free test slide visit https://www.colorslide.com/free-test-slides/ .

The sales from these digital slides can be endless. You can offer top quality digital slides that in the long run will reduce the price per slide with no loss in quality.  Recently I spoke with Al Chione by phone. Many railroad slide collectors consider him the premier producer of railroad duplicate slides. Mr. Chione told me that he has decided to stop producing duplicate slides due to his decision to retire {partly due to his age of 77 years old} and after the recent price increases from Fujifilm. His duplicate slide sets of both the N&W and VGN railways are my most prized duplicate sets. Al told me that he took original photos of his favorite railroad, the N&W, in 1954 and 1958 while visiting in West Virginia. As a young man he was given some photo tips from O. Winston Link!  

Well I hope that this article gives you a current picture of the growing digital slide market. With the crazy prices that some older railroad slides are selling for digital slides may be the way to go. At least you can hold a slide in your hand instead of storing it in a digital file. Wasn’t that always one of the benefits of “shooting” slides?

Sincerely
Norris Deyerle