Kodak Aerochrome is considered by many photographers today as the holy grail of film stock. Despite its cult status, Kodak doesn’t seem to be able to or interested in producing this legendary emulsion. So, it’s up to creative minds like Jason Kummerfeldt of grainydays to come up with all sorts of contraptions and hacks in hopes of landing a substitute.
Well, as with many of these things, his version isn’t exactly an actual Aerochrome copy. In the video above, Kummerfeldt talked about his attempts — and a bunch of others — to recreate the look as close to the real thing as possible. He came up with a DIY handheld camera rig equipped with a beamsplitter glass. This setup allowed him to shoot with two Nikon SLR cameras, one loaded with an infrared black and white film and the other with a color negative film.
Next, we see how the contraption was as challenging to operate as it was building it. Of course, after getting the scans, next came post-processing the snaps to combine the infrared black and white and color photos. It’s a painstaking process, but we can’t deny that it looked like a fun project and experiment in recreating the iconic Aerochrome film.
So, did he get the coveted Aerochrome look? Not as close, as he liked, but the results still turned out pretty interesting! Was it a worthwhile endeavor? Kummerfeldt thinks so, all in the name of finding out. But what about you, what do you think?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, or in our group discussion if you’re already part of the Photofocus Community!
