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Smarter Every Day

This is how Kodak film gets from the factory to camera store shelves

May 22, 2023 by John Aldred 4 Comments
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It’s been a while since we last saw an update on Destin Sandlin’s visit to the Kodak factory in Rochester, New York. Part One was posted way back in March of last year. It looked into how Kodak produces the actual film onto which the chemicals are placed. Part Two arrived a few months later in July, going over the chemical processes involved in making it light-sensitive and how they’re applied to that film base.

Now, we’ve finally got Part Three, where Kodak takes us from those big drums of sensitised film to cutting it up, adding the sprocket holes, making and filling the canisters, popping those into film cases and finally, retail packaging. Let the adventure continue!

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This is how Leica tested shutter speeds 100 years ago

Mar 1, 2023 by John Aldred Add Comment
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These days, with the digital technology we have available, measuring time is a fairly simple affair. Even for most of us at home, we can get a suitably fast (and very cheap) microcontroller like an Arduino or ESP32 and measure times down to tens of thousandths of a second. But how did they do it 100 years ago, when nothing was digital, but where accurately measuring time was vital for camera operation?

Well, in this video from SmarterEveryDay, we find out as Destin takes a trip to Finland to visit the Kamera Store. Kamera Store is a company that restores and revives camera gear. They cover everything from the newest mirrorless cameras to absolutely ancient relics from photography’s past. But how they test those shutter speeds on older mechanical cameras involves some absolutely fascinating principles.

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This is how they apply light-sensitive chemicals to film inside the Kodak Factory

Jul 22, 2022 by John Aldred Add Comment
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We’re back in the Kodak factory in Rochester, New York today with Destin from Smarter Every Day. It’s the second part of a three-part series looking into exactly how Kodak makes its film stock for photographers. In part one, we saw a general overview of the mechanical processes involved in making the blank film base and in part two we find out how they actually make it light sensitive.

As with the first video, part two is almost an hour long and goes into a lot of depth into not only how the process is done but why certain choices are made during manufacture, depending on the needs of the final product.

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Take a tour around Kodak factory to learn how they make film

Mar 24, 2022 by Dunja Djudjic Add Comment
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Kodak recently made film photographers happy by announcing the Kodak Professional Gold 200 in 120mm format. And if you’ve ever wondered how they make it, Destin Sandlin of SmarterEveryDay will make you even happier. He recently visited the Kodak plant in Rochester, New York, and in his latest video, he’s taking you on a tour around the factory.

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This fascinating documentary takes you on a journey through the Kodak factory to see how film is made

Mar 21, 2022 by John Aldred Add Comment
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Film’s popularity has been on the rise for a few years now, gaining more and more ground each day. And as Destin Sandlin at Smarter Every Day points out at the beginning of this video, it’s not just us photo geeks that are getting back into it, either. I wouldn’t say it’s becoming “mainstream” again, but it’s regular normal everyday people who are experimenting with film again now.

The 56-minute video is the first of a three-part series in which Dustin takes us on a tour of the Kodak Factory in Rochester, New York where they still have production lines making new rolls of film to keep the growing market happy. Kodak isn’t the only manufacturer of film that’s still around today, but they’re one of the oldest and most legendary.

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Watch: How film and developing actually work – It’s both magic and science

Jun 19, 2021 by John Aldred 6 Comments
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This is one of the deepest dives into film photography and the developing process I’ve seen. Not surprisingly, it’s from Destin at Smarter Every Day. He says that he went looking to find a definitive video that explained it all and he couldn’t find one. So, he made one.

Destin begins by talking of the “magic” of film and the unique look and character it has that’s impossible to reproduce digitally. He also mentions film’s resurgence of late (I guess it’s mainstream now – the hipsters will be disappointed). But it’s not magic. There’s actual science behind it and Destin takes us to visit Indie Film Lab to see how the process works.

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This video explains the science behind photographic film

Jun 14, 2021 by Dunja Djudjic Add Comment
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I think many of us agree that there’s still something special about film photography even in the digital age. Film photos have some magic to them, and there’s a lot that comes before we see their final look. In this video, Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day shows you the magic and the science behind shooting, developing, and scanning a roll of 35 mm film.

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What causes this weird line in this super blue blood moon photo?

Feb 7, 2018 by Dunja Djudjic 21 Comments
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The photos of Super Blue Blood Moon have been all over the internet in the past couple of days. Destin Sandlin from Smarter Every Day took some shots too, and he captured a phenomenon that got him utterly confused.

Destin and his friend Trevor Mahlmann shot the moon aligned with Saturn 5 rocket in Alabama, USA. As the tip of the rocket and the moon got aligned, a dark line appeared, and it stayed in line with the rocket’s tip all along. Destin has a great knowledge of both astronomy and photography, but this phenomenon got him so confused that he turned to the community for help. Can you tell what this line is?

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How to record slow-motion sound for a tomato exploding at 60,000fps

Dec 27, 2017 by Dunja Djudjic 1 Comment
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Have you ever wondered how ultra slow motion videos get their sound recorded? They don’t just record the real sound and slow it down along with the footage. In this video, Destin Sandlin from Smarter Every Day walks you through the process of recording sounds for slow-motion videos. Particularly, for a tomato exploding at 60,000 fps and a few other fun slo-mo videos.

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Handheld mini explosions at 20,000fps are absolutely beautiful

Jun 23, 2016 by John Aldred 1 Comment
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The humble spud gun, which may or may not be illegal to actually use, own or even make where you live, is a wonderful thing.  Packed into this potato launching barrel of fun, however is a lot of very cool looking science.

A month or so ago, Destin Sandlin of YouTube’s Smarter Every Day, built one using clear pipes, so that we could see what was happening as he hurled potatoes towards some watermelons.  In his latest video, he brings the spud launcher back out with a high speed camera shooting 20,000fps and the results are amazing.

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Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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