Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, many brands used Kodak imaging sensors. In the beginning, they were valued. But after some time, Sony and Canon sensors started to push ahead. When the Canon 5D and 40D came out, photographers started to question what was capable of digital cameras and high ISO output. The Nikon D3, D700, and D300 all took that even further. The poor Kodak sensors couldn’t keep up — and instead, focused on images that could be shot at lower ISOs. They looked fantastic with medium format cameras, but with smaller sensor cameras, it wasn’t as celebrated. But these Kodak sensors had something very special, they delivered images that looked like film.
The Kodak sensors we’re talking about were CCD and LiveMOS sensors. They differed from the CMOS sensors — which promised better battery life, high ISO output that couldn’t be matched, and more. Some of the most prominent cameras to use these Kodak sensors were:
- Leica S2: A medium-format beast of a camera. Combined with Leica’s lenses, photographers were in love.
- Pentax 645D: A camera that caused a lot of excitement when it came out. The series caught on with many wedding photographers and a few commercial shooters. Photographer Bill Wadman loved his and made beautiful photos with it.
- Leica M9: The first mirrorless full-frame camera. Photographer Benji Messmer demonstrates just how beautiful the images are.
- Olympus EP3: This was the first camera with super fast autofocus that DSLRs couldn’t match. With this camera, you could also use the Grainy Black and White setting to get photos that looks like black and white film.
These days, CCD sensors in cameras are a thing of the past. Today, you can do a few different things to get looks like this. The Leica M11’s sensor automatically harkens back to the Leica M9, which looks like Kodak slide film. Panasonic’s S5 II and a few other cameras from LUMIX have the ability to take Real Time LUTs that make them look like film. You can do the same with Canon and the styles you add to the camera via their software. And of course, to get the look of Kodachrome, you can use Fujifilm cameras and choose something like Nostalgic Negative or Classic Chrome.
In the past few years, photographers have really wanted these looks to come back. And it showed that the film look wasn’t a fad. Tons of presets do it, and brands have started to give in and let photographers upload profiles to their cameras.
What I really wonder more than ever now, though, is if CCD sensors could ever make a real comeback. They were mostly designed to operate at lower ISOs in the same way that film was. This dictated that photographers worked in a totally different way than they do today. To put that into more perspective, this was a time before the ISO auto setting was a reality. No one used to trust ISOs on cameras above 400. When 1600 started to become acceptable, then photographers shot there more often because it wasn’t really accessible before.
These days, a lot more shooting capabilities are more accessible than ever. The Sony a9 III lets photographers shoot with a flash at literally any shutter speed without needing to go into high-speed sync — and the creative possibilities haven’t even been realized yet.
But what would happen when photographers limit themselves again and start shooting different?
