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Kodak dropping film--sad news indeed

S

Shelby Lewis

Guest
Oh no!

I was under the impression that professional films would still be manufactured and that only consumer films would be discontinued. I certainly hope so.
 

250swb

Member
They are selling the business, just like they did with the sensor manufacturing division, so somebody will buy it as a going concern. Even if all the machinery is transported to China if won't be very long before production is up and running again.

Steve
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Fire up the freezers oh ye film faithful.

Placeth the generator near to grant immortal live.

Go forth and maketh images all the days of your life.



Seriously, how in hell could such a thing happen? Kodak has to have been inefficient at a criminal level.

I've never understood some of their business moves ... at one time they were ahead of everyone with their MF digital backs and suddenly quit, then later bought controlling interest in Leaf, then sold that. :wtf:

Some years ago, I was part of an initiative on the part of over 20 major companies to share business ideas and promote cross pollination of marketing positions and techniques by pooling external assets and information ... Kodak executives were highly resistant to changing world ideas and IMO arrogant to deal with. Shortly after, the winds of change became a hurricane.

-Marc

The King is dead, long live King Fuji.
 

biglouis

Well-known member
This is indeed bad news. And a wake-up call. Maybe I have to think carefully about the future of my film photography and reluctantly move over to digital-only.
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member

I've never understood some of their business moves ... at one time they were ahead of everyone with their MF digital backs and suddenly quit, then later bought controlling interest in Leaf, then sold that. :wtf:


The purchase of Leaf was nearly accidental. Leaf happened to be owned by a larger company that Kodak purchased. That lead to one of the greatest ironies in medium format - Leaf, despite being owned for a good while by Kodak, did not and does not use Kodak sensors.

Leaf is much better off (in my biased opinion) being part of Team Phase One now than they ever were being a small part of the large Titanic that was Kodak.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
...so somebody will buy it as a going concern. Even if all the machinery is transported to China if won't be very long before production is up and running again.
Move it to China and then clean up the toxic waste site the US location has become? Who ever buys it is going into a small market that shows little growth. They will then most likely be liable for the environmental conditions at the site. A site that could have been operating for over 100 years with some really nasty stuff in the ground--imagine is it ever got into the ground water and folks noticed ten years from now.

Environment rules (fortunately) will only get stricter, even in China. I would really think hard before getting into the film business.
 

stngoldberg

Well-known member
WHY WOULD YOU SUGGEST THAT KODAK HAS AN ENVIROMENTAL PROBLEM? DO YOU KNOW THIS TO BE A FACT? VERY IRRESPONSIBLE IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FACTS

STANLEY
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Stanley, film production uses toxic chemicals. By its very nature it is a contaminated site. This is hardly news. The longer a site has been in production, the greater chance of contamination. Especially since many environmental laws are not always retroactive. No news there either. Any buyer is a), not going to be reading this site, and b), and more importantly, already aware of this.

BTW, your cap lock is on.
 
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chrism

Well-known member
Rather than argue about contamination of the Kodak factory, what have you done to preserve the choice of film? Since my last post above, I have ordered from Freestyle:
20 x Ilford Pan F+ 120
20 x Ilford FP4+ 120
20 x Ilford HP5+ 120
20 x ADOX 25 120 (I hear Efke are about to discontinue altogether)

(I have more bulk 35mm than I will probably use in my remaining life, so I'm concentrating on the films most likely to be discontinued soon.)

If we don't buy them, they won't make them! Please do your bit to preserve the choice for the next generation.

Chris
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Chris, your purchases will really help Kodak and preserve their line of film. But Kodak film is only going to survive if there is a purchase of the company's holdings. While there are far more knowledgeable people here who know chemical plants are as pure as the driven snow and would buy a Kodak film processing line without even checking its environmental condition, the barriers to actually taking over the business are great. I personally would like to see whatever is left of Kodak film to continue. While it is charming to think someone will swoop in and save Kodak by simply changing the management, I think you will find the purchase far more complicated than that. It also does not help that Kodak is in bankruptcy as they have very little choice over the liabilities of the purchase--I doubt they would let someone strip an site and leave it for them to clean up and, if they do, there is no great financial benefit to them. But they are trying to sell it as a "going concern" and so are looking for someone to take over the plants. Which is actually a better choice as they can also save a portion of the jobs. And if they want to continue to improve processes, they are going to need those engineer who are probably not looking to move around the world. Kodak film can only survive in Rochester, NY.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
I visited one of the shops that has a good selection of film in Bangkok yesterday, and they claimed that Ilford (Harman Technologies) have been buying colour film technology from Kodak lately. This is obviously totally unverified at this point, but if it's true, it's very good news.
 

chrism

Well-known member
Chris, your purchases will really help Kodak and preserve their line of film.
I hope that's sarcasm, however misplaced. My purchases are all designed to support Ilford (and sample a discontinued line of eastern European) film.

Chris
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Does anyone know when production is due to end? Just when I get a penchant for Ektar 100 they go and do this!

Should I bother stocking up on 120 Ektar now lor wait for a while yet?
 

Oren Grad

Active member
Does anyone know when production is due to end?
It's not due to end. Kodak's stated intention is to sell the film business to someone else who wants to keep running it. There's no guarantee that they will find such a buyer, of course, and if they don't then all bets are off. But as of now there is no scheduled end of production.
 

EH21

Member
My favorite films are TMax 400, Provia and Ectar so to read Kodak will be selling their film business is not great news at all. If they can't make a profit then who will?
 
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