[D4rknezz]

Hi ...

Kodak gets court OK to sell film business

What does this mean for the film roll? I am scared - lol I just got into this and things are going out of business . Where do I find a list of well to do film roll producers who will still be churning out their products for the next 50 years?

[Wired]

Hi ...

Kodak gets court OK to sell film business

What does this mean for the film roll? I am scared - lol I just got into this and things are going out of business . Where do I find a list of well to do film roll producers who will still be churning out their products for the next 50 years?

I could be interpreting the article wrong...but I think they are still making film on the hopes that the profits will pay for the pension of the retired Kodak employees.

I hope we don't lose Kodak film. I can't stand the colors of Fuji film. The amazing work I get from Portra is amazing

[Racer X 69]

Where do I find a list of well to do film roll producers who will still be churning out their products for the next 50 years?

I doubt there will be film 50 years from now.

[tlong423]

"The Kodak Pension Plan, in turn, picks up Kodak's . . . professional and consumer camera film businesses, with hopes of being able to use the profits from those businesses for years to come to pay retirees' benefits."

Gosh, this is the best news I have heard in a long time, frankly. The film products have languished for years under the incompetence of a company whose board has shown zero interest in profitable enterprises.

Now, it looks like the film products will finally have an owner with a vested interest in making a profit.

As for worrying about film's future -- in my opinion, if you shoot color film you probably have reasonable concerns. If you shoot black and white film, however, I don't think you have a reason to worry at all. I suspect the Kodak T-Max offerings, along with Tri-X, will be available for several years to come. And if you shoot mostly Ilford (like me), I think the future is not too scary at all.

[maxfield_photo]

Fuji, Ilford, Adox, Efke, Foma, and Rollei.

[LesDMess]

I don't worry about it because it is here now and there is no substitute for it . . .

[gofour3]

I'd love to see Kodak bring back at least one E6 product.

Phil.

[dboeren]

As long as there is demand, someone will keep making film. I expect it will be around for a while.

[Jonathan Mac]

Film will be around for a long while yet, though I suspect it will be progressively more in the hands of small start-up companies with the desire to innovate and promote themselves. Unlike Kodak, who are apparently selling their only profitable business line and the one product they're famous for. I hear they'll concentrate on their terrible, terrible printers.

[stevebrot]

I believe that this is a continuation of old news (court approval of a previously stated action). The photography business unit that is going to the UK pension plan is the Personalized Imaging (PI) unit which includes the disposable camera line, consumer film (Kodak Gold), and the photo kiosks.

Kodak Announces Comprehensive Settlement with U.K. Pension Plan, Moving Kodak toward Exit from Chapter 11

It should be noted that it is the intent of the pension fund to continue operation of those units in the interest of sustaining revenue for the fund's members. This would essentially translate to business as usual. Note too, that this is not a sale per se. Kodak has a standing obligation to the pension fund. This is a transfer of asset to satisfy and free the company from that obligation.

[JimJohnson]

I'd love to see Kodak bring back at least one E6 product.

Phil.

And part of me hopes they don't - - - I would then seriously regret having sold my Super Program and have to start looking a replacement!

[JimJohnson]

Folks, there are right now many roll film formats that have not been available for a long time, and that doesn't even touch film types. Just as importantly, the processing supplies are getting harder to find, replacement parts for existing equipment are getting harder to find, and other than a piece here or there, I doubt anyone is producing new film handling equipment for the general photography industry.

We will see chemical photography as an art form for at least another 50 years, and going back to the days when photographers made their own plates, for much longer than that. But I am afraid the days are numbered for chemistry based general photography.
Enjoy it while you can. I know if I could still easily find 616 roll film, I would still be using my 80-90 year-old folding cameras.

[stevebrot]

Folks, there are right now many roll film formats that have not been available for a long time,

...with most of them having disappeared long before digital. A good example is 616. I had an old box camera that took that size when I was a kid and even then (say 1967) 616 film was sort of hard to come by. I think I could get Verichrome and Kodacolor-X, but only at the camera store (Kenmore Camera in Seattle...still in business). As for processing supplies...I can get just about anything I want via mail order as well as from local merchants here in the Portland area. I guess I am lucky in that parts for my enlarger are still available new. In fact, my enlarger model can still be purchased new from Freestyle. Jobo is producing processors and parts again ($$$) and I don't know of any particular piece of manual darkroom equipment that is particularly hard to get.

That is not to say that things are like they were back-in-the-day when you could outfit a basic darkroom for contact printing at the local drug store, but it is hardly a picture of universal doom and gloom. The main issue that I see is the relative dearth of available quality new 35mm film cameras for purchase. Things are good if you like rangefinder gear and not so good if you prefer SLRs. New medium format and large format gear is easy enough to find, but $$$.


Steve

(...must confess that Portland is pretty much a film photography utopia with several stores catering to vintage gear and film photography supplies...)

[JimJohnson]

(...must confess that Portland is pretty much a film photography utopia with several stores catering to vintage gear and film photography supplies...)

Sigh, don't I wish.

There are no camera shops within a 100 mile (each way) drive of my home, IF you can call Best Buy a camera shop (ugh). When I do walk into most camera shops (if I spot one) when I travel, they don't seem to sell much more than the previously mentioned Best Buy.

[TomB_tx]

There are no camera shops within a 100 mile (each way) drive of my home.

In my years in the UP it was 100 miles to a town with more than one stop light, but at least Houghton had a devoted Leica dealer. Some things gained, and much lost.