What Films Would You Like To See Kodak Re-Introduce Again? And why?

[DrLogik]

#1: KodaLith
#2: Kodachrome

 

[XyDark]

E100VS, E100SW, E200, Ektachrome 400X. Really any of their old reversal films.

 

[George Mann]

E100VS

YES!

 

[thinkbrown]

I'm sure I've said this somewhere else on photrio, but essentially the only thing I really want to see from Kodak is a cheaper e6 film. Slides are a ton of fun, but at $22/roll I'm only willing to shoot it half frame. I want to see something akin to what Gold is to Portra in the slide space.

 

[benderscameracorner]

I used to shoot a tonne of EliteChrome and BW400CN 25+ years ago. I could live without the latter now I dev myself and 1hr minilabs don't exist on every corner, but the world hungers for affordable slide film.

Oh, and add me to the HIE/High Speed Infrared list... it was a pain, but it got results.

 

[braxus]

I'd volunteer to Kodak to test Plus X for them (being a content creator), because I develop my own B&W and have a stash of the last batches of Plus X to compare it to. Same with Panatomic X. I know Youtubers get a lot of advance film from Kodak to make videos for them, basically getting almost free advertising for them.

 

[eli griggs]

Tri-X and Plus-x in both 135, 120 and 70mm x 100', for loyal photographer base.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I'd volunteer to Kodak to test Plus X for them (being a content creator), because I develop my own B&W and have a stash of the last batches of Plus X to compare it to. Same with Panatomic X. I know Youtubers get a lot of advance film from Kodak to make videos for them, basically getting almost free advertising for them.

But they would only give you film if you have thousands upon thousands of subscribers, and tens of thousands of views per video... that leaves you and me out!

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

That agreement lapsed and was replaced.

Do you know what the new one allows for both sides?

 

[Milpool]

But they would only give you film if you have thousands upon thousands of subscribers, and tens of thousands of views per video... that leaves you and me out!

I think one of the ways to get there is for the thumbnails to show you making some kind of funny face or scratching your head, something like that, and you definitely have to be pointing at something. The pointing gets you millions.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I think one of the ways to get there is for the thumbnails to show you making some kind of funny face or scratching your head, something like that, and you definitely have to be pointing at something. The pointing gets you millions.

I'll try that!

 

[BrianShaw]

...I develop my own B&W and have a stash of the last batches of Plus X to compare it to. ...

Me too, in both 135 and 120. Wish I still had some 4x4, though.

 

[BrianShaw]

I think one of the ways to get there is for the thumbnails to show you making some kind of funny face or scratching your head, something like that, and you definitely have to be pointing at something. The pointing gets you millions.

Beard... check.
Hat... check.
Camera pointed in wrong direction... ?

Turn it around and point at something, preferably with a more quizzical expression on face, might be a good idea!

 

[MattKing]

Do you know what the new one allows for both sides?

No

 

[braxus]

But they would only give you film if you have thousands upon thousands of subscribers, and tens of thousands of views per video... that leaves you and me out!

I guess I better up my game. Maybe put nude pictures of women in my videos to boost views and sub counts. Haha. Seems morally corrupt videos gets views.

 

[MattKing]

I just noticed that this thread is in the Black and White film sub-forum.
Was the question intended to be limited to that?

 

[Dr. no]

It has wandered into E6, but since Kodachrome is currently only a (marginal) B&W film (for most of us) we included it

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

No

What makes this interesting is that ALaris was bought out a couple of years ago. The new owners had to know what the new agreement was before purchasing the company. Why would the new oweners get themselves involved in a company that could lose their rights of exclusivity? It seems to me that some subsequent deal has been negotiated creating all this or there would have been lawsuits.

 

[MattKing]

Alaris has other business besides film.

 

[braxus]

I just noticed that this thread is in the Black and White film sub-forum.
Was the question intended to be limited to that?

I didnt know what section to really put it in, but color was also to be included. Though I didnt think others would start mentioning other brands too.

 

[eli griggs]

Forgot to add kodachrome, being focused on b&w.

 

[Scott J.]

In similar, previous threads I've cast my vote for E100VS, as that was my favorite film circa 2000-2010. It had the saturation of Velvia 50 and 100 but with better white and midtone neutrality (at least for my workflow). I'll occasionally pull out some old examples shot on a Mamiya 7ii or an RZ67 and scan them on my Howtek, and it still impresses from a technical standpoint. Blue skies and water look genuinely blue instead of the overly magenta-shifted blues you commonly get with Fuji films (nothing against those films -- I like them too -- they just have a different "look"). Current E100 is a better film from a technical standpoint, but it's not as lively and fun as E100VS.

Beyond mere desire, I think there's also a reasonably good "business argument" to be made for Kodak releasing another color positive film, given that there's clearly more demand for it than what is currently being supplied by the market (i.e., Fuji Provia and Velvia constantly being out-of-stock, etc.). While I'd love for that film to be E100VS, I think there's a better chance of an EliteChrome re-release (e.g., EC 200 or EC 400), given that doing so would kill two birds with one stone: 1) offer a faster color positive option; and 2) offer a more budget-friendly option. It would also intersect nicely with Kodak having recently brought back their own E-6 kits.

HIE would get my other vote (Aerochrome 1443 would be amazing, but that's too much of a longshot to seriously contemplate). For Kodak to do this would require someone on the inside getting a wild hair to do something fun and purely for the sake of injecting some excitement into the analog community (and I do think there's occasionally an argument for businesses that sell hobby-type products to pursue such things, even if only for a limited time). Infrared/aerial films only ever existed because of industrial/government need for them, which consumer use can't realistically match. It'd be interesting to see a financial breakdown that analyzed how much it would cost to revive an old emulsion for which Kodak already owns the intellectual property rights, for them to do a limited manufacturing run, and how much the end product would have to sell for in order for them to meet their minimum profit expectation.

 

[armadsen]

While I'd love for that film to be E100VS, I think there's a better chance of an EliteChrome re-release (e.g., EC 200 or EC 400), given that doing so would kill two birds with one stone: 1) offer a faster color positive option; and 2) offer a more budget-friendly option. It would also intersect nicely with Kodak having recently brought back their own E-6 kits.

HIE would get my other vote (Aerochrome 1443 would be amazing, but that's too much of a longshot to seriously contemplate).

My vote is for a faster slide film, as well. An "E400" sounds great, but a cheaper option wouldn't go amiss either.

As for Aerochrome, my understanding is that not long after discontinuing it, the machinery in the factory was upgraded and now uses infrared light and sensors as part of the automation, meaning they can't produce infrared sensitive film on the current line without fogging it. I assume that applies to HIE as well. That's according to Robert Shanebrook on an episode of Camerosity, anyway.

 

[Scott J.]

As for Aerochrome, my understanding is that not long after discontinuing it the machinery in the factory was upgraded and now uses infrared light and sensors as part of the automation, meaning they can't produce infrared sensitive film on the current line without fogging it. I assume that applies to HIE as well.

That's interesting to hear, and makes sense. If we're allowed to really dream, I'd love to see someone (Kodak, whoever) create a new film that has the deep IR sensitivity that HIE had (out to 900 nm) but with the fine grain and sharpness of Agfa Aviphot Pan 80 or Pan 200. Agfa no longer manufactures aerial film, so it's only a matter of time before the existing old stock of those emulsions is used up confectioning the various Rollei/Adox/Silberra/Catlabs/JCH iterations of those films, at which point IR film will be all but dead (SFX 200 always felt a bit underwhelming to me, and isn't available in sheets). Gotta get Agfa and Kodak talking to each other!

 

[Bill Burk]

Create a 200 speed conventional film named Super XX, in 35mm, rolls, and sheet film. It would be cool .

You know their 5222 is a pretty good 35mm film. Hard to control contrast, I just can’t seem to hit 0.62 CI reliably.

But I am really enjoying using it over TMY2 which was my previous favorite fast film until I started thinking I wanted different grain.