Agfa-Photo back in business!

RalphLambrecht · Sep 15, 2009

this afternoon's announcement through the local Leverkusen radio station FM 107.6:

no joke!

Several years after their bankruptcy and one thousand employees losing their jobs, Agfa-Photo announced today that they will be entering the photo-finishing market again. The business focus will initially be commercial print finishing with other business opportunities potentially to be added at a later date.

I'm not making this up, but I don't know what it means exactly either.

Sirius Glass · Sep 15, 2009

Maybe, maybe this is a start for better things to come.

Ian Grant · Sep 15, 2009

Where does this leave A&O who took over that part of Agfa ?

Ian

Aurum · Sep 15, 2009

Does this mean an Ilford Scenario, where some paper is made by the Japanese, film in the UK etc?

Nothing on the website in the way of press releases

More info please!

jglass · Sep 15, 2009

Well I'm always in the mood for good news of any sort on the film front. Thanks.

Rolleiflexible · Sep 15, 2009

"Photo-finishing" sounds like processing
-- minilab sales? Whatever it is, I hope
it does not derail the efforts of Adox to
restore Agfa papers and films to market.

rjr · Sep 15, 2009

Sanders,

Rolleiflexible said:
"Photo-finishing" sounds like processing
-- minilab sales?

No, more like printing photos, making photo books, selling coffee mugs with the photo of your toddler. "Finishing the photo". This is what german papers noted in regards to the topic.

Ian Grant · Sep 15, 2009

Aurum said:
Does this mean an Ilford Scenario, where some paper is made by the Japanese, film in the UK etc?

Nothing on the website in the way of press releases

More info please!

Have you got in a twist ?

Iford have manufactured both B&W film & paper for Japanese companies, including Fuji.

The only thing made for Ilford in Japan was Colour neg & Transparency film in the late 70's/early 80's. The idea being that Ilford would possibly be able to eventually begin making their own colour films again once they had a big enough customer base.

Ian

Mike1234 · Sep 15, 2009

Return of Agfapan????????

Ian Grant · Sep 15, 2009

Mike1234 said:
Return of Agfapan????????

As Adox soon, well once the glut of 35mm APX100 goes.

Ian

Sirius Glass · Sep 15, 2009

Not yet Mike. First baby steps.

abstraxion · Sep 15, 2009

Hopefully it's not going to be like how Polaroid "reentered" the market... with products nothing like what made them famous.

JMC1969 · Sep 15, 2009

Web Site

I don't know if this means anything to you guys, but the web site has a new (to me) page for Analog photography http://www.agfaphoto.com/appc/content_manager/page.php?ID=195501&dbc=61f4b98ddb60f6bc9c91db36604ad9b9

And listed under the Business tab they seem to have Minilabs and chemical sales. http://www.agfaphoto.com/appc/content_manager/page.php?ID=193771&dbc=6c88eebff2a4d5f0d8e77b864d98ec4f

railwayman3 · Sep 15, 2009

Ian Grant said:
Have you got in a twist ?

Iford have manufactured both B&W film & paper for Japanese companies, including Fuji.

The only thing made for Ilford in Japan was Colour neg & Transparency film in the late 70's/early 80's.

Ian

And, of course, Ilford inkjet and color papers are currently made in Switzerland by (I believe) a Japanese company (unconnected with our present "Harman Technology Ilford" in the UK) who took over the trademarks fot that part of the business. And Harman are now making their own brand of baryta-based inkjet papers for top-end work.

As regards Agfa since the bankruptcy, there seem to have been various re-incarnations of different parts and products, so I'm not getting too excited about this present announcement...I'd guess it's just a diversification of their business into the areas suggested by rjr.

Ian Grant · Sep 15, 2009

railwayman3 said:
And, of course, Ilford inkjet and color papers are currently made in Switzerland by (I believe) a Japanese company (unconnected with our present "Harman Technology Ilford" in the UK) who took over the trademarks fot that part of the business. And Harman are now making their own brand of baryta-based inkjet papers for top-end work.

I've never really thought of the Ciba side as being Ilford, the current company is Swiss although Japanese owned.

Ian

railwayman3 · Sep 15, 2009

Ian Grant said:
I've never really thought of the Ciba side as being Ilford, the current company is Swiss although Japanese owned.

Ian

True...thinking about it, didn't the Ciba people in Switzerland own the "old" Ilford at one time, and apply the Ilford name to their existing product? I, too, never really thought of "Cibachrome" as an Ilford product, my impression was that the then Ilford UK company just had (or were "landed with"? ) the hard work of sales and distribution.

Aurelien · Sep 15, 2009

Don't expect agfapan or MCC back in production: they sold their coating equipement or when too old==>crap.

Mike1234 · Sep 15, 2009

Sirius Glass said:
Not yet Mike. First baby steps.

Baby steps? Heck, I'll crawl on my hands and knees like a baby for 4x10 or 5x12 or 5x7 or 8x10 Agfapan 25 and/or 100.

Tom Kershaw · Sep 15, 2009

Ralph,

Are you able to make a guess at how this news relates the Adox MCC, and the re-starting of production of the APX films also under Adox?

Tom

RalphLambrecht · Sep 15, 2009

Tom Kershaw said:
Ralph,

Are you able to make a guess at how this news relates the Adox MCC, and the re-starting of production of the APX films also under Adox?

Tom

No, sorry.

I just reported what I heard this afternoon on the local radio.

Ian Grant · Sep 15, 2009

Tom Kershaw said:
Ralph,

Are you able to make a guess at how this news relates the Adox MCC, and the re-starting of production of the APX films also under Adox?

Tom

The former Agfa company's equipment & factories have gone to new owners. They can't be pulled back into one without considerable re-investment and takeovers.

Ian

AgX · Sep 15, 2009

The Agfa filmplant in Leverkusen is kaput, gone.

Sorry guys, but you are mixing things up.

The manufacturing part of AgfaPhoto (the `consumer-imaging´ part of Agfa) is gone at least concerning film-manufacturing.
What is left are activities like their German chemical plant, repeatedly sold and working on photochemicals only as side business.

What is left on the AgfaPhoto side is the AgfaPhoto Holding a legal entity not part of the AgfaPhoto insolvency.
Their major asset is the brandname AgfaPhoto, which strangly Agfa lost to them after a legal dispute.

To my understanding the AgfaPhoto Holding joins with a smaller Photofinsher. That's all.

What is left concerning film coating is the former mother-company Agfa in Flanders.

Sirius Glass · Sep 15, 2009

But we can still buy a master roll of Kodachrome from them, AgX, right?

AgX · Sep 15, 2009

It's all about money. If you pay enough they'll crank out Kodachrome for you...

Jeff Kubach · Sep 15, 2009

What ever happens it all looks good to me!

Jeff

Agfa-Photo back in business!

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