B&H's Camera Museum is embarrassing

[Alan Edward Klein]

Gee, I wonder who manufactured the brand new Ektachrome films that I just received? Could it be Eastman Kodak?
And the George Eastman museum is a vibrant and active museum.

The museum is an independent organization. Ektachrome is made by Kodak Alaris a British firm that wound up with Kodak consumer film division including Portra, T-max, Ektar and Ektachrome when Kodak couldn;t pay the union's pensions that it owed their employees in Great Britain. Kodak itself sold off most of its patents and films and everything else except movie production film used by Hollywood. That and a few side products are all that's left. This Kodak, from the original Kodak, is on its last legs. It's really a shame.

 

[faberryman]

Ektachrome is made by Kodak Alaris a British firm that wound up with Kodak consumer film division including Portra, T-max, Ektar and Ektachrome when Kodak couldn;t pay the union's pensions that it owed their employees in Great Britain.

Eastman Kodak makes the film and Kodak Alaris markets it.

 

[MattKing]

The museum is an independent organization. Ektachrome is made by Kodak Alaris a British firm that wound up with Kodak consumer film division including Portra, T-max, Ektar and Ektachrome when Kodak couldn;t pay the union's pensions that it owed their employees in Great Britain. Kodak itself sold off most of its patents and films and everything else except movie production film used by Hollywood. That and a few side products are all that's left. This Kodak, from the original Kodak, is on its last legs. It's really a shame.

Sorry Alan, but you have it turned around.
All Kodak photographic film is manufactured by Eastman Kodak. They continue to use the facilities in Building 38 in Kodak Park in Rochester, New York.
The motion picture film (which is still produced in fairly large quantities) is marketed directly by Eastman Kodak.
The Kodak still films are manufactured by Eastman Kodak for Kodak Alaris and then marketed, sold and supported by Kodak Alaris.
As part of the Eastman Kodak bankruptcy settlement, the UK Kodak pension fund obtained the exclusive worldwide rights to market (not manufacture) Kodak still films and Kodak photo-chemistry. They also received the rights to market Kodak colour photographic paper, along with ownership of the Harrow manufacturing facility and leasehold interests in a number of other (manufacturing?) facilities around the world.
That pension fund incorporated Kodak Alaris to hold and operate those assets and realize on the value of that business.
Kodak Alaris recently sold the Harrow property, and now contract with Carestream in Colorado to manufacture the paper. The Carestream facility started out as Eastman Kodak's, but when Eastman Kodak divested itself of its X-ray film business a large portion of that ownership went to the newly formed Carestream company, who now manufacture and sell Kodak branded X-ray materials. Eastman Kodak must have retained some interest in that facility - most likely a leasehold interest - because the UK Kodak pension plan/Kodak Alaris did acquire that interest as well in the bankruptcy.
Eastman Kodak remains as a much larger entity than Kodak Alaris, although most of its business is no longer photographic, and it has some financial challenges.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Samys on Fairfax in Los Angeles has a bigger museum but they do call it that. They call it display cases.

 

[slackercrurster]

I'm not too amazed at how we have some BH fanboys here that stand up for BH's pitiful excuse for a camera museum.

I mean, 90% of the photogs on these forums take snapshot quality photos. So it is no wonder that we have so many that think BH's 2 shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. It goes hand in hand.

 

[CropDusterMan]

[QUOTE="I mean, 90% of the photogs on these forums take snapshot quality photos. So it is no wonder that we have so many that think BH's 2 shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. It goes hand in hand.[/QUOTE]
Ya, two shelves is not a museum.
Have you got a link to your website?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Eastman Kodak makes the film and Kodak Alaris markets it.

China makes my wife's iPhone and Apple markets it and owns its rights.
China makes your Nikon and Nikon markets it and owns its rights.
So Kodak is the manufacturer for Alaris film products.
The point is Kodak doesn;t own the film anymore than China owns Apple iPhones. Alaris markets it and owns the film rights. I suppose at some point if Kodak tanks, ALaris my get ownership of the film manufacturing plants. I don;t know the contract or bankruptcy court's decision in this matter. But I would think that ALaris is protected somehow from Kodak doubling their prices to manufacture, for example, or stopping production entirely. Alaris must be protected somehow or their lawyers didn't do their job.

 

[faberryman]

China makes my wife's iPhone and Apple markets it and owns its rights.
China makes your Nikon and Nikon markets it and owns its rights.
So Kodak is the manufacturer for Alaris film products.
The point is Kodak doesn;t own the film anymore than China owns Apple iPhones. Alaris markets it and owns the film rights. I suppose at some point if Kodak tanks, ALaris my get ownership of the film manufacturing plants. I don;t know the contract or bankruptcy court's decision in this matter. But I would think that ALaris is protected somehow from Kodak doubling their prices to manufacture, for example, or stopping production entirely. Alaris must be protected somehow or their lawyers didn't do their job.

 

[NB23]

Well... you proclaimed youself as being among the world’s best street photographers. Just about as legitimate as BH’s self proclaimed museum.

No?

I'm not too amazed at how we have some BH fanboys here that stand up for BH's pitiful excuse for a camera museum.

I mean, 90% of the photogs on these forums take snapshot quality photos. So it is no wonder that we have so many that think BH's 2 shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. It goes hand in hand.

I'm not too amazed at how we have some BH fanboys here that stand up for BH's pitiful excuse for a camera museum.

I mean, 90% of the photogs on these forums take snapshot quality photos. So it is no wonder that we have so many that think BH's 2 shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. It goes hand in hand.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

The museum is an independent organization. Ektachrome is made by Kodak Alaris a British firm that wound up with Kodak consumer film division including Portra, T-max, Ektar and Ektachrome when Kodak couldn;t pay the union's pensions that it owed their employees in Great Britain. Kodak itself sold off most of its patents and films and everything else except movie production film used by Hollywood. That and a few side products are all that's left. This Kodak, from the original Kodak, is on its last legs. It's really a shame.

To correct my original post, change "made" to "owned". I guess that's where I confused people. Sorry about that.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

As to actual museums, I would like to think that if I were to go to Japan it would be possible to visit Nikon, Canon, Pentax (Ricoh) as a visitor and they would have at least a room dedicated to their older cameras. Similarly, I would hope to see a collection of Leica, Exakta, and Zeiss cameras somewhere in Germany.

Do museums like this exist?

 

[Oren Grad]

For many years, Pentax had a camera museum conveniently located in Tokyo. Eventually it was moved out to a Pentax factory several hours away, and around 2009 it was closed, I believe in connection with the factory itself being shut down.

I saw it in Tokyo in 1993. It was marvelous. This thread has some views of the museum after it was reconstituted at the factory:

http://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=1849.0

The Tokyo incarnation of the museum had a similar look-and-feel, so those pictures give a good sense of what I saw on my visit.

 

[dmr]

They don't sell their museum pieces. Says it right there at the museum.

Everything is for sale! You just need to offer them the price they want!

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I'm not too amazed at how we have some BH fanboys here that stand up for BH's pitiful excuse for a camera museum.

I mean, 90% of the photogs on these forums take snapshot quality photos. So it is no wonder that we have so many that think BH's 2 shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. It goes hand in hand.

You start a thread saying you went for a "shoot" inside a store (which is amateur speak for walking around with a camera), then you rip people here for taking "snapshots". Funny though Daniel, i couldn't find you in MoMA's database, or any other museums I checked. No galleries either. Maybe you are just a frustrated snapshot artist yourself? Yeah, that is probably why you have such a chip on your shoulder.

Who cares if BH's museum stinks. They sell things, they aren't a cultural institution.

This thread is comical.

 

[NB23]

Actually you missed it.

He said it himself many times before. He is the best street photographer there is on the planet.

You start a thread saying you went for a "shoot" inside a store (which is amateur speak for walking around with a camera), then you rip people here for taking "snapshots". Funny though Daniel, i couldn't find you in MoMA's database, or any other museums I checked. No galleries either. Maybe you are just a frustrated snapshot artist yourself? Yeah, that is probably why you have such a chip on your shoulder.

Who cares if BH's museum stinks. They sell things, they aren't a cultural institution.

This thread is comical.

 

[BrianShaw]

Sigh. A big ruckus over a couple of display cases of old cameras. Go figure...

 

[removed account4]

I'm not too amazed at how we have some BH fanboys here that stand up for BH's pitiful excuse for a camera museum.

I mean, 90% of the photogs on these forums take snapshot quality photos. So it is no wonder that we have so many that think BH's 2 shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. It goes hand in hand.

im no fanboy but i love taking snapshots. thats all photography is anyways even when it's "elevated" to an art form..

 

[faberryman]

I'm not too amazed at how we have some BH fanboys here that stand up for BH's pitiful excuse for a camera museum.

I mean, 90% of the photogs on these forums take snapshot quality photos. So it is no wonder that we have so many that think BH's 2 shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. It goes hand in hand.

I see no B&H fanboys here and no one has said that the two shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. Everyone is shaking their heads in dismay as to why it is a bee in your bonnet.

 

[Cholentpot]

It's NY, everywhere needs to be a museum.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I'm not too amazed at how we have some BH fanboys here that stand up for BH's pitiful excuse for a camera museum.

I mean, 90% of the photogs on these forums take snapshot quality photos. So it is no wonder that we have so many that think BH's 2 shelves of cameras is a wonderful museum. It goes hand in hand.

I agree. I would never post any photographs because when I did, it was copied 200 times in less than 24 hours on this website. So yes most of the posted photographs are snapshot quality.

 

[removed account4]

I agree. I would never post any photographs because when I did, it was copied 200 times in less than 24 hours on this website. So yes most of the posted photographs are snapshot quality.

no clue what your photo upload has to do with "snapshot quality" photographs orythe OP 's claim's that the " camera museum" at b+h is pitiful ?
BTW i have read your posts before that your photograph was posted elsewhere without your permission.
years ago you used a different number and said it was lots more than your current estimate,
how you you know this?
was it uploaded with an electronic tracking watermark (digimark) so you could identify where it was being used ?
i've worked with and for people who did the same thing unfortunately, there are lot of "takers" in this world.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

For many years, Pentax had a camera museum conveniently located in Tokyo. ...
I saw it in Tokyo in 1993. It was marvelous. This thread has some views of the museum after it was reconstituted at the factory:

http://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=1849.0

...

Nice - thank you. I wish I could've been there at that time.

 

[Helios 1984]

For many years, Pentax had a camera museum conveniently located in Tokyo. Eventually it was moved out to a Pentax factory several hours away, and around 2009 it was closed, I believe in connection with the factory itself being shut down.

I saw it in Tokyo in 1993. It was marvelous. This thread has some views of the museum after it was reconstituted at the factory:

http://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=1849.0

The Tokyo incarnation of the museum had a similar look-and-feel, so those pictures give a good sense of what I saw on my visit.

Now, this is what I call a museum!

 

[AgX]

For many years, Pentax had a camera museum conveniently located in Tokyo. Eventually it was moved out to a Pentax factory several hours away, and around 2009 it was closed, I believe in connection with the factory itself being shut down.

Agfa had an own photo museum too. Vanished into stock decades ago. Meanwhile ownership has changed too.

 

[AgX]

My experience showed that manufacturers' interest in archiving and showing their history is most different between them and even at one manufacturer alone it may vary over decades with ups and downs.