Back in June 2018, the Ferrania Folks hoped to be in continuous production by Fall

[TheGreatGasMaskMan]

as much as I want to shoot p30 again, I have to remind myself how backlogged I am on scrubbing the dust off my bw scans (I'm still working on stuff from 2020)

 

[fdonadio]

Photo Service in Montreal. Be forewarned - it’s $19.00 a roll.

Thanks, Michael. I just wanted to know if they got it recently or if it’s old inventory.

 

[faberryman]

Photo Service in Montreal. Be forewarned - it’s $19.00 a roll.

That would certainly explain why they still have it in stock.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

And I thought TMY was unobtainable!

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I'll still try a roll or two of 120, if it ever materialises.

 

[AnselMortensen]

I'll still try a roll or two of 120, if it ever materialises.

Me, too.
If.

 

[Nzoomed]

Any more updates from Film Ferrania?

 

[mohmad khatab]

Any more updates from Film Ferrania?

They work, but very slowly.
The Italian mentality is very similar to the Egyptian mentality.
The owner of the project wants to work alone, does not want to share with anyone, does not want to get a homeless or investor in order to obtain capital, and thanks to work slowly and refuses to share the dream and the project

 

[faberryman]

They work, but very slowly.
The Italian mentality is very similar to the Egyptian mentality.
The owner of the project wants to work alone, does not want to share with anyone, does not want to get a homeless or investor in order to obtain capital, and thanks to work slowly and refuses to share the dream and the project

I was watching this show the other night about the how the pyramids were built and it looked like more than one guy was involved.

 

[Cholentpot]

I was watching this show the other night about the how the pyramids were built and it looked like more than one guy was involved.

I'm gonna agree with Mo.

There's a certain Mediterranean ethic that is at play. It'll get done, and the end result will be amazing. But 180 degrees from what everyone expects.

 

[Nzoomed]

I'm gonna agree with Mo.

There's a certain Mediterranean ethic that is at play. It'll get done, and the end result will be amazing. But 180 degrees from what everyone expects.

I believe dave bias is still involved in the project, but I think the biggest issue was how italian politics got in the way early on and messed everything up.
My friends from Italy say that this is all too common over there. And lets remember that their government had also funded some of the work, so perhaps thats part of the problem.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Any more updates from Film Ferrania?

Nope. They haven't posted here for two years. I don't blame them for radio silence. I'm sure they'll surface when they have something concrete. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some P30 in 120.

 

[Ten301]

Nope. They haven't posted here for two years...

I hate to be the ‘Debbie Downer’ here, but is it possible that maybe the pandemic and market/economic conditions have just proven too much? Could it be that Film Ferrania just fizzled out?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I hate to be the ‘Debbie Downer’ here, but it’s possible that maybe pandemic and market/economic conditions have just proven too much. Could it be that Film Ferrania has just fizzled out?

Many companies I never expected were damaged or put out of business by the pandemic and we have still not seen how everything will fare. Only more time will tell us.

 

[alanrockwood]

I hate to be the ‘Debbie Downer’ here, but is it possible that maybe the pandemic and market/economic conditions have just proven too much? Could it be that Film Ferrania just fizzled out?

That's what I am wondering too. For me it probably doesn't matter because it has been looking like they are targeting the high end of the market price-wise speaking because of a perceived uniqueness of their product. I wish them luck, but if they are targeting that unique up-scale market niche then I don't think the final results it will be my cup of tea.

 

[mohmad khatab]

I was watching this show the other night about the how the pyramids were built and it looked like more than one guy was involved.

 

[mohmad khatab]

These Italians are very faithful, they cannot work in this pragmatic atmosphere, I think they are waiting for Christ to return to earth.
They are waiting for Christ when he returns to earth so that they can work in an atmosphere of love, justice and peace.

 

[Agulliver]

Mohmad may have a point about the culture/attitude.

But let us also remember that Dave Bias was pretty much abused when he posted here, so his silence is to be expected. Film Ferrania made it *very* clear that they would post an update only when they had perfected in-house production of P30 in 135...from the raw chemicals to the final loaded and boxed films for retail. We can only hope that they are working towards that goal still, with the plague and it's associated problems having got in the way.

They do have a presence on Facebook and Instagram....recently that has been reposts of photos users have taken with P30. Comments are usually abusive words aimed at Film ferrania along the lines of "I ordered colour reversal film, where's my film. I gonna sue. You scammers".

Regarding market conditions, things have changed. When they originally proposed to bring back E6 colour reversal film in various formats, Kodak had pulled out of that market completely with the axing of Ektachrome and Fuji may have had just one remaining product. There was certainly a market to be tapped with a medium speed E6 film in 135, 120 and cine formats. Kodak now has all that covered and Fuji have 135 and 120 There are one or two other films in the pipeline including the curious (if not yet ready) 400 speed E6 film "Fugufilm".

Nevertheless, the core idea of having a small film factory capable of being flexible enough to ride with future market whims is sound. It's not disimilar to what Adox is doing.

Time will tell. P30 is a good product and I'd love to see it in 120 and 8mm.

 

[TheGreatGasMaskMan]

All we can do is wait. We’ve got 120 gold 200 and a new cinestill ti look forward to

 

[flavio81]

Regarding market conditions, things have changed. When they originally proposed to bring back E6 colour reversal film in various formats, Kodak had pulled out of that market completely with the axing of Ektachrome and Fuji may have had just one remaining product. There was certainly a market to be tapped with a medium speed E6 film in 135, 120 and cine formats. Kodak now has all that covered and Fuji have 135 and 120 There are one or two other films in the pipeline including the curious (if not yet ready) 400 speed E6 film "Fugufilm".

Yes. This is a very important part, a key part, really. When they started this project not only Fuji was the sole maker of E6 (along with some remnants of Agfa Aviphot Chrome 200), but also the only makers for C41 film were Kodak and Fuji.

Now the things have changed, we have Kodak E6 again, plus Fuji, plus ugly-colors Fugufilm 400. And in C41 we have a new player, Adox with "Color Mission" which has decent colors and promises to get even better in the next iteration. Plus the rebranded Kodak ECN2 films by CineStill that for practical purposes compete with the other C41 films.

Moreover in B/W film the palette (no pun intended) has expanded considerably -- we have all sorts of B/W film with new players. I would think it isn't easy even to market P30 succesfully right now in 2022. Adox already took the lead for most innovative company for B/W film, they are promoting their B/W slides, making kits for slide development, they have the high-resolution films that probably are the same ISO as the real iso of P30, etc etc.

It's probably that the time window for Ferrania to be highly profitable has passed.

And, also, we can't subestimate the involvement of the local government. This is probably one of the key items that slow things to a crawl. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ferrania folks had to wait months or even a full year until the local government approves some budget or some work.

I really wish them success, because they do have the original people involved in the production of Solaris and Imation Chrome, so they do have the know how, and they have most of the machines. But of course that's not enough.

 

[Nzoomed]

Either way, they are still selling P30 and people who shoot it love the results, so they at least have a product on the market.
They have a great facility to produce film, so if nothing else, its possible another company would acquire it and put out some colour films, they pretty much have all the equipment ready to go.
I think its just some extra chemistry required to make some film again, I dont know how much more they need, but hopefully they have been quietly making progress behind the scenes and will surprise us with an exciting announcement

 

[railwayman3]

I hate to be the ‘Debbie Downer’ here, but is it possible that maybe the pandemic and market/economic conditions have just proven too much? Could it be that Film Ferrania just fizzled out?

I fear you may well be right. The whole project was an idea of its time, now some years ago, and was particularly attractive when it looked as though the big manufacturers were abandoning slide film.
Circumstances have moved on, and various unforeseen problems have tested their initial enthusiasm. And, when you look at the research, staff, equipment and skills which the big makers have needed to get where they are over many years (and yet they still have problems like the notorious "backing paper" issues for Kodak and Ilford.....) one wonders if a few older guys in an
abandoned factory ever really stood a chance ? That's not a criticism of them, but some dreams can never become practicable.

 

[Agulliver]

Film Ferrania's main aim was/is to ensure "100 more years of analogue film" by becoming a small, flexible film factory able to move with the times and needs of the market. They correctly noted that the market had bottomed out and was beginning to grow again...and that it might not be predictable what kinds of film customers would want in the future. The idea was to be able to make shorter runs of a given film than Kodak or Fuji could do at the time, to allow more flexibility. The thing is, Kodak have gone some way to be able to do that themselves now and Adox are looking to also become a manufacturer which is able to move with market needs. That doesn't mean Film Ferrania will fail, but the obvious window has closed.

That said, I like P30 and will continue to use it. I'd love to see it in 120 and 8mm formats. It's easily developed as negative or reversal which has advantages too.

 

[TheGreatGasMaskMan]

there's no knowing what will happen until it happens.

 

[benjiboy]

A construction company I once worked for paid a firm of consultants a great deal of money to design a new company logo that was put on all the company's correspondence. At the next management meeting, the new logo was revealed, it was a pyramid with various levels to represent the various different divisions of the company.
It seemed that everyone who was at the meeting approved of the stationery until I pointed out that the pyramids were built with slave labour