Ektachrome is back......

Did this all come to you in a dream?

 

I would start by looking at what Provia and Velvia cost, then hoping like h*** it comes in less.

 

Is that your hand holding the film?

 

One one hand you have the cost to manufacture, on the other you have what the market is willing to pay. Maybe there is another buyer that subsidizes the cost, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I think the market is film aficionados, and if it comes out noticeably more expensive than Velvia, there is a good chance it will be DOA.

 

I don't know how you could come to that conclusion, unless I've missed an announcement from Kodak that the beta test found no issues. The purpose of beta testing is to find problems and fix them, and then re-test. I haven't heard of any problems found, but if Kodak found something I imagine we'll be seeing a beta 2.0 or similar before production. Who knows, perhaps we'll be hearing news soon.

As for pricing, yes hopefully they will have a price similar to Fuji products, otherwise it'll be a challenge for them to hit their volume targets.

 

Post #2...

 

This week I received the latest printed catalogue from Firstcall Photographic. They're listing Ektachrome as expected to be available later in 2018 and have a price of £9.99 for a 135 roll.

 

Given that they’re listing Velvia at £15-16, that sounds positive.(pun intended)

 

Kodak has just released a "Kodak" branded line of clothing. That was the news last night along with the fact that Kodak stock may be delisted on the stock exchange.

PE

 

It is Michael Turek holding the film.
I am a bit surprised at the lifting of that from Instagram...

 

That would be around $23 Australian dollars. If so, the film is dead before it hits the shelves as it pits it almost level against the price of Provia 100F 135/36. If Kodak wants to make an impression, it first has to be competitive, and it lost that streak a long, long time ago.

 

What did you sprinkle on your cereal this morning??
Absolutely no announcement has been made by Kodak about ongoing production of Ektachrome, and furthermore, beta testing is continuing until at least the end of September and possibly into October. Then what--??

 

The other thing I'd wonder. These beta tests were cut from a test coating weren't they? Even if no issues are encountered in the testing phase, do they go and cut production rolls from the same coating, or does that give them the go-ahead to go back and make production batch from scratch? In other words can they jump straight from test to store shelves, or is there another pause while they ramp up production coating for distribution?

 

Can Kodak actually afford to do that? And that may also be a flag for a higher retail cost. Kodak is not making any money from this beta testing, and you bet there are restless folk in the upper echelons of Rochester anxious to see a financial return.

Meanwhile, the locally processed rolls I have seen are unremarkable in appearance, with a few showing surface artefacts that could have appeared during the processing phase.
Disappointingly, most of the beta testers (USA) did not test the Ektachrome at a technical level e.g. small-step under- and over-exposure, push/pull (1 stop), reciprocity, palette rendition with polarisation and cross-processing. I venture to suggest the flood of junk Instagram entries was more like an orgy of showy, self-congratulatory twaddle and incompetence, instead of significant and meaningful testing that could provide valuable information to those watching proceedings from the side, to say nothing of Kodak. But then, that's Instagram, isn't it?

 

But is this not also a matter of who Alaris did hand those films to?

 

Anybody who put their hand up and said, "Me too!" when the call went out for Beta testers. "No experience required" (mind you, it would most definitely have helped a lot of them coming to Ektachrome for the first time!!).
There are a couple of noteworthy, very in-tune testers who know what they are doing e.g. Sandra Coan (portraiture), Olli Sansom (street/mixed). Otherwise, just a lot of time-wasting crap cycling aimlessly around Instagram.

 

I'm guessing that the rigurous testing is being done in house at Rochester. If not all the production run is needed for internal testing, might as well spool 'er up and do some PR with it. It's being a bit tedious since we have been seeing it for a while without a certain release date.

EK seems to have done a similar "limited release" Super 8 7294, but all I know was from a spanish film maker blogger that was glad to be selected as one of the few testers in Europe. http://mimundoensuper-8.blogspot.com/2018/08/la-nueva-kodak-ektachrome-prueba-sobre.html

 

Really? You're surprised that people appropriate images from the Internet? Why? Respect for others' property and, by extension, for others, long ago disappeared from the on-line world. Sad, but true.

 

I JUST FIGURED OUT HOW TO SELL FILM TO NITWITS. KODAK NEEDS TO PUT THE FILM INTO DIFFERENT COLORED PAINTED ALUMINUM CANISTERS! 100 Million kids walking around with selfie sticks and canisters for decorating their clothes

 

I wish they would ! I'm thinking of all the lovely little various-colored little aluminium cans my Dad and I threw out, or sent back to the labs containing films for processing, and what they now fetch as collectables on Ebay !

 

Maybe in Australia but pretty much everywhere else that £9.99 (or local equivalent) is cheaper than Fuji slide film.

Firstcall are offering Ektachrome at £9.99 for 135-36
Provia F at £11.66
Velvia 50 at £13.16
Velvia 100 at £13.74

All prices inclusive of VAT.

Going by Firstcall's prices, Ektachrome is going to have a price advantage. This is taken from their latest print catalogue which I received last week. They're expecting Ektachrome to be available in December.