All things considered price is not a factor to me. I love E6 and I shoot a lot of it. Having another choice far out weights complaining about a few dollars. Photography has never been cheap and paying a little more to shoot film is better than not having any. I ordered at $11, I was expecting it to be up to $5 more.
It is sadly to say more related to the price as one would believe. Distinguished photographers today normaly are able to pay every price on film. But not in the longer term. The world isn't full of distinguished photographers.
Nikon stated within the 90th that only 2,5% of buyers of Nikons expensive top models : The so called professional cameras (35mm) , were bought from real professional photographers.
The max. more demand to these expensive Nikon models came from simply amatheuric photograpers who spent that money because they loved to own a professionel Nikon model.
Without this demand, wich resulted in much bigger scales in production of Nikon F4,F5, professional photographers would had to pay more than USD 65.000,- based on calculation of lower scales in production from the top Nikon models.
The same was with film. The backing of Kodak professionel E6 Films was total uneconomical - this was caused from increasing production costs in relation to production scales as an advance in that direction from year to year during the midt 80th.
Remember the highlights of E6 sales within the 70th.
I can not calculate how much a smallest scale of ISO 320 thungsten Ektachrome would have been priced in reality to make it to a profit deal.
But Ektachrome thungsten films have been allways calculated as "mixed calculation" with normal Ektachrome professional Films.
And do not forget : The sellings of amatheuric Kodak E6 Films have been actualy with big profits on lowest pricing. So Kodak professionel E6 were allways on the basis of amatheuric Films.
That is also true if you remember the technical side.
Kodak allways stated : Their amatheuric E6 Films (as a family of comparable emulsions) came from the professional types.
In reality the professional Ektachromes have been derivates with stronger production parameters and special characteristics of Kodak consumer E6 Films....
!
So the fact is coming normal that at the end of the 90th all special E6 Ektachromes have been still in program.(professionals had no need to thungsten films any longer but I remember no discontinuations before 2002).
So it is a stabile roule today - if the mass will buy it - it has a future.And the mass is allways buying on low pricing.
Of course the mass isn't exiting any more if we are talking about photography on film. That is much more a concern if we discuss E6.
But the roules are the same - just the scales have been changed.
So expensive E6 pricing like Fuji has shown is killing the rest of remaining demand.
I personally know some who acepted discontinuation of films and higher and higher pricing for years. To each of them came the day they decided on stop buying film (I will not do so - buy the way) - today they all are involved with higher priced digital equipment......
So Kodak decided quite right to price Ektachrome today in a form retailers can make special offers.
with regards
PS : The resulting quality of my Pentax67II allowes me with ISO100 films a standard in resolution wich is ok for me.
That is just resolution of course (quality is a bit more in general)
The digital equivalent would be a midt digital bolide like a Phase one.
But I wouldn't pay USD 49.000,- and later I would realize : THAT PRICING IS WITHOUT LENS
..?
