Fotokemika ...

[wblynch]

And when Kodak and Fuji abandon us then even a Fotokemika would be wonderful to have.

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

"I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins."

Well played, Roger.

Ken

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

And when Kodak and Fuji abandon us then even a Fotokemika would be wonderful to have.

When the alternative is extinction, you never want to allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

Ken

 

[Sal Santamaura]

And when Kodak and Fuji abandon us then even a Fotokemika would be wonderful to have.

If/when that happens there'll be no need for a Fotokemika. You'll have Ilford.

 

[wblynch]

Well FotoKemika is dead regardless

 

[aoluain]

If/when that happens there'll be no need for a Fotokemika. You'll have Ilford.

Ha yes - they do seem to be well commited, which is good

Sent from my HUAWEI U8815 using Tapatalk 2

 

[darkroom_rookie]

The saddest part of this whole story is that important machinery is functional. Or, to expand on it, it's as functional as it was for the past ten years, since their move from the original plant right across the street (now a cement factory). Which means, with glitches, but good enough to coat and cut films and papers many of you have used and still use. It's the facilities, which are literally - and obviously - falling apart. A portion of the roof collapsed during coating. There was no damage to the machine, but basic working conditions can't be met anymore - total darkness, proper ventilation and safety being just a few. And the building is owned by someone else, who doesn't care much about the whole shebang and wants them out. So the company owner, Josip Ćuk (pronounced "tchuke" as in "fluke"), stopped all production on June 15th last year and them entity named "Fotokemika Nova" is currently being liquidated. The two women in the picture are a granddaughter and a daughter of two former employees of the company. They're fighting to have the machines saved from scrap and hope to get museums in the Netherlands and Croatia show enough interest and actually do save the machinery. Thankfully, they have full support of Ćuk, an employee of Fotokemika since the late eighties, who will gladly donate the machines to them. The big white-on-black title reads: "I sold two machines to scrap and got $2600 for them, admits the owner". However, he explains in the text that these were out of function for years (packaging finalization devices). So not all is completely lost yet...

 

[Roger Cole]

And Roger you are right. However, there are far more complaints about EFKE products here than for products from the big 3. I have seen defects that others have missed AAMOF. I have some samples here that I posted and I got no comment.

You see, one of the defects is uneven coating speed. This causes a sinusoidal coating pattern giving products high and low density in a given pattern. You would see it very badly in LF, but hardly at all in 35mm. Another unremarked problem is particles of dirt and dust in the coated film. So, they do well as IMHO most here ignore or are not aware of these "tiny" problems.

PE

I'll probably find out. Last year I bought a grafmatic holder off LFPF and the seller threw in a mostly full box of 4x5 Efke 100. I plopped it in the freezer but haven't tried any of it. I recently bought a 50 sheet box of 4x5 Efke IR820 too when this news hit, so I'll see about that. It's probably staying frozen until spring. There's not a lot of good IR shooting in the winter in my area with vegetation dead and many days gloomy.

 

[dr5chrome]

I brought up issues regularly such as these to the importer [will go un-named]. These issues would be ignored or treated with a blind eye. The point wasn't to bitch about the company - they were what they were - the point was to keep customers informed. That wasn't always the 1st priority.

And Roger you are right. However, there are far more complaints about EFKE products here than for products from the big 3. I have seen defects that others have missed AAMOF. I have some samples here that I posted and I got no comment.

You see, one of the defects is uneven coating speed. This causes a sinusoidal coating pattern giving products high and low density in a given pattern. You would see it very badly in LF, but hardly at all in 35mm. Another unremarked problem is particles of dirt and dust in the coated film. So, they do well as IMHO most here ignore or are not aware of these "tiny" problems.

PE

 

[Brac]

You might find further two pictures from the complete article even more telling:

It's amazing to think this machinery was still in use less than a year ago. With apparently a hole in the factory roof too, it's now clear why production couldn't continue.

 

[PKM-25]

Hope my stash of the last of it represents passion and commitment over apathy and dejection...

 

[madgardener]

I think its worth noting, that Efke was the only manufacturer who produced what would be considered a "true" IR film. Kodak abandoned us years ago. Don't forget that this is the same kodak that eliminated their E-6 line, and is trying to sell off their film division, even though its a money maker.

Right now, I am not a Kodak fan.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Kodak is NOT selling the film division AFAIK. Parts of EK have been sold and the name Kodak can now be licensed for imaging products... etc.

I just searched the database of Kodak news for any changes.

PE

 

[ME Super]

IIRC (PE, please correct me if I'm wrong) Kodak is looking to sell the marketing-of-still-film division to a third party. They would retain the manufacturing of the film but it would be marketed by someone else.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I have no information on that.

Sorry..

PE

 

[Diapositivo]

IIRC the sale of part of the film business was a consequence of the difficulties in finding a buyer for the patent portfolio.

Now that the patent portfolio has been sold it might be that there is no more any necessity to sell part of the film business, as planned.

 

[Photo Engineer]

As far as my database shows, they have not sold, nor do they plan on selling the film business.

But, that said, there is still a lot of volatility there.

PE

 

[wblynch]

At the rate Kodak is abandoning film products there won't be any 'film business' left to sell.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Seems to me that some other companies have done this too. After all, what is this thread about?

PE

 

[DREW WILEY]

They're hardly abandoning film at all. What they've done is put their best foot forward. They've got
their finest, most versatile color neg and b&w films ever. Maybe not as big a selection as in the old
days - but financial common sense favors reengineering toward greater versatility and less redundancy. Yeah, some people are disappointed that they stopped making chrome film; but they do have to pick and choose which battles they can realistically win. I'd far rather see a sustainable
small selection of really good film than an unustainable big selection of it.

 

[MattKing]

As far as my database shows, they have not sold, nor do they plan on selling the film business.

But, that said, there is still a lot of volatility there.

PE

PE

As I understand it, the Film Business (excluding the Motion Picture Film business) is included in the "Personalized Imaging" business referred to in these two press releases:

http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Kodak_Continues_Progress_toward_Emergence.htm

and

http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Kodak..._Changes_to_Align_with_Restructuring_Plan.htm

It doesn't include the actual manufacture of the film - just the marketing.

I can't put my hands on the original announcement at this time.

 

[Roger Cole]

They're hardly abandoning film at all. What they've done is put their best foot forward. They've got
their finest, most versatile color neg and b&w films ever. Maybe not as big a selection as in the old
days - but financial common sense favors reengineering toward greater versatility and less redundancy. Yeah, some people are disappointed that they stopped making chrome film; but they do have to pick and choose which battles they can realistically win. I'd far rather see a sustainable
small selection of really good film than an unustainable big selection of it.

I think we can all agree with that.

I posted about it at the time but when they announced the end of E6 I tried to order some E100G from Freestyle and got the "call for inventory" thing so I called. I was ordering ten rolls. I forget how many they said they had but it was enough for me and the guy said, "we usually sell about ten rolls of that a month so you should be fine..." Granted they are often more expensive than B&H (at the time, it seemed hard to get B&H to ship without signature -they've since changed that and I generally order film from them) but they're still one of the biggest online analog retailers in the country, and they were selling ten rolls a MONTH. Maybe they sold more E100VS but I doubt it as Velvia always seemed more popular for the saturated look.

I just shook my head at the time thinking, "no wonder Kodak quit making it."

 

[Photo Engineer]

Drew, you have said it well.

Matt, you are right. Kodak has essentially sold the marketing rights (or the marketing division) to an outside company, but continues to make the film and paper. In fact, some of the paper is made in the Colorado plant which Kodak sold a while back. They lease the machines when needed and make a run of color paper. Otherwise, the plant is making medical products for another company.

PE

 

[RattyMouse]

I think we can all agree with that.

I posted about it at the time but when they announced the end of E6 I tried to order some E100G from Freestyle and got the "call for inventory" thing so I called. I was ordering ten rolls. I forget how many they said they had but it was enough for me and the guy said, "we usually sell about ten rolls of that a month so you should be fine..." Granted they are often more expensive than B&H (at the time, it seemed hard to get B&H to ship without signature -they've since changed that and I generally order film from them) but they're still one of the biggest online analog retailers in the country, and they were selling ten rolls a MONTH. Maybe they sold more E100VS but I doubt it as Velvia always seemed more popular for the saturated look.

I just shook my head at the time thinking, "no wonder Kodak quit making it."

Really, how is this possible? 10 rolls a month? Why would they even order any more chrome film if that is all the sales they could get. I hope this just shows how abysmal Freestyle is at selling film rather than the true popularity of Kodak slide film. I joined this game, VERY late so have zero history with slide film. I have shot tens of thousands of images using either color or b & w negative film, but never got the bug for positive until just last year. I was always under the assumption that Kodak's slide film was THE most popular. So if they sell 10 rolls/month of Kodak slide film, what about Fuji? 5 rolls a month?

I know that there is a lot of concern over the future of E-6 film and one would hope that with Kodak shutting down their supply, the increase in demand to Fujifilm might help them keep their E-6 lines going with some degree of security. But from the above, it seems highly unlikely.

Shoot it while ya got it.

 

[brianmquinn]

...this just shows how abysmal Freestyle is at selling film..

Actually they sell 100,000s of rolls a year. If you do not think I am correct just call them and ask.