Is there any reason why this 1600 ISO panchromatic B&W film couldn't be sold under the Ilford name, though?
At this point, I doubt Fuji sees Harman/Ilford as a competitor. Harman is presently a Fuji subcontractor. That in itself is odd because Fuji does not need to make or brand 35mm film at all.
The whole idea of Harman having secretly figured out a fully fledged color film product in total secrecy over the past years sounds very frivolous to me. On the other hand, Harman engineering a new-ish B&W film based on their existing competencies seems quite likely. Hence my expectation that this is something like Harman Pan 1600 that's about to hit the shelves.
Would make good sense for the winter season, too, speaking of timing.
I can imagine it would be too close to Delta 3200, eating up its market share.
My guess would be that if they choose this 1600-B&W direction, they'd lump the existing Kentmere films under the new Harman brand as well, so they'd have an apparently quite sensible lineup of 100-400-1600.
I'm also very sceptical that they could have perfected colour film, especially C41 which is where the market demand is.
Is there any reason why this 1600 ISO panchromatic B&W film couldn't be sold under the Ilford name, though? I'd certainly be all over it as I push HP5+ to 1600 frequently, and a native 1600ISO B&W film would fit very nicely in my arsenal.
As I understood it they specified the film and emulsion and had InovisCoat do the physical part.
And Adox meanwhile acquired their own colour capable coating machines.
Imaging is a fraction of Fuji's revenue,
and of that fraction, traditional film is an even tinier fraction. Hell, Instax alone generates more revenue than the entire digital camera part of imaging (this includes every digital camera and lens they make).
If Fuji is still coating and confectioning traditional film (who really knows at this point), it truly is a miracle.
+1.Kentmere is another recognizable brand name with a long history in b&w photography. After going through the effort to promote the Kentmere 120 line, I doubt they'd want to undo that work by renaming the entire brand.
If it was a new b&w film or paper product, it would almost certainly be under the Ilford or Kentmere name.
As far as I remember, the deal in 2005 at the management buy-out was that Harman is allowed to use the Ilford brand name only for all those products which were in production at that time.
For all additional and future products a different brand name is needed.
Therefore Harman after the purchase of Kentmere used the Kentmere brand name for the new budget oriented films and papers. And the Harman brand name for later new products like DPP, cameras and SUCs.
Despite the fact that there is Ilford branded film in it, they even weren't allowed to use the brand name for the SUCs.
As far as I remember, the deal in 2005 at the management buy-out was that Harman is allowed to use the Ilford brand name only for all those products which were in production at that time.
For all additional and future products a different brand name is needed.
QFT! People on this forum will be more in tune, but I have to constantly remind my fellow 20-somethings in real life that, like myself, have only recently got into film photography about this. Imaging is a fraction of Fuji's revenue, and of that fraction, traditional film is an even tinier fraction. Hell, Instax alone generates more revenue than the entire digital camera part of imaging (this includes every digital camera and lens they make).
If Fuji is still coating and confectioning traditional film (who really knows at this point), it truly is a miracle. I don't know the logistics and cost of doing something like shutting a factory down, but I know that whatever money they make from traditional film is a literal drop in the ocean that is their revenue. As far as Fuji is concerned, the "Film Rebirth/Resurgence" (don't get me started on that) doesn't matter at all.
Who knows, it seems to me that this has to be something not related to black and white photography,
That has never been my understanding. They have never been constrained from making and selling new products and using the Ilford name as long as the products relate to Black and White film photography.
The use of the brand is constrained, not the products themselves.
Thus the "Ilford darkroom tent".
AFAIK, Ilford Ortho 80 wasn't a current product in 2005.
Nope, it has been quite constantly about 15-17% in the last years. That is certainly too much for being a "fraction". Look at their published balanced sheets.
A friend recently bought fresh Provia 100F 35mm with 07/2025.
But why then introducing DPP and all the cameras even including the SUCs as Harman instead of Ilford?
Does not make much sense if they would have been allowed to use the Ilford brand name in general for all BW related products.
What do you mean with the use of the brand is constrained, and not the related products?
I'm aware of their published reports, this is where I found my information.
They do use Ilford for the cameras loaded with black and white film:
And I'm not sure why they chose Harman instead of Ilford for the Direct Positive Paper - perhaps because no film is required for its use?
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