Hello APUG from FILM Ferrania (PART 2)

cuthbert · Jun 29, 2016

A lot of words but the answer to the most important question isn't there.

When will the film be available?

pbromaghin · Jun 29, 2016

As my mother used to say, "Oh my, what a mess." But the child walks one step at a time.

RattyMouse · Jun 29, 2016

cuthbert said:
A lot of words but the answer to the most important question isn't there.

When will the film be available?

2016....maybe. It's in the comments below the post. The problem is so severe that 2016 is not a certainty anymore.

I just dont see how a problem this massive could appear back when we were told that it was just weeks away from film shipping.

Film Smells Good · Jun 29, 2016

RattyMouse said:
I just dont see how a problem this massive could appear back when we were told that it was just weeks away from film shipping.

How's the saying go? "The best laid plans of Mice and Men often go awry"

On the plus side, the more problems they run into and fix now, the less there will be later on. I hope, anyway

Wallendo · Jun 29, 2016

It seems that Film Ferrania is doing all they can, and the Italian government is behaving like a government.

cmacd123 · Jun 29, 2016

Wallendo said:
and the Italian government is behaving like a government.

no the "Italian" government. world famous for lack of coordination. reading the latest it seems that the left hand (refurbishing the building) did not tell the Right hand, the Local utilities what connections were needed where.

One wonders if the original set-up used natural gas, which seems to be what the new boilers need. perhaps all the steam the building used to need was from a coal fired boiler in the now demolished power plant (a Co-generation set-up)

Anyway, we now know "whats keeping things so slow" and hope that team Ferrania will be the force that moves the immovable Italian Bureaucracy. Fingers and toes (and Eyes) crossed.

Nzoomed · Jun 29, 2016

RattyMouse said:
2016....maybe. It's in the comments below the post. The problem is so severe that 2016 is not a certainty anymore.

I just dont see how a problem this massive could appear back when we were told that it was just weeks away from film shipping.

I dont remember them saying anywhere that shipping was only weeks away...

RattyMouse · Jun 29, 2016

Nzoomed said:
I dont remember them saying anywhere that shipping was only weeks away...

Read their post history. It's there.

ericdan · Jun 30, 2016

ericdan said:
We're almost half way through 2016 and we don't know what other hurdles they may have to overcome.
I don't think we'll see film from them until 2017 and that's fine.

^^ Just sayin...

Diapositivo · Jun 30, 2016

Determination, determination, determination.
That's all that's needed now.
The guys seem pretty much determined.

Don't be deterred by inevitable, unforeseen difficulties. No obstacle is too great for the willing!

railwayman3 · Jun 30, 2016

RattyMouse said:
2016....maybe. It's in the comments below the post. The problem is so severe that 2016 is not a certainty anymore.

I just dont see how a problem this massive could appear back when we were told that it was just weeks away from film shipping.

As a Ferrania backer, in a modest way, I guess I've just forgotten about it for now. If the film turns up in the mail one morning, it will be a nice surprise. If it doesn't happen, (and maybe E6 disappears altogether), at least I (and the other backers) tried. (Shrugs shoulders.....)

RattyMouse · Jun 30, 2016

railwayman3 said:
As a Ferrania backer, in a modest way, I guess I've just forgotten about it for now. If the film turns up in the mail one morning, it will be a nice surprise. If it doesn't happen, (and maybe E6 disappears altogether), at least I (and the other backers) tried. (Shrugs shoulders.....)

I'm a backer as well. i agree,at least we tried.

StoneNYC · Jun 30, 2016

As long as their E-6 comes out in 8x10 within a year of Velvia50 sheet film being discontinued (which it's not currently despite misconceptions to the contrary), I'm good. Otherwise I'll probably switch to Portra/Ektar (C-41)

Prest_400 · Jun 30, 2016

Having grown un in the warmth of the Mediterranean, I know we have many great things... Governments not being one of them. Paperwork and such gets to linger on and works on a snail pace.

I do see the courage of Ferrania and the efforts. For sure there was something slowed down, and thanks for the update. Keeping a positive attitude and it will come! It will be great to the infrastructure of E6, which is not on its halcyon days anymore sadly. Let's hope for the good times soon.

pbromaghin · Jun 30, 2016

I just hope they don't run out of money before the government can get its act together.

FILM Ferrania · Jul 14, 2016

RattyMouse said:
2016....maybe. It's in the comments below the post. The problem is so severe that 2016 is not a certainty anymore.

I just dont see how a problem this massive could appear back when we were told that it was just weeks away from film shipping.

This is an excellent question and I'm surprised we haven't had more people ask.

The answer is of course very complicated, but basically, there were people working both inside and outside the LRF, the work seemed to be proceeding properly, there were positive signs coming from the government, and our coater tests had begun. Then, suddenly, the work outside ground to a halt, leaving us with the situation we described in our last post. And since we are just a minor player in the grand scheme of things taking place on the old Ferrania campus, we had almost no warning.

It's the second time that we have announced something only to have the situation reverse or stop - rendering our announcement both premature and pointless.

We are now resolved not to announce any more updates to our timeline until myriad other small problems have been dealt with completely, film is actually coming out of the coater, packaging is being printed, and warehouse space is booked.

The small bit of good news is that our team has pushed forward, despite all of these problems. We have managed to get some of our necessary testing of equipment and materials out of the way, and we have new (but still possibly worthless) assurances that our power problem - which is by far the main issue at this point - will be resolved before the end of this month. (Which we are very much hoping since most of Europe goes on holiday in August and all work slows dramatically).

Oxleyroad · Jul 15, 2016

This is a good bit of news

Nzoomed · Jul 15, 2016

FILM Ferrania said:
This is an excellent question and I'm surprised we haven't had more people ask.

The answer is of course very complicated, but basically, there were people working both inside and outside the LRF, the work seemed to be proceeding properly, there were positive signs coming from the government, and our coater tests had begun. Then, suddenly, the work outside ground to a halt, leaving us with the situation we described in our last post. And since we are just a minor player in the grand scheme of things taking place on the old Ferrania campus, we had almost no warning.

It's the second time that we have announced something only to have the situation reverse or stop - rendering our announcement both premature and pointless.

We are now resolved not to announce any more updates to our timeline until myriad other small problems have been dealt with completely, film is actually coming out of the coater, packaging is being printed, and warehouse space is booked.

The small bit of good news is that our team has pushed forward, despite all of these problems. We have managed to get some of our necessary testing of equipment and materials out of the way, and we have new (but still possibly worthless) assurances that our power problem - which is by far the main issue at this point - will be resolved before the end of this month. (Which we are very much hoping since most of Europe goes on holiday in August and all work slows dramatically).

Thanks for the update Dave, great to see things progressing, albeit slow

pbromaghin · Aug 11, 2016

I just got this email today!!!

Dead Link Removed

26
Dead Link Removed
Posted by FILM Ferrania (Creator)
Ciao a Tutti!
For those who have been following our periodic saga, we offer these two photos.

This is the machine that dug the trench that finally connected our factory to its primary power source about a week ago. Human beings should not love any machine as much as we lovethis machine. (If you wonder why, please read the last couple of updates.)

This is Corrado Balestra, photographed in the LRF five days ago. He is our emulsions expert and he is very happy.

We want to tell you more, but for now, we can say only this:

Happy Corrado = Happy Backers.

cheers,
The FILM Ferrania Team

fdonadio · Aug 11, 2016

That looks promising... One less problem, it seems.

But, on the 29th of June, there was a post saying that the LRF was getting water from tanks until the water company installs (or installed, by now) 52 meters of missing pipes... And they were getting gas from Ferrania Technologies until the gas company figures (or figured) out how to get the gas into the LRF.

I wish Ferrania told us what's still needed before they can start production.

Cheers,
Flavio

Nzoomed · Aug 11, 2016

fdonadio said:
That looks promising... One less problem, it seems.

But, on the 29th of June, there was a post saying that the LRF was getting water from tanks until the water company installs (or installed, by now) 52 meters of missing pipes... And they were getting gas from Ferrania Technologies until the gas company figures (or figured) out how to get the gas into the LRF.

I wish Ferrania told us what's still needed before they can start production.

Cheers,
Flavio

The water and gas problems are really insignificant if you look at the bigger picture, the power was the main supply issue and its good to see this sorted!

Way to go Film Ferrania!

fdonadio · Aug 11, 2016

Nzoomed said:
The water and gas problems are really insignificant if you look at the bigger picture, the power was the main supply issue and its good to see this sorted!

Well... I am not quite sure what's significant or insignificant in a film factory. Maybe you know better and I'm wrong. In the end, I'm just curious...

I wish them the best, obviously, as it will also be good for me. I am eagerly awaiting for An alternative to Fujichrome Provia.

I am not a backer. The campaign was long gone when I came to know about it. This means I'll have to wait even more.

Cheers,
Flavio

FILM Ferrania · Aug 11, 2016

fdonadio said:
That looks promising... One less problem, it seems.

But, on the 29th of June, there was a post saying that the LRF was getting water from tanks until the water company installs (or installed, by now) 52 meters of missing pipes... And they were getting gas from Ferrania Technologies until the gas company figures (or figured) out how to get the gas into the LRF.

I wish Ferrania told us what's still needed before they can start production.

Cheers,
Flavio

Hi Flavio (and all still following this thread),

We are now getting some water from the tanks and other water directly from the river! All of it runs through our internal filtration system anyway, so as long as it's H2O, we can use it. Not ideal, but it will work until the water company gets around to finishing those last 50 meters.

The gas line situation is not likely to be resolved this year - perhaps not for quite a while - but our hookup with Ferrania Technologies is more that adequate for our needs and they'll keep the gas on as long as we need.

Now that we have all of our basic services in place - water, gas, electric, steam, climate control - we can begin truly testing all of our equipment "under stress," so to speak. That's not just the coater, but all of our analysis equipment, synthesis equipment (of which only a small portion is online), etc. We have long ago repaired/restored all of this small stuff, and each thing has been tested individually - but now is the time to make it all work together.

The plan is to make several very small coating runs with a single layer of emulsion in a single pass. Once the team is satisfied with the result, we'll move on to 2 layers, then 4, etc. For reference, to make our color reversal film, we need to run 8 layers in 2 passes through the machine.

Because of the exponential number of issues that we could discover with each layer and each pass-through - it's really impossible, at this moment, to predict the timeline for these tests - so we are not making any official announcements.

But we are in testing!!!

This is why Corrado is so happy in the photo. Next to our co-founder Marco Pagni, he has logged the 2nd most hours in the LRF over the past 3.5 years(!) Plus, Marco had just repaired that terminal he's using, which I think is some sort of spectral analysis device. (Even better for those following our story - Marco fixed it using parts from two other machines he pulled out of dumpster over a year ago.)

Now is the time I would say something like "but it's August and in August, most of Europe goes on vacation" - however our team has both shortened and staggered their vacations so that there will be no interruption in our testing process. For those of us in America, this doesn't sound like such a big deal, but I'm told that most of the rest of the world would consider this worth mentioning...

I think I can finally say that updates will definitely be more frequent. We have turned a corner...

fdonadio · Aug 11, 2016

Great news, indeed. So, as Nzoomed said, these issues are not so significant.

I hope everything goes really well and you finish testing soon!

Avanti, Ferrania!

Cheers,
Flavio

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 12, 2016

fdonadio said:
Well... I am not quite sure what's significant or insignificant in a film factory. Maybe you know better and I'm wrong. In the end, I'm just curious...

I wish them the best, obviously, as it will also be good for me. I am eagerly awaiting for An alternative to Fujichrome Provia.

I am not a backer. The campaign was long gone when I came to know about it. This means I'll have to wait even more.

Cheers,
Flavio

In the meantime, you could also try Rollei CR 200 as a substitute for Provia 100F, as I am. Provia 100F is oddly difficult to come by here in Australia. CR 2 flexes well at EI64, 100, 160 or 200. There is a old-ish thread about this film worth reading, with examples. (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Hello APUG from FILM Ferrania (PART 2)

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