Welcome to APUG, Dave. Great to see you guys here!
I hope once your business takes off you will consider becoming a Sponsor of APUG.
We hope that it's no more than a couple of months after we ship the first batch to backers. If everything goes our way over the next 6 months, it might be just a matter of weeks after the Kickstarter fulfillment. It's tough to put a date on it right now.
I saw mention of these questions in another thread I was scanning. All very valid.
We have no plans to build a new building at this time. If we run out of room, this would be a great problem to have because it would mean that we are highly successful and financially able to expand operations beyond this footprint.
The first 6 months of this project were of course occupied in figuring out what was needed from the old buildings and understanding how to incorporate this stuff into the LRF.
Regarding fitting the equipment, I know that there are actual blueprints for the changes and that the building has undergone extensive modifications over the past 8 months to allow room for the new machinery.
To be clear, "Trixie" in her current state is 6 "industrial scale" triacetate production lines, as well as one much smaller pilot line. We are purchasing the pilot and just 3 of the big lines. We will incorporate the pilot line as soon as possible, and it is my understanding that at least one of the full scale machines can also be squeezed into the building. The other two are for the future and it's unclear where we might put them. But there is lots of empty real estate around the LRF that ISN'T being demolished any time soon...
"Walter" is a collection of something like 100+ small-ish machines that together make a production "line". The LRF can easily accommodate this equipment simply by reorganizing existing machinery and freeing up rooms that now have no relevant purpose.
"Big Boy" refers to the big coater that makes 300 millions rolls per year, but we are purchasing a small number of components from this giant machinery - mostly pieces of the drying tunnel for the eventual expansion of our current one. Fitting this into the LRF was tricky, but they have a solution on paper that primarily uses former office space and converts most of one floor into a light-tight box to eventually house our future drying tunnel. If we max it out - again, this is a good problem to have.
The converting machines are relatively easy. We have an entire ground floor that used to be parking space for trucks, some storage and a few offices. This space is better used for production and has been gutted and outfitted to receive all of our finishing machinery.
As soon as we are able, we are going to put together some sort of factory walkthrough to share with everyone.
-Dave
Thanks for the welcome!
The idea, as it stands today, is thus:
a) At the start - we are going sell directly via our website and ship globally from two warehouses. The first will be in the US, and Bulgaria will come very soon after. We will expand this structure over time with a goal to provide best-possible shipping costs for everyone.
b) Later, once our production capacity permits, we will answer the hundreds of emails we have received from individual shops around the world.
c) Much later, once we achieve some level of cost control, we will consider entering the traditional distribution structure - but our general philosophy will be get the film into cameras with as few stops in between as possible.
d) At some point in between "later" and "much later," we will open an OEM channel, making products that support the wider industry.
Keep the questions coming!
So I reckon I should add a question, seeing as they're coming in already.
What are your plans, if any, for sheet film?
Firstly, is it technically possible with your equipment (thickness of base, width of slitting, slicing into sheets)?
And secondly, if you can, will you?
I know the market for 4x5 E6 might be fairly small compared to others, so you'd really have to compete with Fuji on price (currently $130 for 20x 4x5 or $450 for 20x 8x10 RVP50, or $90/$300 for 100/100F). Or maybe you can replicate/replace sensia/astia on colour, they had a lot of fans. Or you could just sit it out until if/when Fuji pulls the plug on the whole lot, then ride in like the cavalry and pick up all of their old customers.
Also, any plans to replicate something like the Ilford ULF run, even if just in rolls, and offer all the weird 110/126/127/616/828/etc sizes once a year?
First of all, welcome to APUG and thank you for creating this Q&A (& 'request') thread.
- Will you be selling 100, 150, 400 feet bulk rolls?
- Since you haven't started massive scale production yet, if possible, please use 35mm cassettes that we can dissasseble and reuse multiple times. Ideally speaking, it would be best if guys can use something like Ilford's FP3 and HP3 film cassettes from the late 60s.
- please, please, please, keep the price as low as possible. I hope you'll not be following Fuji's pricing. As an e.g., price of Agfa Precisa is lot less straining on me than anything from Fuji, even though it's still quite high. I hope you get my drift.
- Will you be producing some stickers? I want to get some for my friends
- Don't forget to assign at least one distributor for and within Indian subcontinent.
- Please tell us a bit about your plan on E-6 chemicals?
Welcome! Your participation to APUG is most appreciated!
I would like to ask you the same question as Dr Croubie did but about 5x7 format.
Will you run once a year a special order for uncommon cut sheet film formats?
Dominique
Do you have an equivalent colleague in the UK?
RR
- Once we are finished with our machinery purchases from the old Ferrania buildings, we will have the potential to produce about 95% of film formats produced in the 20th century - even some of the really weird ones.
- The difference between having the potential to produce these other formats, and being able to deliver finished products for retail sale is a big one. This will require time and one success building on another success. Plus a lot of polling... We fully plan to let the market drive this as much as possible.
So I reckon I should add a question, seeing as they're coming in already.
What are your plans, if any, for sheet film?
Firstly, is it technically possible with your equipment (thickness of base, width of slitting, slicing into sheets)?
And secondly, if you can, will you?
I know the market for 4x5 E6 might be fairly small compared to others, so you'd really have to compete with Fuji on price (currently $130 for 20x 4x5 or $450 for 20x 8x10 RVP50, or $90/$300 for 100/100F). Or maybe you can replicate/replace sensia/astia on colour, they had a lot of fans. Or you could just sit it out until if/when Fuji pulls the plug on the whole lot, then ride in like the cavalry and pick up all of their old customers.
Also, any plans to replicate something like the Ilford ULF run, even if just in rolls, and offer all the weird 110/126/127/616/828/etc sizes once a year?
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Disclaimer on the line below notwithstanding, you do realise that them's dangerous words to be saying, especially around here?
As soon as you say something like that you're going to get requests from weirdos asking for thin-based 4x5 and 3.25x4.25 in 12-packs and such (like Kodak TXP523), and 5.5" / 9.5" rolls for aerial cameras?
Any plans for tungsten balanced films? 35mm and 120 are good enough for me.
There's some famous expression about "most of the people, most of the time"... Right?
[...]
But I totally understand that there are many products for which the market size is exactly ONE.
There's some famous expression about "most of the people, most of the time"... Right?
Requests are fine. Expectations, on the other hand, must have some basis in reality.
But I totally understand that there are many products for which the market size is exactly ONE. If the market size is one and we make nothing else that interests that one person - then I'm afraid that one person will forever believe we are evil and specifically in business to prevent them from experiencing photographic pleasure. It will be sad, but we will soldier on making something for most of the people, most of the time.
Five years ago, I helped start the US office for Impossible. I doubt anyone on this very friendly, mature and mannered forum will ever drop a bomb on me that I haven't already experienced 10-fold at Impossible...
With that said, we do plan to introduce an unprecedented amount of flexibility into the production environment - much of it out of sheer necessity and always with the ambition to allow for small-batch production in the future.
-Dave
Is there any potential for making positive to positive photographic paper?
To be honest, I have not discussed papers with the founders in any detail. We have our work cut out for us simply making film. To put it extremely mildly... But I will endeavor to learn more and report back.
The idea, as it stands today, is thus:
a) At the start - we are going sell directly via our website and ship globally from two warehouses. The first will be in the US, and Bulgaria will come very soon after. We will expand this structure over time with a goal to provide best-possible shipping costs for everyone.
(...)
d) At some point in between "later" and "much later," we will open an OEM channel, making products that support the wider industry.
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