How Kodak Film is made: A walkthrough of film manufacturing from Smarter Every Day

Nzoomed · Mar 28, 2022

lol looks like a few of us duped this.
Interesting Kodak still makes their estar base, but no longer produces their acetate base.
Its really good to see Kodak still producing film and investing in the next generation of chemists and engineers to keep their products around for the next generation.

Kodak has some of the most iconic film products on the market.

MattKing · Mar 28, 2022

A lot of that material is being sold to users who are not in photography related industries.

Nzoomed · Mar 28, 2022

MattKing said:
A lot of that material is being sold to users who are not in photography related industries.

True, obviously there cant be many making the stuff.
Ironically they are sourcing acetate stock from another supplier and you would think that it would be that which would have less practical use outside photography.

MattKing · Mar 30, 2022

MattKing said:
Finally had a chance to view this.
Besides the very interesting content, two things struck me:
1) I have never considered the substrate to be "film". "Film" is the neat stuff that they coat on the substrate - it is, in fact, a "film" coated on the substrate;
2) more importantly, I am amazed at how much information is disclosed here. Not very long ago that information would have been guarded strenuously as proprietary knowledge. Videos like this and Bob Shanebrook's (@laser ) book reveal a sea change in culture, reflecting I expect the acknowledgement that there is no likelihood of anyone ever again wanting to obtain this knowledge to compete in such a high volume manufacturing enterprise making similar products.

I'm sure there are other parts of the process - not the substrate - where more information will be kept from disclosure. Their joint venture development of their new type of 120 backing paper is, as I understand it, being closely held as a significant market advantage!

I've now come to learn that the reference to "film" for the substrate may actually have come from the young(er) people involved in the production of the base. Apparently, much of the material produced is sold to others using it for non-photographic purposes, and in that market the product is referred to as "film".
And as for making this available on YouTube, one of the motivators may have been to attract talented and qualified younger employees - that being a real challenge right now.
I'm looking forward to the next two installments. I expect we just might learn something about how they brought back Ektachrome .

toulcaz31 · Mar 30, 2022

MattKing said:
I'm looking forward to the next two installments. I expect we just might learn something about how they brought back Ektachrome .

Someone needs to go to Hunstville and click on that publish button on Destin's computer

Nzoomed · Apr 3, 2022

toulcaz31 said:
Someone needs to go to Hunstville and click on that publish button on Destin's computer

IKR, im itching to see part 2, he probably will only publish each part once per month...

StevieB · Apr 3, 2022

That was fun. I liked the pulleys.

Sean · Apr 4, 2022

This was a great tour, hard to believe what goes into it!

CMoore · Apr 5, 2022

Wow.
There is always a lot more to making something than you realize.

I thought "Rochester" was an industrial ghost-town where Kodak was concerned.
I thought their iconic building was empty.?

MattKing · Apr 5, 2022

CMoore said:
Wow.
There is always a lot more to making something than you realize.

I thought "Rochester" was an industrial ghost-town where Kodak was concerned.
I thought their iconic building was empty.?

They had and used for photographic purposes many, many, many buildings there when they were in their heyday.
And for those same purposes, employed 1000s.
I'm not sure how much of Kodak Park they still own, and lease out to others.
I think they still own the power and steam plant, the output from which is used by many.

CMoore · Apr 5, 2022

MattKing said:
They had and used for photographic purposes many, many, many buildings there when they were in their heyday.
And for those same purposes, employed 1000s.
I'm not sure how much of Kodak Park they still own, and lease out to others.
I think they still own the power and steam plant, the output from which is used by many.

10-4
Thank You

Like the guy that made the video, i always assumed the film base was made and then....cast, squished or extruded through a die. I am no chemist, but i get the basics of the explanation of WHY it it pulled and stretched instead.

And again, not JUST film, but any product..........when you see what goes into the making of it, its amazing that a roll of film is not 40 USD .....or a pair of tennis shoes are 200 USD,.....Etc etc etc

It is Heart-Warming to see that Kodak.....ANY film producer..... is still practicing the "Dark-Art"

Cholentpot · Apr 5, 2022

CMoore said:
10-4
Thank You

Like the guy that made the video, i always assumed the film base was made and then....cast, squished or extruded through a die. I am no chemist, but i get the basics of the explanation of WHY it it pulled and stretched instead.

And again, not JUST film, but any product..........when you see what goes into the making of it, its amazing that a roll of film is not 40 USD .....or a pair of tennis shoes are 200 USD,.....Etc etc etc

It is Heart-Warming to see that Kodak.....ANY film producer..... is still practicing the "Dark-Art"

Shhh! Don't give them any ideas!

Dirb9 · Jul 21, 2022

Part 2 has been published, covering emulsion manufacturing and coating. There's a lot of information he's covering, so much that he published a video just for quality control here, as well as a longer less edited version of part 2 here. I'm in the middle of watching through the first video right now.

grat · Jul 21, 2022

CMoore said:
It is Heart-Warming to see that Kodak.....ANY film producer..... is still practicing the "Dark-Art"

I think it's safe to say they're at the Dark Science level at this point.

Although it does amuse me that the most critical part of their film production line relies on a guy with a piece of acrylic and a wooden pencil.

MattKing · Jul 21, 2022

New thread started on theis Part 2 Video - found here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...ght-sensitive-how-film-is-made-part-2.193215/

How Kodak Film is made: A walkthrough of film manufacturing from Smarter Every Day

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