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If you were super rich what would you do for analog photography?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 88956
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Deleted member 88956

The scenario is simple enough: you have so much, Mars is not far enough for your next vacation. You give away half of your worth and going to Mars still feels like a visit to local gas station.

What would you do for analog photography to ensure existence for long decades to come?
 
Simple: you make it an obligatory subject class in high shcools.

Maths
Film photograph/arts
Language
Sports
 
Fund wet photo programs at high schools and universities.
 
If either Kodak or Fuji wants to get out of the business making film then I would offer to buy their business.
 
With that kind of capital? I'm probably focused on housing, transit, agriculture, and education first, but after that... Trust fund protected supply and development chains, and coffeeshops/event spaces with darkroom facilities everywhere.

A non-profit to support open standards for things like optics, shutters, and camera repairs - Help build out the tools needed to rebuild old cameras and fabricate new ones without expecting people to take excessive financial risks.

Maintain small and mid sized batch runs for film and paper products without the overhead worry or push to recoup equipment R&D costs.
 
Start a decently capitalized Canadian analogue photography product distributor.
 
Buy more film.
 
I'd start by assuming that I know nothing, and I'd look for people with the passion and know-how and ask "What do you need?". For a retailer, maybe that could include selling film owned by me on consignment, thus freeing up their own capital. And just as with a supermarket, I'd be the one ensuring that products were always in stock and always fresh.
 
I would buy DW Photo and move production to the USA. Re-introduce a Rollei TLR and keep the Hy6 in production, but make a Hy6 Mod 3 with some improvements, and a new 80mm 2.0.

I would also investigate the possibility of making a TLR with a 2.0 lens.

Easy!
 
I'd have to buy Kodak's film-producing division and then lower the prices on all of their films to undercut Fuji and Ilford, even if I had to take a yearly loss...

Hmm... that's a good tax
writeoff...
o2.gif
 
jnantz said:
+1. and emulsion making
Click to expand...

+1 again. I’d also fund at least a public darkroom/processing lab in every state capitol along with on site analog photography store and camera service and repair. It wouldn’t be free, but I’d make it as competitive as possible.

in my own experience, if given a choice, people don’t want to mail their film to a lab. They would rather just drop it off, as long as the local turnaround time is reasonably fast. It’s not feasible to put a darkroom/processing lab in every town and city, but you could get pretty good coverage in each capital and maybe one or two other larger cities in each state. Then fund the daylights out of the school programs.
 
Invest in Ilford H., Photrio.com and start a small company producing analog materials I believe will fill some gaps left by the decline of mainstream analog photography.

While doing that, buy and learn to Captain a 68 or 72 foot Nordhavn and enjoy my photography, and my Rozeann, while We might still have time, sailing the still, peaceful parts of OUR World.
 
eli griggs said:
Invest in Ilford H., Photrio.com and start a small company producing analog materials I believe will fill some gaps left by the decline of mainstream analog photography.

While doing that, buy and learn to Captain a 68 or 72 foot Nordhavn and enjoy my photography, and my Rozeann, while We might still have time, sailing the still, peaceful parts of OUR World.
Click to expand...

You don't want to hand out $10 Leicas?

:wink:
 
I'd buy a film manufacturing company and make sure the products were well marketed and affordable. And provide support services like processing and printing. And move to Rochester.

Actually, stuff like this does happen. A guy I went to college with, Les Zellan, put together a consortium of backers and bought Taylor Hobson Cooke when Rank was selling it off for scrap value. He reassembled the engineering staff and rebooted the company. They make some of the best lenses available.
 
You need a solid market.

Making it an obligatory art class in highschools would guarantee that within a generation the entire population would have used film. That’s at least 10 obligatory rolls of film per capita.

Now we would be talking.

Tel said:
I'd buy a film manufacturing company and make sure the products were well marketed and affordable. And provide support services like processing and printing. And move to Rochester.

Actually, stuff like this does happen. A guy I went to college with, Les Zellan, put together a consortium of backers and bought Taylor Hobson Cooke when Rank was selling it off for scrap value. He reassembled the engineering staff and rebooted the company. They make some of the best lenses available.
Click to expand...
 
Fiber-based RA4 paper.
 
Fantasy project with fantasy money?
But within the possible:
  • Buy all filmrelated patents and set them free to the right people.
  • Make an independent well funded film RnD lab.
  • Put out Paul Gilmans ISO 24000 film with a 400 base, and later the planned C-41 version.
  • Put out a cheap “contact print” by sensor, glass less scanner, so everyone can scan easily and at great quality.
  • Set up optical wet print facilities in every major town, RA4 and B&W and have a reasonably priced mail order print facility for the rest of the population.
 
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Pay Kodak to make a master roll of HIE. Have them cut it in 35, 120, 4x5, 8x10, package, and send to my massive freezer. Then offer it to all my apug/photrio buddies really cheap, with proceeds going to apug/photrio. I've got to win LottoMax one of these days!
 
Andrew O'Neill said:
Pay Kodak to make a master roll of HIE. Have them cut it in 35, 120, 4x5, 8x10, package, and send to my massive freezer. Then offer it to all my apug/photrio buddies really cheap, with proceeds going to apug/photrio. I've got to win LottoMax one of these days!
Click to expand...
HIE has my vote for next film to be revived, even if only in a strongly modified version. The ability to take high speed infrared and without much filtering too is very alluring.
 
I would lobby congress to pass the Afordable Photography Act and force everyone to buy a new Leica each year and 50 rolls of film.
 
guangong said:
I would lobby congress to pass the Afordable Photography Act and force everyone to buy a new Leica each year and 50 rolls of film.
Click to expand...

50 rolls of HIE, that I funded!:laugh:
 
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