It's official, Kodak is selling its film business.

ME Super · Aug 27, 2012

Steve Smith said:
In the UK we have £1 stores (everything costs £1). The bargain batteries (pack of 12 for £1) are branded Kodak. They last about five minutes.

Steve.

Here in the States, I've bought the Kodak branded pre-charged rechargeable AA batteries for the digi P&S. The rechargeable batteries which aren't the pre-charged ones (doesn't matter if they're Kodak brand or not) only hold a sufficient charge for a digi P&S for about a week. The pre-charged Kodak ones will hold their charge for months.

Photo Engineer · Aug 27, 2012

I have had the worst luck with Kodak batteries. I even saved some in a sealed package that burst before I could use them. IDK if they have improved but the ones I have had were awful. I've said this before here on APUG.

PE

mikendawn · Aug 27, 2012

I used KODAK Batteries once... 5 minutes in my XBOX Controller and it was already spinning circles...
WTF is that?

I had those stupid Red Everready batteries last longer than than!

Oh Kodak... how far you have strayed..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cplAJ20y7ks&playnext=1&list=PL1BD3AD12FA427AFC&feature=results_main

Felinik · Aug 27, 2012

Kodak, batteries?

Batteries are produced by:

VARTA
ENERGIZER
DURACELL
PANASONIC/SANYO

batwister · Aug 27, 2012

Let's make a written list of everything Kodak has and is doing wrong. Does anybody have discount at a paper factory?

PKM-25 · Aug 27, 2012

batwister said:
Let's make a written list of everything Kodak has and is doing wrong. Does anybody have discount at a paper factory?

Nah, let's not...

Instead, let's go out and shoot some film, showing any potential buyers of Kodak Consumer Film who their customer is.

DREW WILEY · Aug 27, 2012

Felinik - yeah, Kodak made batteries. I tried them once. There are also quite a number of Chinese counterfeiters of batteries right now - they sometimes get deliberatedly mixed into shipments of the real brand by unscrupulous importers, just like counterfeit auto parts.

Ian Grant · Aug 27, 2012

Better to post what Koadk's doing right from our collective APUG point of view.

Making film seems to be no 1, distributing Champion made Kodak chemistry might be another. The downside is poor distribution by the corporate giant making products hard to buy leaving the sales to competitors.

Ian

Prof_Pixel · Aug 27, 2012

DREW WILEY said:
- yeah, Kodak made batteries. I tried them once.

To the best of my knowledge, Kodak never actually made any of the batteries that carry their name. A battery company was spun off from Kodak - Ultralife Batteries, which makes a wide variety of Lithium based cells.

Steve Smith · Aug 27, 2012

Prof_Pixel said:
A battery company was spun off from Kodak - Ultralife Batteries, which makes a wide variety of Lithium based cells.

The batteries I bought are not lithium. More like a potato with copper and zinc electrodes pushed in.

Steve.

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 27, 2012

PKM-25 said:
Nah, let's not...

Instead, let's go out and shoot some film, showing any potential buyers of Kodak Consumer Film who their customer is.

Actually I spent all of this past weekend exposing film at the state fair. And I'll repeat that next weekend. Then into the darkroom.

Also met a very nice fellow who noticed my camera and came over to chat. He was an ex-professional photographer who had stopped working five years earlier, sold all of his camera equipment, and now was getting the itch to return specifically to film for personal work. He even expressed an interest in dye transfer printing. I'm not sure where the dye transfer process is at these days, but I let him take a look at my GF670 folder and pointed him right back here to APUG.

A scaled down post-Kodak could still make some money at this stuff if they really, really wanted to...

Ken

RattyMouse · Aug 27, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
I have had the worst luck with Kodak batteries. I even saved some in a sealed package that burst before I could use them. IDK if they have improved but the ones I have had were awful. I've said this before here on APUG.

PE

I used to use Kodak CR123 batteries and never remember having problems. Maybe those were the ones you designed PE? They worked pretty good!

Klainmeister · Aug 27, 2012

I once made a trip deep into the backcountry in Utah with a fresh Kodak battery in my camera.... shot one roll and it died....I was pissed to say the least.

Photo Engineer · Aug 27, 2012

Prof_Pixel said:
To the best of my knowledge, Kodak never actually made any of the batteries that carry their name. A battery company was spun off from Kodak - Ultralife Batteries, which makes a wide variety of Lithium based cells.

Fred;

Whether Ultralife made regular AA and AAA batteries for Kodak or not, there were Ultralife batteries in Kodak trade dress, and I have some.

PE

Felinik · Aug 27, 2012

DREW WILEY said:
Felinik - yeah, Kodak made batteries. I tried them once. There are also quite a number of Chinese counterfeiters of batteries right now - they sometimes get deliberatedly mixed into shipments of the real brand by unscrupulous importers, just like counterfeit auto parts.

This is, was, probably one of Kodak's great mistakes, positioning and brand identification is not to be taken lightly. What would be next, Kodak making remote controls for TV's ?

SkipA · Aug 27, 2012

I've gotten normal life out of Kodak 2CR5 batteries in my EOS 3. They last as well as the Varta batteries.

Prof_Pixel · Aug 27, 2012

Ron, yes there were lithium cells in Kodak dress. Right from the start though, the alkaline cells were from an outside source.

FWIW, I worked with Jack Chang setting up a battery research lab in B-81 when there was some though of making (coating) Kodak alkaline batteries that could be attached to the disc film cartridge (a la Polaroid instant film with batteries). We coated and tested lots of cells, ordered equipment and interviewed people that led to setting up a larger group effort in B-82. That (in part) spun off into Ultralife. Both Jack and I were just there to jumpstart the effort based on our background; neither of us were interested in continuing after we got things started.

Photo Engineer · Aug 27, 2012

I have normal AA batteries in Kodak black and yellow trade dress in a Kodak blister pack that burst before i could use the batteries. I still have them.

Yes, I remember you working in 82 as we used to go to lunch. You were closer there than in 65.

Jack Chang came to see me just before I left. He asked me not to retire. He was the last person at EK that I had a meeting with before I left. The subject was KEDS and ESP. Sorry. I talked to Liz Chang at one of the last KRL retiree lunches. Jack had not retired yet. Thanks for the memories.

PE

robbalbrecht · Aug 27, 2012

PKM-25 said:
Nah, let's not...

Instead, let's go out and shoot some film, showing any potential buyers of Kodak Consumer Film who their customer is.

This sounds like a great idea. Think I'll go shoot some TriX, then go stock up on Portra and Ektar at my local shop.

Prof_Pixel · Aug 27, 2012

Kodak started using alkaline batteries in Kodak trade dress in instant cameras with built-in electronic flash. They were from an outside source. Some of the Disc cameras used non-user replaceable Li/MnO2 cells from Panasonic.

I enjoyed working with Jack.

Photo Engineer · Aug 27, 2012

These batteries were probably from an outside source, but even so they were the bottom of the heap! Kodak could certainly have done better for themselves either way.

PE

lxdude · Aug 27, 2012

They should have been called Ultra-short-life. 9 volt ones worked OK for me. The AA's sucked, though I never had any burst.

I wonder if they were made by the same company that made Radio Shack batteries. I had one of their alkaline D-cells burst and spew all inside the Maglite I'd had for decades. Ruined it. I don't buy anything there anymore. Why can't these companies understand that when you sell junk customers stop bothering with them?

RattyMouse · Aug 27, 2012

This thread has gone weird, so I'm going to make it weirder. Were Kodak branded flash cubes any good???

Prof_Pixel · Aug 27, 2012

RattyMouse said:
This thread has gone weird, so I'm going to make it weirder. Were Kodak branded flash cubes any good???

I remember Kodak branded Christmas tree lights and picture puzzles, but I don't remember any Kodak branded flash cubes. The FlipFlash bars we packaged with the early instant cameras were made (and branded) by GE (I still have a few around).

kb3lms · Aug 27, 2012

We can still find Kodak AA, C and D batteries in the dollar store around here!

It's official, Kodak is selling its film business.

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