KA: Kodachrome "just not practical to try to replicate in today's market."

[bvy]

Apparently this concludes their investigation of "what it would take to bring it back" from last year. Hopefully it's the last word on the subject for a while.

Dead Link Removed

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...Hopefully it's last word on the subject for a while...

Don't count on it. Kodachrome revivalist posts/threads will continue here as long as PHOTRIO exists. After that, they'll show up elsewhere.

 

[Svenedin]

It never ends

 

[BrianShaw]

Not news. The conclusion was most likely written long before the question was asked. Not that the question hasn’t been asked a jillion Times before and will be asked again a jillion times unless film dies before that happens.

Or in summary: “It never ends”.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Apparently this concludes their investigation of "what it would take to bring it back" from last year. Hopefully it's the last word on the subject for a while.

Dead Link Removed

Don't count on it. Kodachrome revivalist posts/threads will continue here as long as PHOTRIO exists. After that, they'll show up elsewhere.

It never ends

The Kodachromeastas even write articles in newspapers, magazines and on the internet from the grave. They are the undead of photography.

 

[BrianShaw]

... but congratulations to Adriana for the success in producing click bait.

 

[keenmaster486]

They're more interested in bringing back things like P3200, apparently. There were better films than that to bring back which would mean instant market share for Kodak.

Kodak's business decisions are a mystery wrapped in an enigma, contained in a riddle, for sure.

But yes, I guarantee you that Kodak never gave even 10% of a single thought to bringing back Kodachrome. They wouldn't bring it back if the year 1957 came and bit them in the face.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Don't count on it. Kodachrome revivalist posts/threads will continue here as long as PHOTRIO exists. After that, they'll show up elsewhere.

Along with bigfoot, chemtrails, crop circles, the Second Coming,
Etc., there will be a symposium held on The Grassy Knoll.

 

[Luckless]

They're more interested in bringing back things like P3200, apparently. There were better films than that to bring back which would mean instant market share for Kodak.

Kodak's business decisions are a mystery wrapped in an enigma, contained in a riddle, for sure.

But yes, I guarantee you that Kodak never gave even 10% of a single thought to bringing back Kodachrome. They wouldn't bring it back if the year 1957 came and bit them in the face.

Which films would be better to bring back than P3200?

Which currently offered films would P3200 be likely to cannibalize out of existing Kodak sales, rather than going after sales currently handled by competitors?

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Which films would be better to bring back than P3200?

Which currently offered films would P3200 be likely to cannibalize out of existing Kodak sales, rather than going after sales currently handled by competitors?

P3200 was a delight when it came out in the '80s, I used it with a prewar Contax, f:2 Sonnar, photgraphing bands in very dark bars, far better grain than TriX and two stops faster before the push. I think the veiling flare of the wide open Sonnar is what brought the shadows up... it was a great match, and now I have another Contax and P3200 ordered.

 

[Svenedin]

P3200 was a delight when it came out in the '80s, I used it with a prewar Contax, f:2 Sonnar, photgraphing bands in very dark bars, far better grain than TriX and two stops faster before the push. I think the veiling flare of the wide open Sonnar is what brought the shadows up... it was a great match, and now I have another Contax and P3200 ordered.

Yes Ilford Delta 3200 has been quietly doing exactly that in dark bars with pre-wars cameras or at least that's what I do with it.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Yes Ilford Delta 3200 has been quietly doing exactly that in dark bars with pre-wars cameras or at least that's what I do with it.

I've yet to try the Ilford, I'm a bit ashamed to say.
Perhaps I should get some D3200 and see, I've yet to use an Ilford film I did not like.
When P3200 came out, the only comparable speed Kodak film was Royal X Pan, I have some frozen; it came in 4x5, 120, and had grain to trip over - way worse than TriX (which I considered ei 250).

 

[RattyMouse]

Yes Ilford Delta 3200 has been quietly doing exactly that in dark bars with pre-wars cameras or at least that's what I do with it.

Delta 3200 is an excellent film, one I shoot with reckless abandon if the need arises. The only deficiency that this film has is that it does not come in a yellow box.

 

[Svenedin]

I've yet to try the Ilford, I'm a bit ashamed to say.
Perhaps I should get some D3200 and see, I've yet to use an Ilford film I did not like.
When P3200 came out, the only comparable speed Kodak film was Royal X Pan, I have some frozen; it came in 4x5, 120, and had grain to trip over - way worse than TriX (which I considered ei 250).

I like Delta 3200 but it's not a general purpose film (obviously). It does very well in Ilfotech DD-X (I've never developed it in anything else). I usually push it 2 stops but I've never never tried 3 which Ilford say it can do ((25,000). It enables me to take available light photographs at night, indoors without flash. The main difficulty for me is focussing in poor light. It does have quite large grain and the resolution is not wonderful but these are situations where it's either this or nothing at all. Good fun IMHO.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144059001@N05/31029263406/in/dateposted-public/

 

[keenmaster486]

Kodak's efforts also might be better put into saving themselves from a second bankruptcy than introducing new and risky films.

Do we get anything fundamentally new with P3200 or Ektachrome? Fuji and Ilford have very similar films that serve the same purpose. The number of people who will care about the difference between, for instance, P3200 and Delta 3200, or Provia and Ektachrome (though there is a difference, of course), is probably too small to do anything but fracture the market and hurt all the companies.

In other words, I'm not sure the market can support more films right now. Maybe sometime in the future - the film market is growing - but not currently.

The only way the film market is going to grow more than slightly is if it is fundamentally transformed.

 

[Lachlan Young]

Kodak's efforts also might be better put into saving themselves from a second bankruptcy than introducing new and risky films.

Do we get anything fundamentally new with P3200 or Ektachrome? Fuji and Ilford have very similar films that serve the same purpose. The number of people who will care about the difference between, for instance, P3200 and Delta 3200, or Provia and Ektachrome (though there is a difference, of course), is probably too small to do anything but fracture the market and hurt all the companies.

In other words, I'm not sure the market can support more films right now. Maybe sometime in the future - the film market is growing - but not currently.

The only way the film market is going to grow more than slightly is if it is fundamentally transformed.

The short answer is that there seems to be a fair bit of evidence that Delta 3200 is Ilford's second biggest selling film in 135 & 120 (after HP5) at major retailers like B&H. If Kodak can scale the coating appropriately, then it's an obvious product to make, especially given that it has appeal to a range of professional users, especially in the wedding/ social markets. The one-roll-every-six-weeks crowd of noisy amateurs are not the intended market. Visually, it's quite different in look to Delta 3200 (different choices in engineering the characteristic curve shapes). Both are excellent, & the choice is good to have.

 

[removed account4]

Apparently this concludes their investigation of "what it would take to bring it back" from last year. Hopefully it's the last word on the subject for a while.

Dead Link Removed

all they need to adjust the cast of ektachrome from blue to cyan and they are golden
they can even have it processed regular e6 ( if those machines are not dissassembled as well )
==
its great that they retooled the emulsion for smaller batches. large batch sizes was not gonna be a good thing

now ...
they just need to keep riding the social media tweetstorm and >>>> ADVERTISE

 

[MattKing]

They're more interested in bringing back things like P3200, apparently. There were better films than that to bring back which would mean instant market share for Kodak.

Kodak's business decisions are a mystery wrapped in an enigma, contained in a riddle, for sure.

But yes, I guarantee you that Kodak never gave even 10% of a single thought to bringing back Kodachrome. They wouldn't bring it back if the year 1957 came and bit them in the face.

I expect that their Kodachrome decision was founded more on the challenge of making processing available than it was on the challenge of making the film available.
Kodachrome was designed for high volume, motion picture style processing. P3200 is not.
Kodak Alaris also has to be mindful of the fact that the film market is a worldwide market, but it is also inconsistent. If you, in your market, don't see the value of P3200, it might just be that your market isn't the one that motivates Kodak Alaris' decisions.

 

[Minoltafan2904]

Not anything new really, i would be extremely happy for Kodachrome to come back but i don't either have false hopes for it to come back because i know it's unrealistic.

 

[George Mann]

It is the same nonsensical answer as given by the Kodachrome haters here!

Only a fool would try to revive K14!

 

[Photo Engineer]

Only a fool who has never processed it manually or maintained a seasoned machine process would say bring it back!

Kodachrome is a mess to coat and process.

PE

 

[Sirius Glass]

Any we have a whole bunch of Kodachrome fools around here.

 

[keenmaster486]

If there is ever a Kodachrome replacement it will not come from Kodak - that's my unfounded prediction, anyway.

 

[AgX]

It enables me to take available light photographs at night, indoors without flash. The main difficulty for me is focussing in poor light. It does have quite large grain and the resolution is not wonderful but these are situations where it's either this or nothing at all.

Use a lighted rangefinder.
( I know, there is not much off the shelves.)

 

[TheGreatGasMaskMan]

I'm getting sick of these non substantive news articles in general.