Kodak Alaris

[RattyMouse]

A new post from the new Kodak.

http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2296502/new-kodak-company-to-continue-selling-film

 

[Regular Rod]

"Kodak Alaris, the new company born of KPP's purchase of Eastman Kodak's personalised and professional imaging businesses, has no plan to reduce its portfolio of films in the short term, its bosses tell BJP"


Goodness me! They need to get some plans in place to increase their range...

RR

 

[LiamG]

It's not really breaking news, it's not really exciting news, but at least it's good news. I could re-read the same story all day as long as it includes "continue selling film."

 

[Ten301]

Well, my excitement and hopes for Kodak Alaris' commitment to analog photography has gone down a few notches after reading that post. The "new" Kodak is pretty much saying the same thing the "old" Kodak has for years. Instead of promoting the use of film, with all the millions of analog cameras out there, with the resurgence (while maybe not a tidal wave) of interest in film photography, we have the new guys saying, 'Oh gee...film is a mature product, so don't expect anything new from us. We'll keep it going as long as we can, but our real focus is on printing!'. Why don't they just hire Antonio Perez as their CEO? He'd feel right at home. Why am I experiencing deja-vu? Could it be because that road was so successful the last time Kodak made it their priority? Sorry to sound cynical but, with no debt and a fresh start, they have the name recognition and a perfect opportunity to do great things. I guess I was expecting too much.

 

[akfotog]

Great news to be sure, and right on time at the end of my discussion.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

There are many labs around my home and they say its very hard to find kodak film for sale. One of them was kodak express lab and lab owner told me that kodak is no longer manufacturing film , other guy have many boxes of kodak film at his display , all empty. I waited 2 weeks , and before 3 weeks to buy fuji film. When photographing children , one extra fatman stopped me by his car and asked my id and why I am claiming I am a photographer and using a cheap camera , it was a Leica , he wanted to see the camera , I gave it , he rounded it rounded it and gave back to me and went hell Processing is terrible , all results are not sharp and very low contrast , scanner scans half from the first , half from the second. I can say color film photography and kodak completely dead here.
I have to buy a 40 dollar scanner , developer , fixer and big can of bw film and shipping is extremelly expensive. There is one shop at the city and have all but I did not like the guy , he is like a pirate movie star, I dont want to see his face and face with his anger.

 

[MDR]

Good news and I'd love for them to resurrect some old emulsions but the reality is that they have enough problems selling what they have in their current product portofolio

 

[Prest_400]

Certainly good news, they provide some feedback by saying they have a good demand for their film portfolio and will continue with it.
Yes; No debt, clean start. But will do what we've always done. However, it might be still early to see their potential.

Given that the people at PI on Kodak Alaris might not see our forum, we could write them in behalf of the film community. Sending our letter directly to Mr Dennis Olbrich (IIRC he is the head of PI) In the lines of:

"APUG, in behalf of the film photography community are happy that the film capture division of Kodak Alaris continues to offer a good portfolio of excellent products. We would appreciate that Kodak Alaris further promoted the use of their film products. Some competitors (think Ilford) and endeavours (IP) in the same industry are currently advertising, promoting and following closely our community. In this era of Digital Imaging, Kodak's film is not as known as it was in the past; despite its superb quality. Many potential users don't know Kodak.
Because it is not only about making and distributing film; Kodak film needs passion."

Don't you think it would be a nice way to say hello to this new company?

 

[PKM-25]

Well, my excitement and hopes for Kodak Alaris' commitment to analog photography has gone down a few notches after reading that post. The "new" Kodak is pretty much saying the same thing the "old" Kodak has for years. Instead of promoting the use of film, with all the millions of analog cameras out there, with the resurgence (while maybe not a tidal wave) of interest in film photography, we have the new guys saying, 'Oh gee...film is a mature product, so don't expect anything new from us.

I really cannot begin to fathom what people are expecting from them, annual runs of Kodachrome in ULF?

Come ON people, when they say nothing new they mean new film, not marketing. Of course they will market film, they can now and it will help to turn a profit.....you do want them to turn a profit, right? This is just incredible to me, the lineup they have right this moment is truly some of the best film they have ever made and the quality is near mil-spec for pete's sake and yet all people can do is complain, what a truly sad state of commentary.

I am 100% in support of what ever they need to do in order to keep the current lineup and not make films like TMX and TMY in 4x5 $200+ a box, which I would still pay by the way.

You guys have got to start waking up, this is 2013 and Kodak film has emerged from bankruptcy, it could have been far, far worse folks.

 

[munz6869]

Yaaay - I can keep using TXP320. My favourite...

Marc!

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

I really cannot begin to fathom what people are expecting from them, annual runs of Kodachrome in ULF?

Come ON people, when they say nothing new they mean new film, not marketing. Of course they will market film, they can now and it will help to turn a profit.....you do want them to turn a profit, right? This is just incredible to me, the lineup they have right this moment is truly some of the best film they have ever made and the quality is near mil-spec for pete's sake and yet all people can do is complain, what a truly sad state of commentary.

I am 100% in support of what ever they need to do in order to keep the current lineup and not make films like TMX and TMY in 4x5 $200+ a box, which I would still pay by the way.

You guys have got to start waking up, this is 2013 and Kodak film has emerged from bankruptcy, it could have been far, far worse folks.

Old-timers around these parts will probably fall over dead hearing me say this, but...

I really think we need to give these guys some breathing space and a chance to get their feet on the ground and get going. No one has been more critical of EK's business decisions over these past several years than I. That was some of the dumbest shit I've ever seen, ranking right up there in business sense with those dotcoms I worked for back in the day. Unbelievable incompetence of vision. Don't even get me started again...

But these guys aren't EK. True, we don't yet know what they can or will do, but the flip side is that unlike EK under Perez, they haven't done anything fatally wrong yet either.

Besides, if a reconstituted Ferrania doesn't manage escape velocity in 2014, and Harman hasn't been secretly squirreling away aces up its sleeve while no one was watching, then these Alaris guys might very well be your last, best, and final hope for survival of color film of any type.

The prudent thing to do might just be to give them the benefit of the doubt and some room to maneuver.

Ken

 

[OzJohn]

Sorry to sound cynical but, with no debt and a fresh start, they have the name recognition and a perfect opportunity to do great things. I guess I was expecting too much.

Yes I think so. It is unrealistic to expect that previously discontinued emulsions are going to reappear and even those that are currently available will only remain so as long as there is demand. It is also unrealistic to expect that Alaris are going to develop and release any new emulsions - they may re-badge some and market them as new but Kodak and Fuji have been doing that for years anyway.

This business arrangement at best stops the supply of Kodak film being cut off suddenly in one fell swoop rather than after a more graceful decline. Sales of colour film in particular will continue to fall away - black & white could last forever and colour paper probably has quite a few years left in it yet. Whether Alaris would be interested in keeping the remaining few Kodak B&W films after colour goes is a moot point and probably depends on the capacity of the Rochester factory to continue their manufacture.

You can bet, though, that Alaris will be the last player standing in colour paper because they own the factory that makes it and it's potential sales volume is not dependant on analog photography. OzJohn

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I look forward to seeing what an improved marketing campaign can do about availability of Kodak film in parts of the world where we get reports it's difficult to obtain.

But mostly it's nice that they now have a clean sheet, a fresh start, without the massive burden of having to be a cash cow for the rest of the business. That's a real opportunity for them, and like PKM-25 and Ken, I also hope they can simply maintain the products they currently offer, and bring some calm to the turbulent mayhem and chaos that has existed around the products for some time now. I'm a very happy Kodak film user. Ilford rocks too, and they get my paper purchases.

 

[Roger Cole]

The existing Kodak film line up, while obviously trimmed back a lot, covers pretty much most needs with the exception of E6. I'd love to see E6 from Kodak again, particularly E100G and a 400 speed film, but don't think it likely at all. Otherwise, the line up is trim but covers most all needs. I miss Plus-X somewhat, and I know many folks miss Pan-X, but what we have is good stuff. If we can keep it, great. If we can get the price of sheet film back down from the stratosphere, at least competitive with Ilford in black and white and not so silly high in color, that would be nice too.

Keeping what we have is a modest, but hopefully realistic goal.

 

[pentaxuser]

My sentiments exactly, Roger, Ken, Ozjohn, Thomas. Well said, all of you.

pentaxuser

 

[ME Super]

My camera and my son's camera are mostly fed Fuji E6 right now. Kodak 400TX and Ilford HP5+ for my B&W with Rollei for IR. My daughter feeds her camera Kodak C41 exclusively. My 620 camera is fed Kodak and Ilford 120 on 620 spools.

Long live the big 3!

 

[MattKing]

It would be nice to see Plus-X back.

E6 as well.

Ironically, if they are able to re-establish a reasonably effective distribution chain, and have some success with it, it may prompt the (re)-development of some older, discontinued products.

Especially ones that don't require re-introduction of chemistry.

I wonder if we might see the return of Kodak instant materials!

I would certainly expect that improved distribution could prompt the re-introduction of certain sizes in sheet film, and maybe even sheets of colour paper.

 

[miha]

Maybe Kodak will rethink their B&W paper discontinuation in 2005. There are currently 10 differnet types of RC and 14 types of FB papers in production - if I counted right -, I bet there is some market left for a Polymax revival.

 

[Roger Cole]

Panalure if I had my druthers.

A true cold tone VC FB paper.

Other than those I can get paper that suits my needs now.

 

[miha]

Panalure it is then

(wasn't panalure RC only?)

 

[Roger Cole]

Yeah, it was, at least the later version that worked well. And while I'd like to have it in FB, ANY paper that makes a really good print with normal tones from a color negative would be welcome.

 

[Prest_400]

Today I got a roll of portra 400. Hey, to celebrate that everything is good. Very small contribution, but it adds up.
Let Kodak Alaris settle around.

They own the Harrow plant, and that is great for paper. Making B&W paper in there could be probable.

As of the film portfolio, right now it's excellent. Lacks E6, if it would be doable to make small quantities of E100G there is a quite good range there.

 

[RattyMouse]

Today I got a roll of portra 400. Hey, to celebrate that everything is good. Very small contribution, but it adds up.
Let Kodak Alaris settle around.

They own the Harrow plant, and that is great for paper. Making B&W paper in there could be probable.

As of the film portfolio, right now it's excellent. Lacks E6, if it would be doable to make small quantities of E100G there is a quite good range there.

I'll be buying 10 rolls or so of Porta 400 for the very same reason later this week.

 

[GarageBoy]

Wait, so who is Alaris and what is the Kodak Pension Plan (does it mean something else, or is it literally a pension plan?)?

I just discovered Portra 160/400/800, I can't have that disappear on me

 

[MattKing]

Wait, so who is Alaris and what is the Kodak Pension Plan (does it mean something else, or is it literally a pension plan?)?

I just discovered Portra 160/400/800, I can't have that disappear on me

As part of the Eastman Kodak bankruptcy process, the Bankruptcy trustee settled the claim of the Kodak Limited (aka UK Kodak) pensioners plan by transferring the UK paper manufacturing facility along with the right to market Kodak still film and paper and business scanning businesses to a separate entity incorporated by that plan (under the name Kodak Alaris) for the purpose. The pension plan also sent several hundred million to the trustee.

Eastman Kodak will continue to manufacture the still and motion picture film in Rochester, at least for the foreseeable future.