Kodak committed to making film "as long as there's demand"

[Mackinaw]

Not the best written article, but interesting.

Eastman Kodak committed to making film 'as long as there is demand'

Eastman Kodak will keep making film as long as there is demand, the film producer's executive chairman said in a call to shareholders this week.

kosmofoto.com

Jim B.

 

[BrianShaw]

Yep...

[edit] But as a stockholder, I probably would prefer he said, "as long as their is PROFIT"

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Ditto Darkroom Automation - timers & meters will be built as long as people keep buying them.

But that sort of goes without saying - with any business.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Can they increase demand by reducing supply?

 

[MurrayMinchin]

In 2005 I didn't like how Kodak was waffling, so switched to HP5 sheet film (was already using Ilford papers) and started making my developers and fixers from scratch instead of using Kodak chemical products after reading how Ilford intended to be "the last man standing where black and white products are concerned"

That was the kind of attitude I could support.

https://www.ephotozine.com/article/ilford-photo-plan-for-b-amp-w-future-2129

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Can they increase demand by reducing supply?

I don't know, but they just might have passed the point where increasing prices does that. There's only so much demand for Veblen goods.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

From the article. It's a five-year contract with Alaris which means they apparently committed to five years. That's good for us users. I wish we could learn the terms of the deal between Kodak and Alaris. Does anyone know any details?

"Eastman Kodak will continue to make photographic film as long as there is demand, the film producer’s executive chairman said in a call to shareholders this week.

Eastman Kodak’s CEO Jim Continenza made the pledge during the Q2 2023 earnings call on Wednesday (9 August).

“We recently renewed our supply agreement for film with our long-term customer, Kodak Alaris in a deal that will run through 2028,” he said. “We are committed to manufacturing film as long as there is demand from the filmmakers and photographers worldwide."

 

[MattKing]

From the article. It's a five-year contract with Alaris which means they apparently committed to five years. That's good for us users. I wish we could learn the terms of the deal between Kodak and Alaris. Does anyone know any details?

The only thing I know was that the old contract had to be renegotiated because Covid resulted in Kodak Alaris being unable to fulfill its terms.
So I'm glad that KA was able to right the ship enough to justify another 5 years.

 

[ic-racer]

 

[BrianShaw]

What’s the exact dependent variable, that which is being measured, and what units is the y-axis?

 

[ic-racer]

What’s the exact dependent variable, that which is being measured, and what units is the y-axis?

The X axis is time; Jan, 1 2004 to present.

The Y axis is a representative sample of the number of times that search term "35mm Film Camera" was registered at intervals during the given time period. The number is normalized to 100%.

Numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for this term.While only a sample of Google searches are used in Google Trends, this is sufficient because we handle billions of searches per day. Providing access to the entire data set would be too large to process quickly. By sampling data, we can look at a dataset representative of all Google searches,
https://support.google.com/trends/a...ef_topic=6248052&sjid=14359347396989851293-NA

 

[braxus]

Wasn't Alaris up for sale? Or did they work something out to stay in the business? I would have thought Kodak would have re- absorbed Alaris back into the main company.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

For a company that has given me so much grief for so many years, I do wish them all the success in the world.

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

In 2005 I didn't like how Kodak was waffling, so switched to HP5 sheet film (was already using Ilford papers) and started making my developers and fixers from scratch instead of using Kodak chemical products after reading how Ilford intended to be "the last man standing where black and white products are concerned"

That was the kind of attitude I could support.

https://www.ephotozine.com/article/ilford-photo-plan-for-b-amp-w-future-2129

In color film, Kodak has truly turned out to be the Last Man Standing. The company that invented color film will be the last one still making it. Fuji has stopped making color print film altogether; their current offerings are being made for them by Kodak. They have a couple of slide films still being sold, but who knows how long.

We have more choices for B&W, but for color, Kodak will be the last.

 

[mshchem]

What’s the exact dependent variable, that which is being measured, and what units is the y-axis?

 

[Trail Images]

For a company that has given me so much grief for so many years, I do wish them all the success in the world.

I hear you Andrew. For me I would substitute Kodak with Fuji. I've run myself ragged chasing Velvia 50 from pillar to post for years. Using Ektachrome at this point in 120-4x5. I think the lining of my stomach is starting to heal finally.

 

[Jim Jones]

When I became involved in photography in the 1940s, Kodak was King! They made fine cameras, and some lenses that had all the quality that most LF photographers need, even after 80+ years. I also relied on their many publications, from the information sheets that came with film to the many publications. How the mighty has fallen! Kodak provided reliable processing by mail for Kodachrome from almost anywhere on Earth during a Navy career. The last time I looked, those slides from so long ago are still in good condition while some other brands are now useless. Kodak was a leader in B&W film. Their Recording Film 2475 could be rated from 1000 to 4000 ASA, while Tri-X was normally rated at 400. This let me shoot indoor sports with a Summicron at f/2 at twice the shutter speed instead of the less sharp Canon f/1.4. Kodak also produced the fine High Speed Infrared 4143 sheet film. Kodak's Technical Pan film was a very sharp film. Although designed as a high contrast film, it could be developed for near normal negatives that permitted large sharp enlargements. The sheet version could be developed in Solar developer with a reversing exposure during development for solarized prints, as below. This nude was photographed against a black background, which reversed to a more pleasing grey in development.

 

[MattKing]

Wasn't Alaris up for sale? Or did they work something out to stay in the business? I would have thought Kodak would have re- absorbed Alaris back into the main company.

They couldn't afford it - they don't have the capital nor the ability to absorb the world wide infrastructure.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

They couldn't afford it - they don't have the capital nor the ability to absorb the world wide infrastructure.

Wouldn't Eastman Kodak be responsible for the Alaris retirees again? Who needs that?

 

[Agulliver]

If Fuji don't restart in-house production of colour negative film I shall eat one of my most smelly socks.

But this announcement from Kodak is probably about as good as it can be. Even the most fervent doubters can rest easy for a few years, knowing Kodak films aren't going to disappear completely. Demand is up, the problem currently facing Kodak and FujiFilm is how to reliably fulfil that demand.

Alaris has always theoretically been "up for sale" if the right buyer were to come along.

 

[MattKing]

Wouldn't Eastman Kodak be responsible for the Alaris retirees again? Who needs that?

No - the Alaris retirees are Alaris'/the Kodak Limited/UK pension authority's responsibility. That was the term of the bankruptcy settlement. There still is a huge amount of money in that subsumed fund - just not enough, if the actuarial projections are accurate. Those pesky Kodak retirees have this awkward propensity for living for a long time.
As far as I'm ware, the accrued Kodak pension rights for Eastman Kodak and Eastman subsidiary employees other than the Kodak Ltd. employees are still being paid - they never stopped being paid. Many employees lost some or all of their extended health benefits though.
The last numbers that I saw for the funds set aside for retirees for Kodak Canada indicated that that fund was close to or fully funded, depending as ever on whether the actuarial projections bear out.

 

[Prest_400]

Did my due today attending a screening of Asteroid city, filmed in 200T and actually very fine grained. It's amazing how good Kodak (and Fuji) perfected film. The best (and at the moment only readily available) color film is Kodak's.
Lately I have been saying, back when I joined APUG and picked up film Kodak was discontinuing films here and there and it wasn't that best feeling up to 2014 when there were rumors of them almost dropping film manufacturing. It's sad that it's merely a shell of what the great Yellow Father was, but B38 stands and fantastic products are being manufactured.

If Fuji don't restart in-house production of colour negative film I shall eat one of my most smelly socks.

Hope you don't have to. As in other threads, being optimistic they are just suffering the post covid + supply chain shocks. Instax is being churned out and that requires film; but it would be wonderful to have Fujicolor and Fujichrome available again. A decade and half ago I would have voted for Fuji as a longstanding manufacturing of color.

 

[MultiFormat Shooter]

...It would be wonderful to have Fujicolor and Fujichrome available again.

Fujichrome is back in-stock (as of Aug. 13, 2023) at B&H.

 

[koraks]

If Fuji don't restart in-house production of colour negative film I shall eat one of my most smelly socks.

We shall grant you the liberty of choosing a condiment of your preference with it.

I'm afraid there's no sign whatsoever of Fuji restarting production of C41 film. To the contrary; what signals there are, point towards further shrinkage of coating operations of photographic materials in Japan.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

No - the Alaris retirees are Alaris'/the Kodak Limited/UK pension authority's responsibility. That was the term of the bankruptcy settlement. There still is a huge amount of money in that subsumed fund - just not enough, if the actuarial projections are accurate. Those pesky Kodak retirees have this awkward propensity for living for a long time.
As far as I'm ware, the accrued Kodak pension rights for Eastman Kodak and Eastman subsidiary employees other than the Kodak Ltd. employees are still being paid - they never stopped being paid. Many employees lost some or all of their extended health benefits though.
The last numbers that I saw for the funds set aside for retirees for Kodak Canada indicated that that fund was close to or fully funded, depending as ever on whether the actuarial projections bear out.

Doesn't Kodak Alaris have a relationship with that pension fund? It seems that the purchaser of Kodak Alaris would then have to take on the responsibilities they have with the Alaris retirees. No?