Kodak Discontinuing B&W Chemicals?

jbbooks · Feb 21, 2006

Went to buy some things today and was told that Kodak was discontinuing the manufacture of their B&W chemicals as of April.

This is the first that I had heard of this. Anyone here know more about it or can refute it?

Anupam Basu · Feb 21, 2006

True or not, can someone suggest a good substitute for HC110 so I don't have to care what kodak pulls next?

df cardwell · Feb 21, 2006

Hurry. Kodak will certainly discontinue it !

Maybe in 30 years....

jim appleyard · Feb 21, 2006

jbbooks said:
Went to buy some things today and was told that Kodak was discontinuing the manufacture of their B&W chemicals as of April.

This is the first that I had heard of this. Anyone here know more about it or can refute it?

Who said this? Where was this? Can we see some proof?

Gerald Koch · Feb 21, 2006

Anupam Basu said:
True or not, can someone suggest a good substitute for HC110 so I don't have to care what kodak pulls next?

There is no substitute although Ilford makes something vaguely similar.

Paul Sorensen · Feb 21, 2006

jbbooks said:
Went to buy some things today and was told that Kodak was discontinuing the manufacture of their B&W chemicals as of April.

This is the first that I had heard of this. Anyone here know more about it or can refute it?

Every few days or so this rumor or one like it crops up. I guess at some point one of the rumors will be true, but I have yet to hear anything of the sort from a reliable source. I guess now that Ilford is doing selenium toner, I can live without Kodak chemicals personally, but I suspect it is not happening yet.

ann · Feb 21, 2006

my dealer tried to order some hc110 in the 3.5 gallon size and was told that was no longer availble, BUT ONLY IN THAT SIZE. they could order the smaller bottles with no problem.

a few years ago , they stopped supplying brown toner in the gallong sizes and i was worried about the possiblities that it was being discontinued. Can still buy it today, except it comes in a smaller size.

All this makes sense when the larger picture is considered; how many of us use a case of 3.5 gallon size bottles of HC110 a year? We use about 15 bottles, but I don't believe that is common for the general community at this time.

Hopefully, this is what is occuring with your sitituation. If not we will just move on to something else.

df cardwell · Feb 21, 2006

ann said:
my dealer tried to order some hc110 in the 3.5 gallon size and was told that was no longer availble, BUT ONLY IN THAT SIZE. they could order the smaller bottles with no problem.

The camera shop drones around here caused a panic amongst institutional users, when they couldn't order the BIG containers of HC-110 they called up all their clients and told them kodak has killed the developer. Oh, and Photo FLo.

A client heard about this and called me. This is what I did: I called Kodak.

In 3 minutes I had the story.

Why do we WANT, so strongly, to believe in in bogeymen that we have to invent them ???? Why are we so convinced that KODAK is evil when the problem is either a lie from the camera shop, or on the internet ?

We choose to believe a lie because we want to feel persecuted by Kodak.

Friends, that ISN'T healthy.

.

Kino · Feb 21, 2006

Kodak is going through a "catalog slimming exercise" (their words) whereby a lot of less purchased quantities or line items are elminated or made strictly on a minimum order basis.

So, be sure to call or visit their online catalog before hitting the panic button.

Papa Tango · Feb 21, 2006

Beowulf Redux

df cardwell said:
Why do we WANT, so strongly, to believe in in bogeymen that we have to invent them ???? Why are we so convinced that KODAK is evil when the problem is either a lie from the camera shop, or on the internet ?

.

John Gardner wrote an interesting book based in the Beowulf saga, "Grendel". Its point, like many others in literature (Gilgamesh, Heart of Darkness, etcetera) is that we have a need to create monsters and bogeymen. Gardner's point is that we indeed are the "monster" ourselves.

The thread reminds me of US being Grendel's mother (the troll hag) after the killing of Grendel, err, Kodak. Why dont we all just discontinue Kodak, and we can put an end to these silly rumours.... :rolleyes:

Dave Parker · Feb 21, 2006

jbbooks said:
Went to buy some things today and was told that Kodak was discontinuing the manufacture of their B&W chemicals as of April.

This is the first that I had heard of this. Anyone here know more about it or can refute it?

God, here we go again!!! I think, if I remember right the last time this came up 3 weeks ago, it covered about 14 pages of posts..

Search feature guys, search feature, works great to see if something has been done before, there have been no announcements by kodak about doing away with their B&W chemicals.....

Dave

Ian Grant · Feb 21, 2006

Anupam Basu said:
True or not, can someone suggest a good substitute for HC110 so I don't have to care what kodak pulls next?

Ilfords "Ilfotech HC" is almost interchangeable.

Ian

df cardwell · Feb 21, 2006

Pragmatist said:
John Gardner wrote an interesting book based in the Beowulf saga, "Grendel". Its point, like many others in literature (Gilgamesh, Heart of Darkness, etcetera) is that we have a need to create monsters and bogeymen. Gardner's point is that we indeed are the "monster" ourselves.

The thread reminds me of US being Grendel's mother (the troll hag) after the killing of Grendel, err, Kodak. Why dont we all just discontinue Kodak, and we can put an end to these silly rumours.... :rolleyes:

John Gardner felt we could approximate the accent as midway between "stage irish" and "movie transylvanian".

.

Photo Engineer · Feb 21, 2006

We are indeed our own worst enemies.

In the words of Pogo, "We have met the enemy and he is us".

This again shows how we can create a self fulfilling prophecy. See how many here are now thinking of "getting out of Kodak chemistry before they pull the plug", and when sales drop Kodak will say "we are pulling the plug because so many are getting out of Kodak chemistry" and then APUGGERs will say "AHA, we told you so. See what Kodak is doing to us".

I've seen it happen.

PE

Curt · Feb 21, 2006

Wouldn't it be nice if a company like Kodak could give more than a short heads up when discontinuing products? It's the lack of information that eventually leads to ill feelings. Kind of like the Bush Cheney administration. Everything done in the dark with no regard to the people who they serve. When a person buys film, chemistry etc. from Kodak aren't we financing their move to digital? A little courtesy from a company who so many have supported would be asking so little.

I am in the process of finding a film developer that I will be making from scratch because Rodinal and HC-110 is on my iffy list. Pyrocat-HD tops the list right now. Not because I don't like Rodinal and HC-110 but because it is like OIL, I'm addicted to them. It's time to explore other alternatives.

df cardwell · Feb 21, 2006

Curt said:
Wouldn't it be nice if a company like Kodak could give more than a short heads up when discontinuing products? It's the lack of information that eventually leads to ill feelings. ....snip....It's time to explore other alternatives.

You lost me there, Curt. Because Kodak supplies HC-110 as the developer to hospitals and other institutions that are dedicated to it's use ( no digital substitute ! ), for which there is NO alternative developer, and who just mint money for Rochester ?

Would you like them to say every week "we aren't discontinuing the stuff we'll be making this week " ?

Oh, well. You be afraid, it's your choice.

And what is so iffy about Rodinal ? There's plenty out there, and there are new sources coming on line.

.

roteague · Feb 21, 2006

I don't think Kodak is going anywhere, anytime soon either. I just don't understand why their advertising budget for film and chemicals seems to be somewhere around zero.

NikoSperi · Feb 21, 2006

Wasn't a "Doom and Gloom" sub-forum created precisely for this kind of stuff?
I heard from a friend, he sells sandwiches to an investment banker, that Ilford and some private equity funds are about to launch a LBO on Kodak's digital business... just to shut it down so we can stop hearing this stuff.

Good night and good luck.

SchwinnParamount · Feb 21, 2006

Photo Engineer said:
We are indeed our own worst enemies.

In the words of Pogo, "We have met the enemy and he is us".

This again shows how we can create a self fulfilling prophecy. See how many here are now thinking of "getting out of Kodak chemistry before they pull the plug", and when sales drop Kodak will say "we are pulling the plug because so many are getting out of Kodak chemistry" and then APUGGERs will say "AHA, we told you so. See what Kodak is doing to us".

I've seen it happen.

PE

I love Pogo! I used to have all of the cartoons in a few anthologies. That aside, I so agree with you PE. I'll continue buying XTOL until they take the wallet out of my cold dead hands.

Photo Engineer · Feb 21, 2006

SchwinnParamount said:
I love Pogo! I used to have all of the cartoons in a few anthologies. That aside, I so agree with you PE. I'll continue buying XTOL until they take the wallet out of my cold dead hands.

That cartoon was on the BB in KRL for years in color photography.

I have a small collection of Pogo comic books.

PE

Curt · Feb 22, 2006

You lost me there, Curt. Because Kodak supplies HC-110 as the developer to hospitals and other institutions that are dedicated to it's use ( no digital substitute ! ), for which there is NO alternative developer, and who just mint money for Rochester ?

I worked in a hospital for 25 years in medical imaging, where do they use HC-110? I don't buy the no alternative developer either, I'm passed that one, along with there is only one paper and no other choice.

I'm not sure that eliminating all of the X-Omat processors for instance would not be a bad idea at all, they are dirty, unreliable, and environmentally unsound. And the film used in Radiology is obscene, not to mention the storage of it for the 5 years required. Ultrasound went filmless and it wasn't the end of the world. I hope that the medical industry goes totally digital in my life time.

At home in my photo world I can live with what is available and the point I make is I would like a little lead time on the discontinuance of materials in that I may make a smoother transition to new ones. That's the wish, reality is that the business world is not there for me to be prepared.

I am at the end of the photographic grieving process. Debating these things are the biggest troll of all for me.

Posts like "do you use a tripod" has more relevance.

I gave my reasons for selecting a new developer and didn't rag on any company and what do you know. Troll, Troll, Troll.

Will we ever see the end of this stufff?

Dave Parker · Feb 22, 2006

PE is a troll?

That is news to me, I would have a better time beliving that those who keep perpetuationg unfounded rumors to be trolls, Ron, seems to be someone who is realistic and honest in his posting, I would never consider him a troll...

If anyone has heard a creadably press release that Kodak is getting out of the chemistry business I would like to see it, so far that has not came true, so I will continue on with what I do....

Dave

Bob F. · Feb 22, 2006

This really is getting silly... If you want to continue buying Kodak chemicals (or any other product) continue to do so. If they stopped tomorrow, there would still be enough in the supply chain to get you over the hump until you find something else to use instead. Certainly do not let what some unknown bloke in a camera shop says influence you one way or the other - that would just be absurd.

Camera shops have a long tradition of trying to sell you what they want to sell you, rather than what you want to buy. What they want to sell you at the moment is digitaldoodahs. Anyone taking the word of a salesperson deserves the mess into which they will get themselves.

Here endeth the Lesson...

Cheers, Bob.

P.S. Can a Mod poke this thread with a stick in to the Doom and Gloom forum? Please?

Ray Heath · Feb 22, 2006

why don't you all just be a little more flexible
in reality any mono film developer will develop any mono film
times are available or are easy to figure
is your work really soo precious you must always use the same materials

Papa Tango · Feb 22, 2006

Ray Heath said:
why don't you all just be a little more flexible
in reality any mono film developer will develop any mono film
times are available or are easy to figure
is your work really soo precious you must always use the same materials

How silly of you Ray, of course it is. I have a festering resentment over Pan-X and Microdol replenisher. They are the consummate magic bullitt and I cant have them anymore. Just thinking about it makes me mad. Now I have to go find a cat to kick. Here kitty kitty...

Kodak Discontinuing B&W Chemicals?

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