Kodak will no longer produce any colour reversal still films

CGW · Mar 21, 2012

andrewkirkby said:
I thought about this for a couple of weeks... my first reaction was to get angry...
Then i realised... it doesn't really matter what film you use at the end of the day. What matters is capturing that moment in time, the beauty of the natural world...

I lost interest in photography when Kodachrome was discontinued but now have a renewed optimism about photography in general. I'll use whatever film i have in the cupboard/fridge/bag. I'm over caring about the product/gear/film... the only thing that really matters is the end result. We have Fujifilm and countless other products (dare i say too many) to choose from. Go out and use them TODAY while the opportunity is there. Tomorrow isn't promised to you.

Here's an image i took in 2010. I hope i can inspire or encourage one of you to just go out and shoot with whatever you have on hand. Don't get caught up with all this negativity. (Ama Dablam after sunset, November 2010 - Nepal)

View attachment 48216

Amen.

Poisson Du Jour · Mar 23, 2012

andrewkirkby said:
I thought about this for a couple of weeks... my first reaction was to get angry...
Then i realised... it doesn't really matter what film you use at the end of the day. What matters is capturing that moment in time, the beauty of the natural world...

I lost interest in photography when Kodachrome was discontinued but now have a renewed optimism about photography in general. I'll use whatever film i have in the cupboard/fridge/bag. I'm over caring about the product/gear/film... the only thing that really matters is the end result. We have Fujifilm and countless other products (dare i say too many) to choose from. Go out and use them TODAY while the opportunity is there. Tomorrow isn't promised to you.

Here's an image i took in 2010. I hope i can inspire or encourage one of you to just go out and shoot with whatever you have on hand. Don't get caught up with all this negativity. (Ama Dablam after sunset, November 2010 - Nepal)

Thank you Andrew for telling it the way the situation is. And the image, presumably of Anapurna II, is beautifully atmospheric. I am not interested in what film it was shot on.
I am not interested in Kodak's troubles. Nor should anybody else be with the choice of film. Irrespective of your likes and dislikes it's imperative to get out there and shoot film now and consistently. Slapping at the keyboard and comparing apples and oranges and pithy points will never guarantee a future of film. Let's work together for a common cause.

Matt5791 · Mar 24, 2012

As a dealer, I am completely unsurprised as this decision of Kodak. Sales were poor, miles and miles behind Kodak colour neg and B&W.

The most frustrating thing is that as soon as the discontinuance was announced everyone went mad for these films - we had to shut down the Kodak colour reversal part of our website to stop customers ordering films as soon as Kodak told us we would receive no more.

There is a lesson here - if people don't want to loose these products, buy them before they decide to kill them off!!

David Callard · Mar 24, 2012

Looks like the end for Kodak period. Perhaps they might do better making washing machines.

wblynch · Mar 24, 2012

The Strategy should be to announce, "We are selling so little of this (xxx) film that if sales don't increase (double/triple..) over the next 6 months we will have to discontinue it. This is your chance, if you love (xxx) film, to save it".

They know well in advance. so why not share that with the customers and give them a fair chance?

Sirius Glass · Mar 24, 2012

Bill, that could just as well lead to a mass product abandonment.

zsas · Mar 24, 2012

I agree, a strategy that makes customers hoard and wonder when/if the next release will drop, would be doomed to fail, but that is just my $0.02

Ken Nadvornick · Mar 24, 2012

Sirius Glass said:
...that could just as well lead to a mass product abandonment.

And that end result would be different from where we are right now exactly how?

Just askin'...

Ken

CGW · Mar 24, 2012

News of the end of Ektachrome won't be encouraging to lab owners still nursing E6 lines with declining volume. Afraid many will figure it's done and just close it down. Hoping to binge shoot this spring/summer/fall while quality local processing is still afloat.

michaelbsc · Mar 24, 2012

David Callard said:
Looks like the end for Kodak period. Perhaps they might do better making washing machines.

Nah. Washing machines are too tough. Maybe they should try - um let's see - hey, how about printers!

kraker · Dec 13, 2012

After the end for Kodak colour reversal still films, the end for colour reversal motion picture film has now also been announced: http://motion.kodak.com/motion/About/The_Storyboard/4294970514/index.htm . Another sad day.

On the bright side, Vision 50D colour negative will also be made available in Super8 format. (Not really convenient for a hobbyist like me who just wants to project home movies; colour negative is just "a bit" too cumbersome in that respect.)

Roger Cole · Dec 13, 2012

So that's the end of conveniently projectable color home movie film? Or does Fuji make it? I know there are black and white films available from Kodak and Foma and maybe others.

kraker · Dec 13, 2012

Black and white reversal is indeed still available from several suppliers.
But as far as Super8 goes, I think we lost the colour reversal option as soon as Kodak runs out of stock.

For Single8, there's still an option, and that is some good news. Fuji Velvia, T64 and my favourite, Astia 100F, have been unavailable in Single8 for some time now (at least from my usual supplier, and as far as I could search the internet, everywhere). As of now, my supplier has them in stock again, see http://www.wittner-kinotechnik.de/katalog/04_filmm/single-8.php .

So, not all is lost, if you happen to have a Single8 camera.

Roger Cole · Dec 13, 2012

I thought Astia was gone in all formats?

Fuji did recently indicate they might consider bringing it back.

I did a slide show at a party over the weekend, which included some Astia slides. I commented on loving the film but it's been discontinued. Several people commented that they could see why I liked it. (Of course then I moved on to E100G and really liked it too....)

kraker · Dec 14, 2012

Roger Cole said:
I thought Astia was gone in all formats?

Fuji did recently indicate they might consider bringing it back.

Indeed, it was gone, and... I don't know, but I guess it still is. The Single-8 film is not sold in Fuji boxes or even in Fuji cartridges, so it could very well be old stock, spooled into the cartridges by another company.

I've also read about a possible come-back. "it is not completely excluded that Astia 100F might come back one time" (see (there was a url link here which no longer exists)). That sounds rather iffy, so it's safe to assume that the Single-8 is old stock Astia.

I did a slide show at a party over the weekend, which included some Astia slides. I commented on loving the film but it's been discontinued. Several people commented that they could see why I liked it. (Of course then I moved on to E100G and really liked it too....)

Hm... which slide film are you using now? Will that be the next one to go?...

janalwin · Dec 14, 2012

Wittner also sells Velvia in Super 8-cassettes and is thinking about offering other Fuji-slidefilm in Super-8-format. So if Fuji keeps producing Slidefilm, we will still have reversal available in Super 8.
The only problem is that slidefilm isn't optimized for movie use. So there is a change of jamming. Haven't had any problems with the Velvia cassettes I have used. I shot three rolls of it.

Roger Cole · Dec 14, 2012

kraker said:
Indeed, it was gone, and... I don't know, but I guess it still is. The Single-8 film is not sold in Fuji boxes or even in Fuji cartridges, so it could very well be old stock, spooled into the cartridges by another company.

I've also read about a possible come-back. "it is not completely excluded that Astia 100F might come back one time" (see (there was a url link here which no longer exists)). That sounds rather iffy, so it's safe to assume that the Single-8 is old stock Astia.

Hm... which slide film are you using now? Will that be the next one to go?...

Well I'm still shooting up the rest of the E100G, Elitechrome 100 and Ektachrome 200 that I bought up. I also shoot some Provia 100, the Agfa Precisa rebranded version of it, and Provia 400. What choices do we really have? Velvia (reduced varieties but that's ok, more than enough left) and Provia 100 and 400 are IT now.

seezee · Jan 7, 2017

It's baaaaack: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explor...ak-brings-back-ektachrome-color-reversal-film

Kodak will no longer produce any colour reversal still films

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