Kodak will no longer produce any colour reversal still films

[keithwms]

These threads have such nauseatingly predictable trajectories.

 

[ME Super]

Yup. It's like an auto accident. Backs traffic up for miles on the interstate/motorway/autobahn so people can stare at it as they drive by, even though all lanes are open.

The Slide Curmudgeon

 

[railwayman3]

These threads have such nauseatingly predictable trajectories.

I agree....and I plead guilty to have allowed myself to be drawn into this one. Shan't make the same mistake again...I'm more than happy to engage in discussion, even if it's provocative, feisty, tongue-in-cheek or even a bit of humorous "stirring". But it seems that there are members who are so inflexible that they think that personal rudeness is good. Just off to put "ignore" on postings from the two involved.

 

[ajuk]

Are they stopping all slide film or just three of them?
Surly like I said in another thread, it's the LF photographers who are most let down here, as I'm guessing demand for those films has dropped less dramatically, but I'm sad because I love to cross process Ektachrome.
How expensive can it be to go on making this stuff if they still make Movie transparency film?

And is it me or are Kodak the worst for dropping stuff? Look at the range Fuji still makes.

 

[keithwms]

ME your analogy is so perfect!!!

Perhaps we should just start a "Waaaaah" thread where people can go and say all the same things about Kodak over and over to their hearts' content and solicit empathy.

 

[Brian C. Miller]

Are they stopping all slide film or just three of them?

Well, Kodak has only been offering those three for some time now. The only E6 process that hasn't been affected is D200 in the movie film line. Really, though, Fuji's offerings haven't fared much better. For all we know, Fuji will drop its E6 lines later on.

The times, they be a-change-in.

 

[Aristophanes]

These threads have such nauseatingly predictable trajectories.

Someone made the patently false comment that cameras with the feature list were really designed for prosumers and not pros.

Canon and Nikon still have the extensive, worldwide pro networks supporting their brand—in the case of Nikon over 40 years old—as testament that this poster did not know what he was talking about. Those support networks were designed for the pros and their paying organizations to use the top-of-the-line equipment dominating the market.

Kodak also had the same. Fuji calls their slide film "pro" film.

I'll let the evidence from Canon and Nikon serve as testimony to the credibility of other poster's accuracy as to their read of the pro market being mostly "manual cameras":

http://www.nikonpro.com/

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/services.do

And just as an example, please check out p. 2 of this article:

Dead Link Removed

 

[ajuk]

I don't think Fuji Are the only one's left, I think Agfa Precisa is still being made, anybody know who makes that? And there is also the Lomo Tungsten film again, I don't know who makes that or if it's all old stock. I think the Lomo line comes from both Fuji and Agfa.

I would hope Fuji are OK, but like I mentioned before there are those pros who shoot 8x10 and above who I assume equivalent digital equipment is either, non existent, too slow, too power thirsty or too heavy am I correct?

 

[Ric Trexell]

Forgetting about slide projectors.

The arguements of whether or not there will be slide film in the future have to also take into consideration of whether or not there will be slide projectors. As projectors break, there will be few places you can get them fixed or buy new ones. I love my Kodak Carosel (how ever you spell it) and I did love my Kodak movie projector. The movie projector stopped one day while viewing some old films. Yes, I will be able to see my slides, but the day will come when slide projectors are as common as Kodak Pocket cameras. This is really the story with digital cameras too. The old film cameras will some day cost a small fortune to get fixed, and why would you bother? Few companies will be making new ones, and like the weakest link in a chain, they will decide when film will finally end.

 

[Roger Cole]

I don't know. As I said in another thread and got people upset who apparently didn't really understand my point, right now new film cameras are not, for the most part, being made (yesyes, there are a few, and plenty in large format) because the demand dropped so low relative to the available good used ones. If the demand stays constant or even increases, as the used ones dry up and die, there will come a time when they no longer meet the demand, and it would not surprise me to see new ones being made. This is true of mechanical cameras (that it wouldn't surprise me, not that it necessarily WILL happen) with 3D printing and rapid fabrication; it's likely even more true of slide projectors which are, when you get right down to it, very very simple devices. The Carousel isn't so simple mechanically but a simple projector can be built so easily, someone even half skilled could fabricate one at home. There's someone on here selling an LED lamphouse for Omega enlargers that he makes himself - I've bought one and it's nice. I bet he could make a slide projector too. Lenses for them can be assembled from off the self component elements and are essentially the same thing as used in digital projectors anyway.

I bet if they get rare and expensive used, we'll be able to buy new ones. Maybe not as nice as what we have/had, but they'll be functional.

 

[ME Super]

Slide projectors can be made quite simply. They're little more than a bright light bulb, a fan to cool the bulb, something to hold the slide, and a couple lenses. One is a condensor lens that goes between the bulb and the slide, the other is the usual lens to focus the image. Oh and I forgot about the hot mirror which passes visible light but blocks infrared.

Hmm, come to think of it, with the advances in light bulb technology and LEDs, the cooling fan and hot mirror may become unnecessary altogether, which reduces the complexity to a light source, a condensor lens, a slide stage, and a focusing lens. I've even seen instructables on how to build a simple slide projector. Projectors I'm not worried about. I'd be more concerned about cameras, film, and chemistry availability.

The Slide Curmudgeon, aka ME Super

 

[Aristophanes]

Slide projectors can be made quite simply. They're little more than a bright light bulb, a fan to cool the bulb, something to hold the slide, and a couple lenses. One is a condensor lens that goes between the bulb and the slide, the other is the usual lens to focus the image. Oh and I forgot about the hot mirror which passes visible light but blocks infrared.

Hmm, come to think of it, with the advances in light bulb technology and LEDs, the cooling fan and hot mirror may become unnecessary altogether, which reduces the complexity to a light source, a condensor lens, a slide stage, and a focusing lens. I've even seen instructables on how to build a simple slide projector. Projectors I'm not worried about. I'd be more concerned about cameras, film, and chemistry availability.

The Slide Curmudgeon, aka ME Super

You still need a cooling fan with an LED for equivalent lumens. It's just that it vents out the back. There are projectors out now with this. You sometimes see them in storefronts projecting cutout images onto streets etc. I've seen one at a show. Kind of cool, but low-grade optics for projecting illustrations, not fine detailed slides. The white balance would likely need an intermediary. It's the optics of slide projection that are the difficult part.

 

[TexasLangGenius]

Hi everyone,

I walk away for a while and I learn that Kodak is doing what it does best: hating film.

I liken Kodak to a hormonal teenager hating the parents that fed it and clothed it for years, and spitting in their faces.

I'm gonna have to stock up on some.

A sad day indeed.

I hope that E6 will survive (better get started on my little project soon).

 

[RattyMouse]

Hi everyone,

I walk away for a while and I learn that Kodak is doing what it does best: hating film.

I liken Kodak to a hormonal teenager hating the parents that fed it and clothed it for years, and spitting in their faces.

I'm gonna have to stock up on some.

A sad day indeed.

I hope that E6 will survive (better get started on my little project soon).

Fujifilm is still committed to transparency film. Unlike Kodak, Fujifilm is a successful company.

 

[Brian C. Miller]

Texas, you're lucky you don't shoot 8x10. Kodak E100G is gone in the US. Maybe there's a box or two overseas, but in the US it's gone. Some New Yorker went and nabbed all of it, hoarding it all up. I went down to my local store, Glazer's, and all of the boxes were gone, and they told me someone in New York city bought them, and was buying everything in the US. Sure, that New Yorker may have been one of those auction houses that goes through a lot of 8x10 chrome, but it still stank.

I bought the last two boxes of Kodak 8x10 100VS in Seattle, though. Eh, well, smoke 'em while ya got 'em!

 

[delevic]

Fujifilm is still committed to transparency film. Unlike Kodak, Fujifilm is a successful company.

Yes. I hope that Fuji reversal will survive.
I just bought Ektachrome vs 135, I try to find more and put them in the freezer stupid of them because they have stopped producing top quality films..
Sad news, but while there is Velvia , I'll be at peace!

 

[wildbill]

ME your analogy is so perfect!!!

Perhaps we should just start a "Waaaaah" thread where people can go and say all the same things about Kodak over and over to their hearts' content and solicit empathy.

Sounds like it should be it's own forum, sponsored by kodak of course.



"fuji is committed to slide film" I like that. How come no one has it (8x10) in stock right now in the u.s.?
What about fuji color neg sheet fim? Are they committed to that? Not in the u.s.
There fault?
What about all the fauxtographers that aren't shooting film? Can we blame them?

 

[bowie]

Can't believe it...
Kodak management are insane!!
First, they ruined the company, and now they have stopped producing one of the best materials they have ever created. They killed ektachrome instead of developing film branch, producing new materials, making kodachrome and aerochrome alive, etc. They are f***g stupid bastards! Do not deserve single cent for their work...

 

[keithwms]

I just purchased a glorious 6x7 slide projector from a fellow apugger. Life is good. I think I'll set up a large slide show this spring. People need to be reminded of what is possible. I am very fortunate to have some very old glass slides to ogle too.

 

[SWphoto]

Re."I would kill for Astia..."

Scott Shepherd has it for sale on the Large Format Forum- fresh Astia, 4x5, 20 sheets for $40.

 

[Roger Cole]

Can't believe it...
Kodak management are insane!!
First, they ruined the company, and now they have stopped producing one of the best materials they have ever created. They killed ektachrome instead of developing film branch, producing new materials, making kodachrome and aerochrome alive, etc. They are f***g stupid bastards! Do not deserve single cent for their work...

Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.

Sure they've been stupid in the past but I can't agree with this. Lack of demand killed off Kodachrome, and it's doing the same to Kodak E6.

I'd rather they kill it and keep "...the best materials they have ever created" meaning Ektar 100, Portra 160/400 and TMY-2. (And Tri-X, keep Tri-X.)

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

Kodak management are insane!!

Kodak management are no longer running the company.

Or what's left of it...

Ken

 

[gsucher]

Personally, I see no reason to use reversal films any longer. This is where I think digital shines.



Agreed, hence my "holding the bag" comment about Fuji.

However, I think reversal film can be unsurpassed when it comes to color saturation. I don't know the scientific details, but a few years ago I bought a few rolls of Kodachrome after 20 years since using it last and took some shots of Coney Island and showed them to my wife on a light table, who was absolutely amazed at the color and realism. She has been exclusively digital since 2002 and displays on a 24" screen. I took that as high praise.

 

[bowie]

Sure they've been stupid in the past but I can't agree with this. Lack of demand killed off Kodachrome, and it's doing the same to Kodak E6.

You are right. But not only the lack of demand is a problem. Cost is a problem. Kodak is too big for the market. Market is smaller than in the past, BUT THERE IS AND STILL WILL BE THE MARKET. I am 100% sure that kodachrome and ektachrome would be profitable, if costs were fitted into smaller company.

 

[CGW]

You are right. But not only the lack of demand is a problem. Cost is a problem. Kodak is too big for the market. Market is smaller than in the past, BUT THERE IS AND STILL WILL BE THE MARKET. I am 100% sure that kodachrome and ektachrome would be profitable, if costs were fitted into smaller company.

You owe yourself a tour through the recent Kodak threads for an idea of the economics of film production.