Photokina 2012: Report (English version)

[Henning Serger]

Great report, Henning. I'm struck by the number of people who told you that it all depends on demand.

Why? Is it really so surprising?
The main problem of the film manufacturers is that because of digital imaging the film sales have crashed in the last decade.
The demand for film is much much lower today compared to 10-12 years ago. Current global film sales are about 10% of what they've been in 2000.
So yes, demand is the main problem for film manufacturers. All other problems can be solved.
But what is absolutely necessary is a stabilised demand. And if the demand is significantly increasing, then the doors are open again even for new products. Evidence:
New Fujifilm Instax Camera, re-introduced Neopan 400, new Harman Titan Pinhole 8x10" camera (because of the great success of the 4x5" model), new Adox Silvermax, Reverso Super8 and Colour Implosion film.

But I'm left wondering: if the film doesn't exist, if it has been discontinued or not yet produced, how can a company know how much demand there is? Demand is usually measured by purchases, but if Ektachrome or some other film is no longer available, how can they measure demand? Oh, I supposed they could ask photographers, but if I were a company I'd know that it's easy for someone to say they'd buy X amount of film if it were available, but quite another thing for the person to open their wallet and make a purchase.

Well, interesting topic. Let's have a closer look at it, and let's take your example of Kodak Ektachrome and the above mentioned example of Fujichrome Astia 100F:
Imagine you are an Ektachrome shooter and you want it to be produced again. What can you do to show demand:
1. If possible, buy the remaining stock of Ektachrome and shoot as much as you can. If the Ektachrome stock is drying up quite fast, Kodak see a demand. But if it takes a long time to get the Ektachrome stocks depleted, then Kodak of course will think not enough demand for a potential new production in the future.
Here in Germany e.g. the Ektachrome stocks are already almost depleted. Ektachrome has always been very popular here and the Ektachrome fans showed their demand and stocked up.

2. Get in direct contact with Kodak and tell them that you want Ektachrome film in the future. Silent and inactive customers will never have any influence. Be active, say the manufacturer what you need, show your demand.

3. The point 2. is also valid for your dealer / distributor: Tell him that you need Ektachrome film in the future. The wholesale distributors are in very close contact to the manufacturers. And if the distributors are getting so much feedback they will give this information to the manufacturers.

4. Intensify your voice by common, public action, like this: Dead Link Removed
Of course there is no guarantee for success. But it is at least a bit more likely to have success with such activities in a bigger group than doing nothing.
If you fight you may loose. But if you don't fight, you have already lost indeed.
In 2007 such public action has been successful in bringing back Velvia 50.

5. Shoot Fuji slide film as well, the more the better. Why that? Why shooting Fuji slide if I want Ektachrome back? Well, two reasons:
a) As said at 3., there is close contact between manufacturers and the big wholesale dealers. If the wholesalers see increasing demand for Fuji slide film, they will tell that Kodak as well. A revival or new trend will not remain a secret. If Kodak see a recovered market for slide film, then there is at least the possibility that they think about a new production.
But if the market is weak for Fuji, then it will be of course not attractive for Kodak to enter this market again.
b) With buying Fuji reversal film you keep reversal film alive. That is of course the most important point in the current market situation.

Yo can transfer all these points almost 1:1 to the case if you want Astia 100F back:
Improving the chance of getting Astia 100F back means shooting as much as possible Provia 100F and 400X, and simultaneously asking Fuji (and the distributors) for an Astia revival.
A sound (increasing) demand for Provia 100F (and 400X) is necessary, those films who are most similar to Astia 100F (only an increasing demand for the Velvias would probably not encourage Fujifilm to think about a new Astia 100F production).

And of course what is very helpful: Being a "film ambassador", spreading the word and getting new photographers interested in the unique characteristics and strenghts of film (in our case here: especially in slide film). Multiple your own personal demand by getting new photographers hooked.
I see this when I show my best slides in projection on a big screen: Young photographers (grown up with only digital) are overwhelmed by the outstanding quality of slide film projection. They've never seen that. They are only used to the inferior quality of their computer monitors (and beamers with their extremely low resolution and problematic colour reproduction).
Show others what (reversal) film can deliver.
That is supporting demand.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Henning Serger]

Four weeks ago I and my wife Kate, a painting artist, had an exhibition here in our combined home/studio/darkroom from friday to sunday. Kate stayed in her artist studio showing people how she worked and I stayed in my basement darkroom to show the working process for analog black and white photo. The interest was immense ! Many middle aged persons became very sentimental when they remembered working in school darkrooms or when dady or grandpa used the enlarger in the bathroom or the basement. All were very happy to see that analog is still alive. Many thought it was completely dead. Quite a few children of different ages also turned up and they were amazed when I showed them what a negative is and how you can get a print from it. Most of them had only been in contact with digital photography. I don't know how many that really will switch to analog, but at least an old interest may come alive again and a new one can come up. Somewhere on the line there may be a new analog photographer.
There was a really intense discussion down in the darkroom and on those few moments when I could get a sip of the coffe that my daughters had brought down from the kitchen, it had already turned cold. After three days of darkroom demonstration, my feet and my voice reminded very much of Donald Duck, but what an experience.
The word has been spread !

Karl-Gustaf

Hello Karl-Gustaf,

excellent work! Such activities are indeed needed.
Please carry on with it!

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Mike Wilde]

Thank you for the excellent precis of the show. Most informative.

 

[Ricardo Miranda]

Henning
Excellent writing on how to show demand and how to spread the word!
Many thanks!
May I ask your permission to quote your post in another forum? I'm thinking in some Flickr groups where this subject has been raised on the last weeks.
Thanks!

 

[Trask]

Thanks, Henning, for putting together some thoughts in response to my inquiry about demand. I guess the plethora of responses and the fact that I discounted them shows why I'm not in the world of business. I guess I better get buying!

 

[georg16nik]

Thanks, Henning.
Excellent report!

 

[PKM-25]

Henning, thank you very much for your level headed and well informed posts. A great attitude towards ALL of those companies who still make film is needed by our *true* film ambassadors as you call them.

We have to be absolutely positive when talking about ALL of the makers of film at this stage, it makes us look bitter and self defeating if we let trolls get us into these recent pissing matches on this site in terms of who really cares about film, what is the future, etc. I was about to give up on this site again which is really sad when one considers what it's overall mission is.

But real photographers, real people who ARE self educated on here like Henning who think about the impacts of thier posts to potential newcomers of film that will obviously read them will keep me around. Yes, film's future is all but certain and there are demand driven and Wall Street realities that will steer these fates for sure. But those who use film have nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking a considerate, rational and positive approach to how they portray any film maker in thier posts in going forward....

Keep up the great attitude and great work!

 

[Superka]

Nice news, very nice. But. What about new film scanners? There are no new affordable and good (like Nikons 9000 was) scanners, but I need it so much.

 

[Hatchetman]

Nice news, very nice. But. What about new film scanners? There are no new affordable and good (like Nikons 9000 was) scanners, but I need it so much.

This may be of interest: http://www.dpug.org/forums/f6/new-plustek-opticfilm-120-scanner-surfaces-sort-3018/index4.html

 

[Henning Serger]

Henning
Excellent writing on how to show demand and how to spread the word!
Many thanks!
May I ask your permission to quote your post in another forum? I'm thinking in some Flickr groups where this subject has been raised on the last weeks.
Thanks!

Hello Ricardo,

first of all sorry for my late reply, but the last two weeks I've been very very busy here, a quite chaotic time, and I had to be offline from apug.

Of course you can quote my post or give the link here to the thread on apug if you find my information helpful.
That's no problem at all.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Henning Serger]

Hello Daniel,

Henning, thank you very much for your level headed and well informed posts.

you're welcome. I am glad if my information is helpful for you.

A great attitude towards ALL of those companies who still make film is needed by our *true* film ambassadors as you call them.

Yes, absolutely. All of them deserve our support.
I try to do my part by being a "film ambassador" = encouraging other photographers to use film (and teaching it to younger photographers), and
by being "a real film photographer" who uses all types of film:
- colour reversal
- BW reversal
- BW negative
- colour negative and
- instant film

Furthermore I support all of our main manufacturers Ilford, Fujifilm, Kodak, Adox, Maco/Rollei-Film, Foma, Tetenal etc. by buying their products on a regular basis.

There is a lot what we can do ourselves to keep film products alive.

In memory of John F. Kennedy's "Don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"
we all can behave in a way
"don't ask what the film photo community can do for you, ask what you can do for the film community".
Think global, act local.

We have to be absolutely positive when talking about ALL of the makers of film at this stage, it makes us look bitter and self defeating if we let trolls get us into these recent pissing matches on this site in terms of who really cares about film, what is the future, etc. I was about to give up on this site again which is really sad when one considers what it's overall mission is.

But real photographers, real people who ARE self educated on here like Henning who think about the impacts of thier posts to potential newcomers of film that will obviously read them will keep me around. Yes, film's future is all but certain and there are demand driven and Wall Street realities that will steer these fates for sure. But those who use film have nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking a considerate, rational and positive approach to how they portray any film maker in thier posts in going forward....

Keep up the great attitude and great work!

Thanks for the compliment, Daniel.
Yes, you are right. We all like apug, that's why we are here, but in the last years a quite negative development happened here, unfortunately.
Often apug has been "the center of the doom and gloom, and the sky is falling preaching".
We all know about the challenges and difficulties in the film based industry. No one is denying that.

But, if we want a sustainable future for film we have to encourage other photographers, especially younger ones to use film.
These photographers search on the internet, and they find apug. And then read a little bit here.
Do anybody think that they will start with film, if every second posting is "the end is near, tomorrow we will have no film anymore"?
Would you join a club which is permanently discussing its own closure?
Of course you would not.

All this exaggerated "doom and gloom" is absolutely counterproductive. It definitely hurts film sales. It discourage other photographers to start with film. By doing that we are indeed sawing the branch we are sitting on.
The digital photo industry actively started the marketing campaign "film has no future, you photographers have to switch to digital, because there will be no more film you can use".
With joining in in this campaign, permanently posting "doom and gloom postings", you do the job of the digital marketing guys! They are of course very happy about lots of "useful idiots" helping them in their campaign.

I know lots of apugers see Lomography quite critical. But they have done some very clever things which should be a guide for other film communities like apug as well:
For example a very positive attitude concerning the future of film.
Already at Photokina 2008 they had a gigantic booth, and in very big letters above their booth "The Future is analogue". And this slogan is since then part of their PR.
Result of this:
- They encourage young people to use film.
- Their online community has more than 125,000 members (more than double as apug!).
- Their sales numbers are increasing by 15-20% p.a.

We will not have success with a negative attitude.
Therefore think about it, and stop the permanent "doom and gloom". Don't waste time in this counterproductive activities. Instead use the time and go out shooting film!
And encourage others to use film, too.
Imagine, if every film photographer encourage 2 or 3 others to use film, too.
Then film can have a sustainable future.
Everyone of you can do this and encourage at least 2 or 3 others. It is possible, I know what I am talking about, I've encouraged much more than that to use film.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Film-Niko]

Thank you very much for the very informative report and all the additional useful information you've given also in the following postings.
Really excellent work!

I completely agree with you with your last posting. We can do a lot by ourselves to keep film alive.
This 'film ambassador' idea is the right direction, encouraging others to use film.
Something like a 'grass roots movement' for film.

And it would be very very helpful, if not absolutely necessary, if our specialised film distributors like Freestyle, Silverprint, AG-Photographic, Fotoimpex, ars-imago, macodirect, labo-argentique and all the others would help us:
By starting marketing for film.
They make their living by selling films, photopaper and chemistry.
Therefore in their own interest staying in business, they have to promote film use.