Plus-X is gone. I can't believe it!

brucemuir · Dec 30, 2011

rich815 said:
And Kodak came to the digital world too late and was betting too much on film getting too late a start towards digital cameras.

Actually Kodak was one of the early digi innovators.
They supplied sensors to many other camera makers.

BrianShaw · Dec 30, 2011

They just lost the third director this week. Two resigned earlier in the week and a third resigned today. More turmoil and tumultous times will follow, I'm sure.

The latest former director:

http://investor.kodak.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=115911&p=irol-govBio&ID=100572

BrianShaw · Dec 30, 2011

... of course, she could just be p'd off becuase the board elected a younger lady, also named Laura, to be Pres of the Board. Could be an emotional reaction...

Richard S. (rich815) · Dec 30, 2011

brucemuir said:
Actually Kodak was one of the early digi innovators.
They supplied sensors to many other camera makers.

Yes, supplying others. They did not dive head first in like many others did.

brucemuir · Dec 30, 2011

rich815 said:
Yes, supplying others. They did not dive head first in like many others did.

Yes, I guess we better not mention the 14n/c

NB23 · Dec 30, 2011

Fuji has done what had to be done...

Richard S. (rich815) · Dec 30, 2011

brucemuir said:
Yes, I guess we better not mention the 14n/c

Read for yourself:

http://www.venik4.com/2011/01/kodak-learns-the-art-of-patent-trolling/

"It turned out that if you wanted to survive in the digital photography era, you needed to grow beyond film, and paper, and CCDs, and Flash drives, and printers. Kodak needed to stop being a chemical company and become an electronics company. The timid steps Kodak made in that direction with its Nikon-based DSLR and the acquisition of Chinon Industries were not followed up with more determined actions."

"Over the years Kodak designed a range of advanced DSLRs based on Nikon 35-mm cameras, culminating in 2002 with the 14-megapixel DCS-14n an excellent and relatively inexpensive ($5,000 vs Canons EOS-1D at $8,000) professional DSLR based on the Nikon F80. And this is where Kodak screwed up once again: it made an executive assumption that the rest of us non-professional photographers couldnt possibly be interested in an inexpensive DSLR. Canon and Nikon thought otherwise."

lxdude · Dec 30, 2011

BrianShaw said:
... of course, she could just be p'd off becuase the board elected a younger lady, also named Laura, to be Pres of the Board. Could be an emotional reaction...

Ya'll better throw in a few smilies quick, before your wife sees that and deletes, that is scratches, that inch.

You might have to worry more about Minus-X.

cmacd123 · Dec 30, 2011

Existing Light said:
What I worry about is the avaliability of the raw materials used to make film. When there's so little demand for some key components of roll film and sheet film

In the Old days Kodak made every part of the film, including the yellow box It came in. I don't think that the makers today are quire taht itegrated, but the saving grace may be that most components are simalar to items used in other industries. Someone posted here that Fujifilm makes a plastic coated film used for Flat screen Tv sets in the same plant as they coat Photographic film for example - if this is correct it makes it easier for them to justify keeping that plant available to run a batch of Photofilm every now and then..

I read the 2010 annual report from AGFA http://www.agfa.com/global/en/main/investor_relation/reports_presentations/annual_reports/index.jsp where they said that the materials division was actively seeking all sorts of new applications for Polyester film base, coated with what ever the customer needs. But "graphics" (supplies for printing) was 50% of their revenue while Speciality products (film in all its Glory) was less than 10%

Some of the Stranger chemicals are basilica made to order anyway, and need the same sort of Infrastructure that Drug manufacture needs.

brucemuir · Dec 30, 2011

rich815 said:
Read for yourself:

http://www.venik4.com/2011/01/kodak-learns-the-art-of-patent-trolling/

"It turned out that if you wanted to survive in the digital photography era, you needed to grow beyond film, and paper, and CCDs, and Flash drives, and printers. Kodak needed to stop being a chemical company and become an electronics company. The timid steps Kodak made in that direction with its Nikon-based DSLR and the acquisition of Chinon Industries were not followed up with more determined actions."

"Over the years Kodak designed a range of advanced DSLRs based on Nikon 35-mm cameras, culminating in 2002 with the 14-megapixel DCS-14n an excellent and relatively inexpensive ($5,000 vs Canons EOS-1D at $8,000) professional DSLR based on the Nikon F80. And this is where Kodak screwed up once again: it made an executive assumption that the rest of us non-professional photographers couldnt possibly be interested in an inexpensive DSLR. Canon and Nikon thought otherwise."

Oh I wasn't arguing with you.
What I meant was the 14n/c had promise but was an ultimate failure.

Danielle · Dec 30, 2011

I haven't even seen a kodak 14n in australia. Pity, I probably would have been quite interested in one. I've only seen them on ebay.

NB23 · Dec 30, 2011

Some of the Stranger chemicals are basilica made to order anyway, and need the same sort of Infrastructure that Drug manufacture needs.

"Basilica"? You meant Basically, right?

brucemuir · Dec 30, 2011

Danielle said:
I haven't even seen a kodak 14n in australia. Pity, I probably would have been quite interested in one. I've only seen them on ebay.

The sensor was quite good but the implementation was lacking.
I'll stop now

Curt · Dec 30, 2011

Some day a thread will read: Kodak is gone. I can't believe it!

One day I was out hiking and climbing, happily shooting Kodak Panatomic-X, developing it in Agfa Rodinal, using the "new" Oriental Seagull paper like Ansel was using and the days were long and all was right with the world. Then I woke up one day recently and it realized it was all gone, only a dream, a memory of what was and now isn't. Being sixty some how isn't as fun, nice, comfortable as it was when I was much younger. To my son analog is just a word, he's in a twenty first century digital world and quite happy there. Maybe one day he will wake up and miss the keyboard and mouse like I remember film and paper.

Vaughn · Dec 30, 2011

Hey, Curt! I took my three 14 year olds up to the darkroom and they all made some prints (my 6x6 negatives).

Now to get the film cameras in their hands!

vaughn

Danielle · Dec 30, 2011

Yeah, I've found some pretty wildly mixed reports about that 14n slr. Still in its day Im sure there were more sales to be made from it if it was implemented properly and sold properly.

I really do hope we won't be reading 'kodak is gone'. I use their portra films and I personally think those are some of the best colour print films around. I want them to stay.

BrianShaw · Dec 30, 2011

Vaughn said:
Hey, Curt! I took my three 14 year olds up to the darkroom and they all made some prints (my 6x6 negatives).

Now to get the film cameras in their hands!

vaughn

I'm being careful with those kinds of ideas. Just opened a fortune cookie. Look at what it said:

Curt · Dec 31, 2011

Vaughn said:
Hey, Curt! I took my three 14 year olds up to the darkroom and they all made some prints (my 6x6 negatives).

Now to get the film cameras in their hands!

vaughn

Hey Vaughn, when my son was in high school he had a darkroom oriented teacher. He was excited so I taught him to develop and print. We took him to Paris so he could take photos for his senior project. In our state it's a requirement. I never had such in the way back.

We went, he did, they were very nice, his mentor, a non parent, was a hospital biomed photographer, he got an A. So I bought him a complete 4x5 "kit", camera, lens, wood tripod, holders, the works. Well time went on and "things" came up. The photo class shifted to the second half which was """"""PHOTOSHOP"""""". End of analog.

He's majoring in computer science, networking. He was considering medical school but when my doctor told me to tell him just go to work for Microsoft I guess he took it to heart.

Another of my doctors who is Chinese had parents who had their own photo studio and spent their lives in darkroom photography. Put their son through medical school. His photos on the walls of his office are stunning.

I recognized some scenes of Italy and got into a conversation with him. I told him I did darkroom work and asked what camera he used for traveling. He said a digital Leica.

I seem to be getting it from all directions. I feel that if only one person I talk to takes up 'real' photography then I've done my ambassador work.

Btw: going to Oceano in Feb.?

Richard S. (rich815) · Dec 31, 2011

brucemuir said:
Oh I wasn't arguing with you.
What I meant was the 14n/c had promise but was an ultimate failure.

We cool bro'.

cmacd123 · Dec 31, 2011

NB23 said:
"Basilica"? You meant Basically, right?

YEP.

cmacd123 · Dec 31, 2011

rich815 said:
Read for yourself:

http://www.venik4.com/2011/01/kodak-learns-the-art-of-patent-trolling/
..."Kodak needed to stop being a chemical company and become an electronics company. The timid steps Kodak made in that direction with its Nikon-based DSLR and the acquisition of Chinon Industries were not followed up with more determined actions."

Yes I had almost forgotten that they screwed up Chinon also. Chinon made reasonable, functional, low end cameras before they were made part of the Borg.

Perhaps Kodak has a bit of HP syndrome. HP always planned based on their own internal surveys. As time went on, they had trouble focusing on what there customers wanted and they spun off their traditional jewels (Alegent) to become an ink reseller.

Kodak had a main background in "cheep" cameras which could still work after a day on the beach. These days that role is covered by a cell Phone.

BradleyK · Dec 31, 2011

C'mon, chin up, it's not yet a tidal wave with the youngsters; many of the hipsters, for example, seem to prefer (i.e. LOMO) film over D*@#*@l. Like my nephews and niece for instance. I gave each a camera and a lens or two. The results? Nephew #1 shoots only (post-Kodachrome) Ektachrome E100G through his Nikon F2A or F3HP; Nephew #2 alternates between PanF Plus, Tri-X, and Ektar in his F3HP; and my beloved Niece (the only one in the family) alternates Tri-X and HP-5 (she claims that she cannot tell the two apart? ) in her F2 Photomic. Sadly, though, the poor misguided soul prefers the look of digital shot with her D3000 to that of color film.

benjiboy · Jan 1, 2012

It's still available at a company in the U.K, if you contact John O'Shea at Discount Films http://www.discountfilmsdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Kodak_Plus-X_125_Black___White_Film.html and place a worthwhile order he may be willing to ship internationally, he has 135 Ti-X too .

wblynch · Jan 1, 2012

There is still a lot of Plus-X 35mm in the supply pipeline. Get it while you can.

BrianShaw · Jan 1, 2012

wblynch said:
There is still a lot of Plus-X 35mm in the supply pipeline. Get it while you can.

Agreed. I just stocked up using one of the mailorder places... only to walk into my local shop and find that they have lots of it still on the shelf. If I only checked there first I could have supported a local family-owned business. My mistake.

Plus-X is gone. I can't believe it!

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