Press release from Kodak. Will any Lf Film be available for "us"?

[Todd Foster]

SHOULD I STOCKPILE KODAK FILM NOW?

Thanks for correcting me. The correct info is that Kodak policy is to announce 6 months or 180 days in advance. This info is from an ex Kodak manager who knows the policies and believes them to still be in full force. I should have said "6 month notice from Kodak," NOT "3 month notice."

MY conclusion is to CHECK for notices of discontinuance every 3 months, near the beginning of the month, to make sure to have a chance to get some remaining product for my freezer. Sorry for the typo/garbled line.

Note that these are NOT mass media notifications. They are notifications sent to dealers which I was told will also appear on the kodak.com web site. Discontinuing all film production would surely be on the TV networks nightly news. Discontinuing one particular film almost certainly would not be. I don't want to be blindsided.

Todd F.

I was about to order one or two thousand dollars worth of TMX 4 X 5 sheet film when I got some new info:

Kodak has a long standing policy of announcing product discontinuances 180 days, or 3 months in advance, I was told by an insider. Kodak makes these announcements to dealers on the 26th of each month. I was advised to check with my supplier of choice on the first of the month for these notifications. (Vendors such as Freestyle and B&H Photo.) www.kodak.com is another source.

My conclusion: when a 3 month notice appears, THEN I'll stock up. The key point is that the plug will NOT be pulled without notice.

If this is true, and I believe it, it's OK to wait. This is very important for color film users since that material has a much shorter shelf life, even when refrigerated. Hope this helps.

Let's hope that a buyer shows up and continues film production. If not, Kodak at some point will announce that in 3 months all film production will end. This might be if movie film production ceases in 3 years, a possibility mentioned by others, and there's no buyer for still film production. That will be a dark day. Meanwhile, I'm going to store a few hundred sheets of 4 X 5 TMX in the freezer just for psychological security.

Todd F.