Samsung color film

Brac said:

In fact you can count on the fingers of two hands (possibly one) those who still make colour film eg Kodak, Fuji, Ferrania, Lucky and for a few months more Konica-Minolta.

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Any idea who makes the 127 Maco Color? Also, I think Fomacolor and Fortecolor should be added to that list.

Fortunately there is still a large number of companies making black & white film so there is plenty of choice there.

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And plenty making color. Though it might be a good idea to make a freezer stash of Konica for cheap film. We're running out of snapshot cheap stuff. I used to use the Konica VX 200 you can get at the dollar tree but now I just use Fuji Superia from Wal*Mart which is a bit pricier but not too bad.

Brac said:

The UK photographic business of Konica-Minolta has already closed. Camera servicing has gone to a 3rd party though I think eventually as far as digital cameras are concerned it will pass to Sony who have acquired the rights to the digital SLR business. At the time of the announcement by Konica-Minolta, they said I recollect that the film manufacturing business would gradually run down, and close on the 31st March 2007. I imagine they have contracts to fulfill with people for whom they supply film (a lot of people have Konica film branded under their own name). Certainly as far as the UK is concerned there is no longer an official channel for its import. If you look at the ebay UK site, it is awash with people trying to dump large quantities of the stuff and with some of the more specialist emulsions the prices are not as reasonable as Silverprint!

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I see. Thanks for the info. I never really paid attentioned to Konica because I don't shoot color most of the time, but there's now too much Konica-Minolta film in the bargain bins in the photo stores to avoid.

I'll get plenty and stuff my fridge.

I don't know what percentage of the market that Konica and Agfa had or still have, but with both now out of the market the price of film will go up. I have not seen any Konica in the bins, but I will keep looking.

firecracker said:

Stop bashing Chinese (or any other Asian countries') productions, or you'll start to sould like Democrats.

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I know many people who will not buy Chinese made products if a similar product is available that was manufactured elsewhere. I am one of them. Some folks do this because of China's notorious record of human rights violations. Some do it because they don't like the fact that many production/plant type jobs are leaving the US and going there. Pick one or pick both. Maybe you have other reasons too. Feel free to share.
Chris

cdholden said:

I know many people who will not buy Chinese made products if a similar product is available that was manufactured elsewhere. I am one of them. Some folks do this because of China's notorious record of human rights violations. Some do it because they don't like the fact that many production/plant type jobs are leaving the US and going there. Pick one or pick both. Maybe you have other reasons too. Feel free to share.
Chris

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It's your choice whether to buy or not to buy certain goods from certain places/countries for various reasons. However, unspecified rebranded products like the Samsung-labeled film are hard to know where they are made at your first glance.

So just don't jump on to your conclusion before knowing what it is that you are about to have. If you really care about the brand name and where it's currently made, the kind of product you're looking for can be very difficult to get.

That's all I meant in my earlier post that you quoted.

But whatever it is whether it's American or Chinese, or both, it comes with the cost. So don't waste it if it's already been around and available so widely. What's not desirable is to choose to discard (or let someone else discard) all the avoided products and not utilize them at all. That's the worst thing you can do to the people and the environment.

By the way I personally avoid buying the products from the companies that run animal testings, favor child labor, keep their illegal contamination of the environment involving the murder cases so secret. But I don't look at it as a problem of certain countries, but the companies, often multi-national corporate, that are responsible and should be held accountable.

And in their process, there are usually more than a few countries involved, so I cannot avoid one or two specific ones even if I want to.

But once something goes in the public record, I do manage to make a new decision on my purchasing. That doesn't mean that I always completely stop, but I do my best to avoid to further cause the damage.

Is this what you wanted to hear or share as feedback?

Brac said:

I don't think anyone now makes colour film that isn't compatible with C41 or E6.

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You're forgetting Kodachrome (K-14 process).

Konica Minolta

Yes it's correct that Konica Minolta will be ceasing all paper / film manufacture by 31 March 2007. I am still able to get Konica Minolta film but Konica Minolta Australia closed on 31 March this year.

Personally I think their decision to exit the photo business sucks.

It seemed like a really sudden decision, I don't think anyone in Konica Minolta in Australia even knew about it until just before the annoucement was made. Some labs had changed over to Konica Minolta after the Agfa collapse, only to find Konica dissappearing also.

Less choice is not a good thing, and I actually don't mind the latest Konica Minolta film, nothing special, but it is really cheap, a good snapshot film.

srs5694 said:

You're forgetting Kodachrome (K-14 process).

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Sorry, you're right!

battra92 said:

Any idea who makes the 127 Maco Color? Also, I think Fomacolor and Fortecolor should be added to that list.

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I suspect it is Efke but probably the emulsion is from someone else. When their Spectra (or was it Spektra) colour neg film was sold in the UK several years ago the boxes said "made in co-operation with a Japanese company".

As far as Foma is concerned their Equicolor range is rebadged Fujicolor sold on the domestic Czech market. It doesn't appear in the English language part of their website. Similarly Fortecolor appears to be for the domestic Hungarian market - again if you look at the English language part of their website, colour films aren't listed (the link that was there took you to black & white printing papers). All these east european countries in the Communist era had colour films based on the old Agfa process not C41. The cost of developing a new C41 emulsion would be enormous and probably beyond their capability especially in the case of Forte who were in financial difficulties. So I suspect strongly that Fortecolor is rebadged something else and that's why we don't see it over here.

I finally got around to shooting and processing the Samsung 400. I shot it in the early morning at the zoo, rather deep shadows, processed at the local drug store and printed on a Fuji Fronter on auto mode. The film edge is printed Samsung so I don't have any idea who makes it, but it I am certain that it is not rebranded Lucky. Overall I was impressed, visual inspection: very good stauartion, fine grain, good resolution, but rather contrasty. I bought 30 rolls for the freezer.

just for the record
CVS film=konica, moving to kodak i heard
Walgreens film=agfa, now fuji
Eckerd film= fuji
Brooks film=konica, now fuji
costco film= saw some agfa, some fuji

To the best of my knowledge, there are only four producers of color film left on the planet. Kodak, Fuji, Ferrania, and Lucky. Lucky is partially owned by Kodak, but what they produce as "Lucky" is not Kodak film, so you can't buy Lucky and think you are getting Kodak at a lower price, it isn't the same stuff.

There is no Samsung photographic film factory. There is no Mitsubishi photographic film factory. There is no 3M or Polaroid color film (except the traditional Polaroid instant stuff). There is no "name your favorite grocery store, drug store, or dollar store" photographic film factory. Perutz died so long ago it isn't funny. Dynacolor is still around - but now it is called Ferrania. Bought by 3M, which also owned Ferrania, and finally spun off together as Ferrania by 3M. Yes, they have a factory in Oklahoma.

If the film says it was made in Japan, it is Fuji.
If the film says it was made in the USA, it is Kodak or (maybe) Ferrania.
If the film says it was made in Italy, it is Ferrania.
If the film says it was made in China, it could be Kodak, Lucky, or Fuji.

Konica-Minolta made a lot of film for other companies - but they have indeed exited the market, and that means if you find it, it is old stock. Finding ten rolls of it on a shelf does not mean that they are 'back', it means someone found some film on a shelf.

Agfa made a lot of film for other companies - they are also gone. And their film production lines were broken up and purchased by other companies to make film - but not photographic film.

That's all the color film there is as far as I know. Everything else is a relabel or a left-over. If a left-over, when it is gone, it is gone.

And Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

My test results on the cheap Konica-Minolta film are here. I didn't make any adjustments on color.

I think Wiggy is right, from the looks of the prints my best guess is that Samsung is perhaps rebranded Konica old stock and that is why it so cheap, wholesalers are just dumping it on the market. Maybe I'll buy another 20 rolls.

There is still quite a lot of Konica Minolta film available, super cheap too. The stuff I have has expiry date of Feb 2008, and I think I bought it for AU $1.50 per roll.
Once this is gone that's the end of Konica film.