so why only in 135 format then if freshly coated?
It´s not so easy. Minimum quantities in coating are what give us hard times today. 35mm, 120 and sheets films are each
a different coating.
The quality advantage also decreases when format size increases so whatever is a great 35mm film might end up being a "normal" sheet film.
We only had this clear 120 micron TAC base which we "inherited" from Agfa. If we had made a different format it would have been necessary to buy new base, formulate a different backside coating and AHU and run it in a different coating run. We are talking hundreds of thousands of EUR to get the first roll.
This would have made the other formats more expensive and given the sharp competition that we are all under we calculated this economicaly not to be advantageous, at least not today.
You can buy excellent film from our competitors ready made at prices for which we can´t even buy the raw materials.
We need to stick to what we can offer competitively. Unfortunately we can´t compete with everybody and everything.
Silvermax 35mm is a great film the way it is. Both from a quality and from a pricing standpoint.
Silvermax 120 wouldn´t be competitive in price.
If we are to remanufacture Silvermax in the future we also need to replace the sensitizers and stabilizers which are by now depleted.
This is all very complex and challenging.
Today we just ran sensitizing rows on the polywarmtone paper.
They will be evaluated tomorrow but looked great at a first glance.
Apart from this: The new
CHS 100 II will be available in all formats because it is using all standard materials available today.
Mirko
