So just what is being made in Kodak Park?

pbromaghin · Jul 2, 2013

I was talking to a gallery owner, former Nat Geo photog and half-nutcase last week who told me no film is being made in Rochester and all the machines have been torn down. That's not what I recall reading here. He's a lot more connected than I so I am doubting my memory. So just what is being made in Kodak Park?

clayne · Jul 2, 2013

It's a digital shooter thing. They love spreading this crap.

Prof_Pixel · Jul 2, 2013

clayne said:
It's a digital shooter thing. They love spreading this crap.

Just like APUG members like to spread rumors about all things digital. It's not an analog or digital thing - people just like to tell stories based on information they think they heard.

AgX · Jul 2, 2013

There is still one manufacturing line at old Kodak making still and cine fiilms. Furthermore there is a machine shop making their consumer(?) and their industrial printing machines. I guess their single-use cameras are made there too.
Kodak is seeking tennants for their estate.

BrianShaw · Jul 2, 2013

pbromaghin said:
He's a lot more connected than I so I am doubting my memory.

Well, one of those are doubtful.

pbromaghin · Jul 2, 2013

BrianShaw said:
Well, one of those are doubtful.

Yeah, well.

Funny, but this guy shoots film only. One of his first jobs was as a lab assistant for St Ansel and he was a staff shooter for National Geographic. He really is crazy, though. Loves to tell stories. It was hard to get out the door.

AgX · Jul 2, 2013

Seen the relative decline of Kodak worldwide and at Kodak Park during the last years that guy is not far off from truth.

BrianShaw · Jul 2, 2013

Maybe he is a prophet.

horacekenneth · Jul 2, 2013

I wish I could find it now - a lf photographer just recently made a really-well done short about film but basically said the same thing - film is dead, not getting made anymore, end of an art, blah blah blah

Prof_Pixel · Jul 2, 2013

a lf photographer just recently made a really-well done short about film but basically said the same thing - film is dead, not getting made anymore, end of an art

When I was making presentations for Kodak on the coming digital technologies in the late 1980s, on of my slides was a cover of the trade paper VARIETY that said "Film is Dead". If you read the article, you found they were talking about the use of film in TV news gathering. and in fact, with the introduction of portable video camcorders, film WAS dead in that application. (It was in Variety in 1956. See: http://www.incite-online.net/hancox.html )

It's probably safe to say that for consumer photography, film is pretty much dead. It doesn't mean that film is dead for all users (like those here on APUG), but the use of film HAS drastically declined overall. Don't be surprised if a lot of people feel that fim is dead; after all, it is dead for them, in their image capturing.

Edit: note the VARIETY article came out when Ampex first introduced the video recorder in 1956. Electronic news gathering came about 20 years later

Prof_Pixel · Jul 2, 2013

Iluvmycam said:
I had heard from a local film processor that Kodak was stopping film production.

Kodak has said they will continue to manufacture film for the new distribution/marketing company; what's not clear to me is who will do the slitting, spooling and packaging of such film.

ambaker · Jul 2, 2013

Prof_Pixel said:
Kodak has said they will continue to manufacture film for the new distribution/marketing company; what not clear to me is who will do the slitting, spooling and packaging of such film.

As long as I can stuff it in a camera, we're good...

Ian Grant · Jul 2, 2013

Prof_Pixel said:
When I was making presentations for Kodak on the coming digital technologies in the late 1980s, on of my slides was a cover of the trade paper VARIETY that said "Film is Dead". If you read the article, you found they were talking about the use of film in TV news gathering. and in fact, with the introduction of portable video camcorders, film WAS dead in that application. (It was in Variety in 1956. See: http://www.incite-online.net/hancox.html )

It's probably safe to say that for consumer photography, film is pretty much dead. It doesn't mean that film is dead for all users (like those here on APUG), but the use of film HAS drastically declined overall. Don't be surprised if a lot of people feel that fim is dead; after all, it is dead for them, in their image capturing.

You have a voice of reason and reality, it was the mid 80's when the first of my friends (a committed amateur) went 100% digital, he spent a small fortune on the first consumer megapixel camera ironically a Polaroid, ironically i was going the other way committing bto Large Format for my personal work but I'd been shootin LF since the 70's commercially.

I think a point that's always missed is that we now have many choices for image capture, film - B&W or Colour, negative/positive, Polaroid - Imposible Project or Fuji, and Digital. They are all just tools, but as a competeant photographer you need to make your own choices of what you use.

Ian

Prof_Pixel · Jul 2, 2013

Ian Grant said:
They are all just tools, but as a competeant photographer you need to make your own choices of what you use.

Ian

That's a point I always used to end my presentations!

jim appleyard · Jul 7, 2013

pbromaghin said:
... So just what is being made in Kodak Park?

Sadly, a lot of pink slips.

So just what is being made in Kodak Park?

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