Some Reassuring News from Ilford!

jovo · Mar 10, 2010

Gloom and doom that reflect real world facts which lead to worry and disappointment need a good, and reliable counter. Here is one:

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Ilford-continues-with-black-and-white-products-13162

waynecrider · Mar 10, 2010

Nice to hear, but ya got to think that if it came down to it and they couldn't pay their bills they'd be up the creek like all the rest. I guess business must be pretty good tho. That's good to hear.
Btw, scroll down the page and look on the left about classic cameras being in high demand.

AgX · Mar 10, 2010

IlfordPhoto have less alternative ways to go than the Big Three...

And as Wayne said, their way seems to pay off.

Ektagraphic · Mar 10, 2010

waynecrider said:
Btw, scroll down the page and look on the left about classic cameras being in high demand.

Classic cameras are just so awesome! Glad to see reassurance from Ilford. I love their papers.

Sirius Glass · Mar 10, 2010

Now if this thread had been about Kodak and a similar article, the thread would be filled with vulgar posts about how Kodak management did not know what they were doing, that the article was full of lies, and that Kodak could not be trusted.

So where are the negative posts about Ilford? Fair is fair, if you would be nasty about Kodak, have the balls to be nasty about Ilford or never post anything bad about Kodak again!

Steve

P. S. I have nothing against Ilford.

Ektagraphic · Mar 10, 2010

Well, I personally haven't bashed Kodak As many around here are porbably tired of me saying, I love Kodak.

w9cae · Mar 10, 2010

In the past I have seen statements just like this from companies & days later they have done a complete turn around. Kodak are famous for this, that is why they basically have no company worth salvaging.

removed account4 · Mar 10, 2010

steve

o, ok ...
its too bad they canned pop centennial!

now that i got that overwith,
i am happy to know ilford is doing OK ...

Sirius Glass · Mar 10, 2010

Ektagraphic said:
Well, I personally haven't bashed Kodak As many around here are porbably tired of me saying, I love Kodak.

Ektagraphic, I did not mean you. That was aimed at the anti-Kodak, "I will not buy Kodak film" crowd.

Ken Nadvornick · Mar 10, 2010

In 1974, when I was 20 years old, my college job was at Disneyland. Film photography was in its glory years and I, wanting to record the behind-the-scenes activities of my coworkers and friends, decided to purchase a 35mm SLR.

Being a student, as were all of the other employees, I had little money. But while everyone else was buying Minolta SRT-101s and the like, I bit hard and bought a Nikon F2. Got the 55mm f/1.2 as well, since I worked a lot of night shifts.

After only a few weeks of use I came to the realization that this is what I wanted to do for fun. In fact, I knew then - that very first summer - that this was to be my retirement hobby. I have never waivered from that decision. Kodak has waivered. Fuji has waivered. Agfa has waivered. But I have not.

So I just want to say thanks to Mr. Brierley, Mr. Galley, the other managing directors, and all the employees at Ilford, for that commitment. It's not a guarantee of product availability forever. But it is a guarantee of their desire to provide product availability for the foreseeable future. That means a lot.

Why?

Because if circumstances eventually dictate that individual products must be killed, or black-and-white photography must die entirely, then I know that in Ilford's case it will have been as a last resort, not as a first resort. I know that you are not looking to eventually get out of the business, but rather to stay in it for as long as is possible.

You guys are the reason I continue to pour money into my darkroom, and purchase as much of your product as I can.

Ken

P.S. February 6 in the slideshow below is a photograph made with that same camera and lens I purchased in 1974...

Ektagraphic · Mar 10, 2010

I know....I was just making a point. It is dissapointing that the APUG people often bash these companies so much....We should be celebrating them and celebrating our craft!

mikebarger · Mar 10, 2010

And just a couple month ago Fuji said it would be the last man standing.......Hope this statement works out, but the partners won't bleed to death before saying uncle. Neither would any of us.

Mike

clayne · Mar 10, 2010

Let us make one distinct point about Ilford, Kodak, and Fuji: Ilford actually COMMUNICATES with it's customers (and here, on APUG, at that!).

mikebarger · Mar 10, 2010

Still doesn't mean their business won't be in the toilet in 12 months (hope not as I use HP5+ in 4x5). I'm much more interested in how a product performs than listening to ads.

Mike

clayne · Mar 10, 2010

mikebarger said:
Still doesn't mean their business won't be in the toilet in 12 months (hope not as I use HP5+ in 4x5). I'm much more interested in how a product performs than listening to ads.

Mike

Pessimistic much?

SchwinnParamount · Mar 10, 2010

w9cae said:
In the past I have seen statements just like this from companies & days later they have done a complete turn around. Kodak are famous for this, that is why they basically have no company worth salvaging.

Oh really? Then the high quality film they still produce counts for nothing? Please!

brian steinberger · Mar 10, 2010

clayne said:
Let us make one distinct point about Ilford, Kodak, and Fuji: Ilford actually COMMUNICATES with it's customers (and here, on APUG, at that!).

AMEN! Fuji may have said they'd be the last man standing, but after discontinuing Neopan 400 I've lost all faith and no longer support them. I'm behind Ilford 100%. We should be greatful we have such a great company supporting us!

marcmarc · Mar 11, 2010

Has Neopan 400 been discontinued? I thought there was still some speculation on this mainly due to it being packaged differently and in certain markets. Anyway, I would hate to see any of the big three (Ilford, Kodak, Fuji) fold. I'm loyal to Ilford because they provide slow (Pan F+) and high speed (Delta 3200) films in 120 so a hefty portion of my film expenditures goes to these. Since I recently began shooting 135 again in the past year and a half, I've been going nuts buying up Arista Premium 400 and Legacy Pro 100 so at least some of my money is trickling back to Kodak and Fuji.

flatulent1 · Mar 11, 2010

This is a comforting read. I just started a darkroom class and have made Delta 400 and DD-X my materials of choice.

clayne · Mar 11, 2010

marcmarc said:
Has Neopan 400 been discontinued? I thought there was still some speculation on this mainly due to it being packaged differently and in certain markets. Anyway, I would hate to see any of the big three (Ilford, Kodak, Fuji) fold. I'm loyal to Ilford because they provide slow (Pan F+) and high speed (Delta 3200) films in 120 so a hefty portion of my film expenditures goes to these. Since I recently began shooting 135 again in the past year and a half, I've been going nuts buying up Arista Premium 400 and Legacy Pro 100 so at least some of my money is trickling back to Kodak and Fuji.

They discontinued 400PR in 120 format. Total loss to everyone and completely angering to most involved. It's similar to Kodak doing something like discontinuing 400TX in 120 (hypothetical) as Neopan is a bread and butter stock.

It's still available in 135 and an excellent film at that.

André E.C. · Mar 11, 2010

I have always used Ilford and will continue to do so, I support people who support my vision of photography, others don't really matter.

Good luck Ilford, hang on!

Ken Nadvornick · Mar 11, 2010

I'm probably way out of the loop on this, but whatever happened to Kentmere Bromide graded paper? Is it still available? Was it discontinued? Was it stillborn during a reformulation?

I don't recall seeing any official announcement anywhere. But nobody seems to be carrying it anymore. At least in anything resembling a full range. I do recall a press release from a year or so ago extolling the virtues of improved avenues of distribution to North America, and Bromide was explicitly mentioned.

Was I asleep at the switch on this one?

Ken

André E.C. · Mar 11, 2010

I have always used Ilford and will continue to do so, I support people who support my vision of photography (analog), other companies don't really matter that much, after all, I'm a FILM user.

Good luck Ilford, hang on!

arigram · Mar 11, 2010

Put on your codpieces and grab your bayonets for off to the fray we go!

GeoffHill · Mar 11, 2010

André E.C. said:
, I support people who support my vision of photography, others don't really matter.

That's a fantastic quote

Some Reassuring News from Ilford!

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