'State of the photochemical industry in 2023' Esp. Tetenal 1847 & ORWO

Arcadia4 · Nov 6, 2023

This recent article from Silvergrain Classics on the 'State of the photochemical industry in 2023' has some interesting detail on the complexities surrounding Tetenal 1847 and ORWO.

The State of the Photochemical Industry in 2023

The State of the Photochemical Industry in 2023: Which Companies to Support, and Why

silvergrainclassics.com

The rest of the article holds no surprises, although Fuji is notable for its absence, even as a supplier of C-41 and RA4 process chemistry and paper

Tom Kershaw · Nov 7, 2023

To quote from that article, "Ilford Photo / Harman continues to struggle with adapting their film coating capacity to modern demands; the huge machines that ran until the early 2000s are no longer appropriate, but smaller machines sometimes struggle to keep customers and shops stocked."

- my understanding is that one advantage the Mobberley set up has is that the coating machine / facility is adaptable, is used for multiple product lines, and as far I'm aware this has been the case indefinitely.

koraks · Nov 7, 2023

Arcadia4 said:
although Fuji is notable for its absence, even as a supplier of C-41 and RA4 process chemistry and paper

Which goes to show how massively biased the article is towards a consumer perspective and utterly fails to convince as an industry overview, even though the title suggests it.
Also, their old guard/analog believers/speculators taxonomy doesn't hold any water from a theoretical perspective with considerable overlap between these categories and a lack of a decent definition.

This is more gossip than news.

Alan Johnson · Nov 7, 2023

Tom Kershaw said:
To quote from that article, "Ilford Photo / Harman continues to struggle with adapting their film coating capacity to modern demands; the huge machines that ran until the early 2000s are no longer appropriate, but smaller machines sometimes struggle to keep customers and shops stocked."

- my understanding is that one advantage the Mobberley set up has is that the coating machine / facility is adaptable, is used for multiple product lines, and as far I'm aware this has been the case indefinitely.

I went on a tour of the Ilford Mobberley site around 2008 [Pentaxuser was there] and we were shown the large coating machine and its control room. They had no grumbles that the machine was too big for the production in 2008 so since by many accounts demand for film has increased since then it is hard to see how the machine can be "no longer appropriate". The only smaller machine they had was a pilot plant used for testing. Admitted IDK what has occurred at the site since 2008.

Tom Kershaw · Nov 7, 2023

Alan Johnson said:
I went on a tour of the Ilford Mobberley site around 2008 [Pentaxuser was there] and we were shown the large coating machine and its control room. They had no grumbles that the machine was too big for the production in 2008 so since by many accounts demand for film has increased since then it is hard to see how the machine can be "no longer appropriate". The only smaller machine they had was a pilot plant used for testing. Admitted IDK what has occurred at the site since 2008.

I agree. I went on the tour a year earlier.

Tom Kershaw · Nov 7, 2023

koraks said:
Also, their old guard/analog believers/speculators taxonomy doesn't hold any water from a theoretical perspective with considerable overlap between these categories and a lack of a decent definition.

Well, yes, and they make critical comments about investment firms in relation to Tetenal, at the same time as Ilford Photo / Harman is currently owned by Pemberstone, an investment firm.

halfaman · Nov 7, 2023

Arcadia4 said:
although Fuji is notable for its absence, even as a supplier of C-41 and RA4 process chemistry and paper

And Instax, the most succesfull film business by far... Seems that Fuji is the analog "who-must-be-not-named".

Alan Johnson said:
I went on a tour of the Ilford Mobberley site around 2008 [Pentaxuser was there] and we were shown the large coating machine and its control room. They had no grumbles that the machine was too big for the production in 2008 so since by many accounts demand for film has increased since then it is hard to see how the machine can be "no longer appropriate". The only smaller machine they had was a pilot plant used for testing. Admitted IDK what has occurred at the site since 2008.

What I heard 3-4 years ago from a well informed person is that Ilford coating line was very far from being at full capacity (same as Kodak). It worked like 3 days per week or something like that.

ChrisGalway · Nov 7, 2023

Hmmm, this does not make me confident we shall ever see Tetenal Colortec E6 kits ever again. Perhaps the HarmanPhoto treasure to be revealed on 1st December will bring us good news?

Tom Kershaw · Nov 7, 2023

ChrisGalway said:
Hmmm, this does not make me confident we shall ever see Tetenal Colortec E6 kits ever again. Perhaps the HarmanPhoto treasure to be revealed on 1st December will bring us good news?

I realise the 3-bath Tetenal kits have a following. However, the 6-bath Bellini kit works very well in my experience, as an alternative.

ChrisGalway · Nov 7, 2023

Tom Kershaw said:
I realise the 3-bath Tetenal kits have a following. However, the 6-bath Bellini kit works very well in my experience, as an alternative.

Yes, I'm using it, it's good. But it's nice to have a choice.

removedacct3 · Nov 7, 2023

Arcadia4 said:
... although Fuji is notable for its absence ...

Perhaps that is because Fuji did what Fuji does best ... keeping its cards close to its chest by not speaking about anything to anyone

koraks · Nov 7, 2023

Be that as it may, they're presence in Instax and RA4 materials is not a secret and it's widely advertised just about everywhere.

MrclSchprs said:
not speaking about anything to anyone

This is also not quite correct. They do speak, depending on who you talk to. The paper people are surprisingly open, approachable and eager to be in touch with photographers. It just seems that not all that many people bother to reach out to them.

fs999 · Feb 15, 2024

The site tetenal.com is no longer accessible...

ChrisGalway · Feb 15, 2024

What a tragedy ... I wonder if anyone will make their Colortec E6 and other kits again? For now, I'll use Bellini, which gives good results and as importantly is a responsive company dedicated to film photography.

Ernst-Jan · Feb 15, 2024

ChrisGalway said:
What a tragedy ... I wonder if anyone will make their Colortec E6 and other kits again?

You might find this topic interesting

Tetenal revival project

This is possibly more for our european customers but because we have to assume that Tetenal is never coming back, we started a little poll which products are missed the most by you guys. This helps us to focus on what to possibly bring back first. Link to poll (German)

www.photrio.com

'State of the photochemical industry in 2023' Esp. Tetenal 1847 & ORWO

Arcadia4

The State of the Photochemical Industry in 2023

Tom Kershaw

koraks

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Alan Johnson

Tom Kershaw

Tom Kershaw

halfaman

ChrisGalway

Tom Kershaw

ChrisGalway

removedacct3

koraks

Moderator

fs999

ChrisGalway

Ernst-Jan

Tetenal revival project

'State of the photochemical industry in 2023' Esp. Tetenal 1847 & ORWO

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