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Contact the Kodak Alaris CEO


plasticman

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Someone on RFF has posted a link to this video:

 

 

where the new CEO of KodakAlaris introduces himself, and invites feedback and input. His email address is at the end of the video {deleted email address}

 

Hope people have positive input and it's not just gonna be a long list of "BRING BACK [name of my favorite discontinued film] NOW!!!!" type of mails he gets.

Edited by erl
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Someone on RFF has posted a link to this video:

 

 

where the new CEO of KodakAlaris introduces himself, and invites feedback and input. His email address is at the end of the video {deleted email address}

 

Hope people have positive input and it's not just gonna be a long list of "BRING BACK [name of my favorite discontinued film] NOW!!!!" type of mails he gets.

 

Oh well I see that the email address was deleted - even though the whole point of the video where the CEO introduces himself and displays his email address for feedback is precisely... to spread the email address. :o

 

Never mind - watch the video instead. Where you get to see the new CEO... and his email address! :)

 

btw disappointed to see that the comments over on RFF seem to be all of the usual 'bring back film xyz' - which I find really disheartening. :( There are so many constructive things we could be suggesting instead - especially as the chances of getting Kodachrome back (for instance) must be less than zero...

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btw disappointed to see that the comments over on RFF seem to be all of the usual 'bring back film xyz' - which I find really disheartening. :( There are so many constructive things we could be suggesting instead - especially as the chances of getting Kodachrome back (for instance) must be less than zero...

 

It's even worse on APUG...god that place is rampant with the Old Guard attitude. I no longer post there because it is so bad, a bunch of old farts bitching and complaining about everything they can possibly latch their wretched hands on, pathetic.

 

For what is is worth, I wrote them thanking them for the great films they still make and at a price that is not over the top. I also said that they have to do something in terms of web presence to help fight off the retirement age curmudgeons who's hobby is to bash Kodak.

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If one wants to reply to the new CEO, I think the best thing is to simply say that you are a film user and that you're planning to continue using film and will remain a customer.

 

I'm not sure where film is actually positioned in respect to the new company's priorities for growth, but if people speak with their wallets (buy film!) then it should remain as viable segment of their portfolio of current products.

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If one wants to reply to the new CEO, I think the best thing is to simply say that you are a film user and that you're planning to continue using film and will remain a customer.

 

I'm not sure where film is actually positioned in respect to the new company's priorities for growth, but if people speak with their wallets (buy film!) then it should remain as viable segment of their portfolio of current products.

 

Well said! The power of purchase, especially by "clicking through" gateway sites like this forum help the manufacturer forecast and ultimately produce.

 

I believe they watch the purchase habits especially on a geographic distribution; I'm hoping the rest of the world is keeping pace with the film camera sales that Japan and Asia enjoy.

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Can we please have a fine-grained C41 process black and white film optimized for scanning in a hybrid film-digital workflow (i.e., works with infrared dust/scratch removal facilities)? Something like a BW100CN film.

 

Nick

Edited by Nick_S
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If one wants to reply to the new CEO, I think the best thing is to simply say that you are a film user and that you're planning to continue using film and will remain a customer.

 

I'm not sure where film is actually positioned in respect to the new company's priorities for growth, but if people speak with their wallets (buy film!) then it should remain as viable segment of their portfolio of current products.

 

This is exactly what I just did.

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Well, BW400CN is still available, in my view, it fulfills all these requirements.

 

Stefan

 

Having used the Monochrom camera for a while and seen what my lenses can produce directly on the sensor, I would like a really a fine grained C41 process B&W film to use in my 35mm cameras.

 

Nick

Edited by Nick_S
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Nick have you tried Fuji Acros? I have fallen in love with the stuff and my local lab does a brilliant job developing and scanning it. OK you do see some stuff on the scans you wouldn't with C-41 and ICE but it has been really minimal thus far for me. It has a lovely velvet like fine grain. I recently bought a 10x pack of the stuff to shoot when the sun is out.

 

Personally I see a massive difference between the results from scans of Ektar or Acros compared to say Portra 400 (30 Mp from my local lab!) so I can understand the desire for a really fine grained high resolution C-41 B&W film.

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My first recommendation would be then to use BW400 @ 200 ISO, the film has an excellent exposure latitude and gets a finer texture, in my feeling, when getting more light

 

If even finer textures are required, there is the path to alchemy, which starts with buying some equipment for, say 100 EUR, which will last a lifetime and endless options to tweak and tune classic black-and-white film to one's needs by the choice of developer and developing times.

 

As a side note, the best places to buy BW400 over here is in the drugstore. It seems, that quite a lot of people decide, when buying toothpaste, that it could be nice to do some black-and-white shots with the old film camera again...

 

Stefan

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Nick have you tried Fuji Acros? I have fallen in love with the stuff and my local lab does a brilliant job developing and scanning it. OK you do see some stuff on the scans you wouldn't with C-41 and ICE but it has been really minimal thus far for me. It has a lovely velvet like fine grain. I recently bought a 10x pack of the stuff to shoot when the sun is out.

 

Personally I see a massive difference between the results from scans of Ektar or Acros compared to say Portra 400 (30 Mp from my local lab!) so I can understand the desire for a really fine grained high resolution C-41 B&W film.

 

Who's your local lab?

Pete

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T-max and Tri-x 400 are loads cheaper here than the Ilford equivalents despite Ilford being 'local'. They get 2 thumbs up from me for that alone.

 

Many years ago, Kodak made 120 Tri-X Pro film in the USA, then shipped it in bulk to Ireland where it was rolled and packaged (and the package printed in Ireland), then sold at a very good discount. How very strange.

.

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I bought a couple of rolls of Tmax for £3.60 each only a couple of weeks back, havn't shot em yet though as I have 10x rolls of Acros to work through (ISTR was £43). My local lab as above also sells them for roughly that price although it isn't showing on their website. Tri-x is often available for around £4 a roll although it always seems to vary who is doing the best deals. I don't understand why Ilford is more expensive here in its country of origin, although I have a theory that the Tmax is being discounted to get people to buy and use it.

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Following my email to the CEO suggesting a BW100CN type fine-grain C41 monochrome film I received a specific reply from Thomas J. Mooney their Product Line Business Manager for Film Capture. He suggested that they produce the best films available, actually the best Kodak has ever produced, and informed me that they currently have no plans to release any new films.

 

Nick

Edited by Nick_S
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I really think this is sensible and expected. The reason they've discontinued lines is because they must have been unprofitable or extremely marginal. As others have said, the best way to support Kodak is to buy and use their existing films - especially the ones we personally want to survive.

 

Otherwise I can't decide what extra advice I'd think was wise for them to follow. I'd say they should heighten general awareness of film - but they'd probably opt for some tacky Facebook promotion that'd alienate their 'hipster' customers without gaining any new converts.

 

The same goes for other technological innovations: Kodak has had a very poor feel for what the market needs or wants, it seems to me. I'd be worried that if they started the scanning service Pete was talking about, it'd end up as some awful 3Mb super-saturated 'glad snap' on a CD that gets snail-mailed back to your home address.

 

For MY personal needs, I wish they'd team-up with Hasselblad/Imacon and co-produce (or at least co-finance) a reasonably priced, good quality scanner that keeps enthusiasts using film. Seems to me that the mass-market is never coming back, but the digital-darkroom enthusiasts need a way to ensure getting their images into their computers. Plustek alone isn't a sufficient guarantee that it's gonna be possible in ten+ year's time.

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I don't think that film is really a product that Kodak Alaris is betting their future on. It was part of the package deal they (UK Kodak Pension Plan) got in the bankruptcy process, and it was a deal that they pretty much had to take (or potentially ending up with nothing at all.) The existing film products were just part of the overall package. Kodak is still making film runs for the motion picture industry and which is why the still film emulsions parallel the motion picture emulsions. But as we know, the studio contracts for a specific amount of film will end pretty soon.

 

Kodak is also currently selling their Kodak Business Park and looking for a buyer who will allow them to retain some of the buildings as a tenant. Kodak Park was a huge facility at one time (Kodak Park - Rochester Wiki) and has since been reduced to the current Kodak Business Park with the following tenants: Eastman Business Park - Rochester Wiki. Kodak now wants to just become one of those tenants and not the owner of the entire facility.

 

As long as Kodak retains the film manufacturing property as a tenant, then they will keep making film for Kodak Alaris to distribute and sell. But part of the issue is that the film facility was built to produce thousands of miles of film. When the motion picture industry contracts expire, then both Kodak and Kodak Alaris might have to decide on an efficient and profitable way to manufacture a more modest amount of film (still photography packaged film and smaller amounts of motion picture film.) Ilford and existing film manufacturers have much smaller facilities (including the re-launched Ferrania) that allow them to be profitable with their runs of film. The Kodak facilities were designed for massive amounts of film to be produced with each run (here's a video from 2012 of a tour of the Kodak Business Park: Eastman Business Park for sale; just the scale of the facility is pretty amazing.)

 

Because of the scope of the Kodak film manufacturing facilities (designed to produce massive amounts at a time), without the motion picture industry these facilities would be in doubt. I'm not sure what Alaris is thinking in respect to film sales and even if film is considered a viable part of their future business plan. But the manufacturing facilities themselves may prove to be too much of a burden for Kodak in the future if the motion picture industry can't promise a new contract and a set amount (in miles) of film. Could Alaris take over the manufacturing facilities? Would they want to? Or could they move film manufacturing to smaller facilities, say in the UK? Would they want to even do that?

 

I think who we should probably be appealing to, and betting our hopes on, is the motion picture industry. Their continuing use of film is what will most likely determine the future availability of Kodak emulsions for still photographers. KODAK: Film Matters. Tell the world why!

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