Kodak

[mr8mm]

I don't know if users of this forum follow the financial news but it looks like Kodak is done. The stock has dropped to worthless and major financial investors are urging Kodak to sell itself. The value in Kodak is its imaging patents and a tech company with no interest in film would be the buyer. So, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I think a major Hollywood studio might want the film division because film is still necessry to produce films even though more and more films are totally digital. Also the motion picture division is one of few parts of Kodak that generates cash.

J.S.

[Lunar07]

I was reading about it couple of days ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/busin ... apped.html

I do not know what to make of this but it is kind of depressing. To me at least. Against all odds, Kodak continued to manufacture Super8 cartridges. And it is easily obtained in the USA. Is this the end of Super8? I do not think so, but it will make it harder to obtain via thrid parties.
Hopefully we'll still have a line of R8 and 16mm film.

[mr8mm]

Kodak shares are at $0.57 at this time. And Kodak is possibly considering bankrupcy filing.--J.S.

[retrogrouch]

John, in your expert opinion, what do you think this is going to the other brands that you have, like Cine-x? You you think they will find something to replace 7285?

Cheers

RG

[Scotness]

I predict a Super 8 led revival of Kodak........ahem

[kII]

if kodak survive, my gut feeling is that we've already lost 100d, earlier this year they cut a final batch of ds8 100d, at the same time i reckon they cut one last master roll of 100d and this will become exhausted within a couple of years. I did hear that kodak wanted to be a 'reversal' free company within 5 years, that was 2-3 years ago. So if kodak do survive, i think we can wave goodbye to all colour and b/w reversal stocks from them.

[Tscan]

This is bad bad. Whatever happens i'm sure the big screen stock will hold on, but doubt we'll see 100ft 16mm spools or S8 carts being part of the hassle for much longer.

[Lunar07]

Outlook is gloomy. Kodak may file for bankruptcy. This is what we get from mismanaged companies that resist change and live in a world of dreams. We get screwed.
John Schwind - I think we can still get R8, but I believe Kodak S8 cartridges are on their way out. Why not deal with Retro8 in Japan and get their Cinevia 50D S8 cartridges? At least with 50D we can be assured it will work on EVERY S8 camera out there.

[aj]

All S8 cartridges (the plastic housings) come from Kodak. The Retro-8 50D comes from Germany as does all the fillings for their homebrew Single-8.

The saving of Kodak amateur Ciné will come from Witter Germany if it needs to come and does come. Nothing about stopping has been announced or made clear. The analogue departement is still the strongest in Kodak. Possibly a drawback on their key strongpoints in a slimmed down Kodak will save the products.

The usage of 16mm materials are still in the many millions of meters per year.

The Kodak problem is making a living in this world. Despite their brilliance on technology. Even on digital products and their designs. It seems vitrual impossible for them to get price and profit right. Off course competing the Chinsese product avalanche is difficult from a US based factory.

BTW There is still a good choice of genuine black-white photographic paper from China. It is also sold as OEM product. There must be ciné products too. Somewhere.

[Lunar07]

The Kodak problem is making a living in this world. Despite their brilliance on technology.

Kodak problem is a bad management that can not deal with change. Old black suits who fit a museum, in a place where they have been making bad decisions for the past 20 years. China is not the problem. Kodak worst enemy is Kodak itself!

[beamascope]

19,000 employees seems a bit steep as well. Seems it should be half that. I do wonder how their film production operates. Is the need for film enough that they make it each day of the week or is it produced in large batches and then production halted? If that's the case what do those employees do until the next batch is needed? Do they have skills that transfer to other areas of operations or do they play cards in the break room for 6 months? Companies this old and at times the size of Kodak in the past don't really know how to downsize. I'll give them credit for hanging on this long and hope they figure it out but if investors somehow think Kodak will ever be the Kodak of the 60s/70s they are mistaken.
I personally wonder how long many imaging companies will last over time. How long can Nikon/Cannon/RED and others convince us to upgrade our digital still and video cameras? These companies change products constantly and I don't see how they sell enough to pay for all the R&D let alone turn a profit. Do 98% of the population really need a point and shoot of more that 8 megapixels? I see a possible collapse in the future of digital imaging although the collapse won't filled by film resurgence...

[sk360]

If Kodak years ago would of started an affordable service that would include processing and scanning/ or video transfer for each roll of film a customer buys, they might not be in as much hot water as they now are. But they didn't and film has grown more and more expensive and digital has become both better looking and cheaper. Of course not all of Kodak's problems are exactly for those reasons, but they certainly are a major part of it. None the less, It's a crying shame to be a witness of the age when film started to die...

[woods01]

Kodak was used to being a billion dollar company. That is their main problem, they are setup for a certain size/volume level and are slaves to having shareholders expecting the stock to be worth a certain amount. They can't fathom the idea, let alone organize themselves as a smaller company.

Any news on how Fuji or Ilford are managing?

[aj]

Nothing changes yet. It is an investor thing.

Hopefully the silver based film stays and carries on in a independent enterprise.

Ilford went defunct and is now produced as a label through/for Hartmann.
Seems to do well.
According to the Dutch Kentmere distributor Kentmere had to open an extra production line after Ilford went out. Don't know if they kept it going after Ilford was revived

In 2008 I visited Japan and was stunned by the amounts of Fuji photography materials everywhere. And so much choice in film, instant film and full range of darkroom supplies.

[retrogrouch]

This is a major bummer. I am glad to hear that Fuji is still doing well. The "hard core " photo shop here in Vancouver started selling more film recently, as Costco etc. got out of the business. It would be great if the market share are all combined into one outfit. The weather here is fittingly gray and dark, but I thought I would celebrate film by doing some test shots. (2 1/3 to 4 ) then my spot meter crapped out...