TX Bulk Discontinued

Mike,

I would think that Foma film (Czech Republic) would be rather easier to find (& possibly cheaper) in Isreal since it is coming out of the EU. If you can find it, it is very good film that plays well with all of the standard developers. It's also sold in bulk rolls for 100, 200 & 400 speeds. It's not quite as pleasing to my eyes as, say, Plus-X at EI400 in Diafine, but I doubt anything else ever will be. That said, Fomapan 100 is a close as one could hope for, I believe.

William
 
Have any of you shot Bergger films? I find the 200 quite nice. Although I have never shot it, it is supposed to emulate the look of Kodak Super XX. I just recently bought some foma 100 in 120, so we will see how that turns out.
 
I have never seen Foma in Israel.
TX is available at the pro shops in Tel Aviv(they ship for 40Nis or so) . A 100 foot roll used to cost 110-140NIS and singles 14-20 Nis.(4 NIS= 1USD).
Ilford bulkrolls is about 250NIS and single films are 20-30Nis excluding pan 100 and 400(which I hate) for 12-14 Nis.
 
mmm.. not good.
I was very dissappointed that Neopan was discontinued some time back after veilled threats for years. I did manage to stock up -somewhat..
I would love to stock up on tri-x.
If harman have taken over on it then they have said in the very recent past that they are committed to keeping film alive and well, lets see what that actually means.
I guess Ill be moving over to HP5 for the forseeable future (I am and have always been a bulk loader).
 
Bulk TX

Bulk TX

Some of the ideas above are intriguing. Our member Spyderman in Slovakia, does beautiful B/W work, and his flickr name is Ondrej_P. Michael, I figured that TX can be had in Tel Aviv pro shops, however I don't want to pay 40- shekels or $10- a roll :mad: Ondrej is very helpful, so I'll be checking out Foma... among various options. Also, since Tmax is widely available here, I pray the new Tmax will arrive soon.
 
Before too many in the US decry Harman for its predatory pricing remember the dollar is at its weakest against the pound for 35 years - which explains ilford's prices. In the UK however Kodak mono films are routinely 25% more expensive than their ilford equivalent despite the exchange rate - so who's the rip off merchant?
 
mike goldberg said:
Some of the ideas above are intriguing. Our member Spyderman in Slovakia, does beautiful B/W work, and his flickr name is Ondrej_P. Michael, I figured that TX can be had in Tel Aviv pro shops, however I don't want to pay 40- shekels or $10- a roll :mad: Ondrej is very helpful, so I'll be checking out Foma... among various options. Also, since Tmax is widely available here, I pray the new Tmax will arrive soon.
Click to expand...

40 Nis is shipping cost.
100 feet of film are 110-140 Nis. They also have long rolls of plus x which I love.
 
"The world's best selling b&w film" - Perhaps, but is that big enough for Kodak or is the market simply too small?
 
40oz said:
I think I'll wait until this rumor has been verified by a press release before I start crying.
Click to expand...
That's not a bad idea, but remember that if a particular packaging is discontinued, it might not receive a press release. When an emulsion goes away, yeah, for sure there's a statement in the press. If you go to Kodak's website and open the Tech Pub document (Tech Pub 4017) on Tri-X, under sizes available it simply says

"Sizes Available

Catalog numbers and packaging may differ from country to country. See your dealer who supplies KODAK PROFESSIONAL Products."

This is quite logical, since not all products and packagings are distributed to all countries. Scrolling through the list of recent press releases, I don't see any mention of TX bulk being discontinued, but that's not to say there isn't something buried in the news section.

The information I received was, again, from a Kodak pro services customer rep, who checked her information sources; I'm assuming that source was a master catalog. Could she have been wrong or missed something? Sure. But I personally wouldn't classify this as a rumour, but I can understand how some people would want more validation.

Barrett: I hadn't thought of the Ektachrome emulsions being refreshed, but it makes a lot of sense. First we had Portra being refreshed, then T-Max 400. All film (or nearly all) is being robotically manufactured in Rochester, i.e. all emulsions are produced by one set of three machines. Decreasing the number of SKUs makes sense as you try to maintain margins and efficiencies for a product that is declining in sales.

As film sales decline, it would make sense to rationalize emulsions, especially E6 films which have an abundance of formulations. And the order in which it seems to be occurring makes sense: C41, B&W then E6; that would seem to approximate sales volumes.

I would be really happy to see a new E6 emulsion or two.

Earl
 
Sucks... first HIE and now this. I shoot both HIE and I bulk load high-speed TX for high speed, processed with Diafine. Where can we write or email Kodak?
 
I believe what you're saying, but I can't believe Kodak is doing this. It seems to me that selling bulk rolls must be the easiest, cheapest way for Kodak to distribute Tri-X. And the only people who buy it in bulk are the serious users.

This is my favorite film. I thought it would be the last one standing, too.
 
yes, none of this makes any sense. I'm really leery about giving creedence to third and fourth-hand info over the internet. I fail to see what I would gain by running around repeating said rumor, and if it's true, we'll all know soon enough anyway. But none of it makes any sense, as has been pointed out.
 
It doesn't make sense because bulk Trix is something you learn to shoot, develop, and print black and white on. You buy bulk because it's cheaper (and it is, as I've illustrated on another thread), it's readily available, and bulk loading is part of the the overall "home made" process.

Taking bulk Tri-X away - if true, is worse than the discontinuation of certain film stocks. It's really the destruction of a photographic tradition and will curtail younger photographers from "getting into it".

Isn't this also part of how schools teach students? Don't they buy bulk Tri-X and load it to save a few bucks? Wouldn't this also "nudge" them away from film and toward digital?
 
NickTrop said:
Wouldn't this also "nudge" them away from film and toward digital?
Click to expand...

Excellent post Nick. Unfortunately, I think the part I have quoted shows current corporate strategy at Kodak.

Does Ilford sell any of their B&W in bulk? I shoot mostly XP2 for B&W, but I still think Kodak is headed the wrong way here.
 
I agree that it doesn't make sense to us to discontinue bulk Tri-x. I have only posted what I got first hand from a Kodak employee in the pro customer support group, someone who is empowered to make such statements and has first-hand information.

As I said, it is quite possible she is mistaken. In my job I provide information in a sales and operations support role, and I freely admit I have sometimes been wrong.

But ... I am only reporting my experience of speaking directly with Kodak, and I am not asking anyone here to believe what I heard directly from a Kodak employee.

BTW, 40oz, it was first hand on my part. I wasn't talking with Unlce Joe's 3rd cousin who knew someone who worked at Kodak 10 years ago. I'm not sure what you're getting at with the "third or fourth hand" implication. Yes, if you "spread the rumor" I guess it would be 3rd hand information on your part, but I'm not asking you repeat this, am I? I offered this piece of information simply as a point of discussion since a high percentage of RFF members either use film for the majority of their shooting or are, at the very least, interested in the status of film in the marketplace. If you search my past posts regarding Kodak, you will find I defend the company and encourage people to use EK products rather than boycott them out of frustration or anger. The latter option would hasten their exit from the film and paper market, IMO.

Anyone who wants to write to Kodak can send mail to:

Eastman Kodak
343 State St
Rochester, NY 14650

There are other contact resources on http://kodak.com of course.
 
Al: Yes, Ilford sells their film in bulk, as do some other manufacturers.

One more point from me: I do hope the information I was given is wrong, of course. I have sent an email to a media contact person for film products, so we'll see what response I get.
 
yep, alot of photographers cut their teeth on Tri- X especially bulk loaded Tri-X.
it is a classic icon of sorts.
 
Seems Kodak has been shooting themselves in the foot for years now. First no more SW papers. Then no B&W papers at all? No more K64 processing. And Verichrome, AZO, etc. Doesn't seem like a strategy for keeping customers. I've switched to mostly Ilford these days, they seem to want my business, and despite the dollar going south I'd rather stick with a company that has come out and stated they want to continue to sell me the materials I need. I went through this once with Agfa, being told that Insignia was going to be around for years, started printing up an exhibit on it and then *poof* it was gone. My rep scrambled around and found me enough to finish the prints, but I never trusted them again.

I'd hesitate to get all settled with Tri-X or Plus-X now.
 
It's not even first-hand on your part - you got it over the telephone while speaking to a customer support rep. But on my part it's so far down the chain I lose count. Somebody heard something somewhere at work, repeated it over the phone to someone else, who repeated it in a post on an internet forum, where I now read it. That's hardly "straight from the horses mouth." I have no idea who is the original source or anyone else down the chain. I might as well have dreamed it as far as solid facts are concerned.

That's not a knock against you, but simply an observation. Ever play the party game "telephone?"

Trius said:
I agree that it doesn't make sense to us to discontinue bulk Tri-x. I have only posted what I got first hand from a Kodak employee in the pro customer support group, someone who is empowered to make such statements and has first-hand information.

As I said, it is quite possible she is mistaken. In my job I provide information in a sales and operations support role, and I freely admit I have sometimes been wrong.

But ... I am only reporting my experience of speaking directly with Kodak, and I am not asking anyone here to believe what I heard directly from a Kodak employee.

BTW, 40oz, it was first hand on my part. I wasn't talking with Unlce Joe's 3rd cousin who knew someone who worked at Kodak 10 years ago. I'm not sure what you're getting at with the "third or fourth hand" implication. Yes, if you "spread the rumor" I guess it would be 3rd hand information on your part, but I'm not asking you repeat this, am I? I offered this piece of information simply as a point of discussion since a high percentage of RFF members either use film for the majority of their shooting or are, at the very least, interested in the status of film in the marketplace. If you search my past posts regarding Kodak, you will find I defend the company and encourage people to use EK products rather than boycott them out of frustration or anger. The latter option would hasten their exit from the film and paper market, IMO.

Anyone who wants to write to Kodak can send mail to:

Eastman Kodak
343 State St
Rochester, NY 14650

There are other contact resources on http://kodak.com of course.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom