Kodak calling it quits?
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Rayt
Nonplayer Character
No no no no no no
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
I started a couple of times to write a comment on this post and deleted it twice.
As a long term Kodak devotee, who used their products for more than 2 decades, I can honestly say that Kodak died for me when they started playing the games of artificial shortages as an excuse to hike their prices. The period between 2015 and the end of the pandemic is when they lost me completely. Maybe it wasn't Kodak; maybe it was the retailers- I guess I will never know.
Sad to see this but I have now joined the Ilford camp.
As a long term Kodak devotee, who used their products for more than 2 decades, I can honestly say that Kodak died for me when they started playing the games of artificial shortages as an excuse to hike their prices. The period between 2015 and the end of the pandemic is when they lost me completely. Maybe it wasn't Kodak; maybe it was the retailers- I guess I will never know.
Sad to see this but I have now joined the Ilford camp.
phranklee
Member
The film company is separate so no issue there. It's been in a 40-year managed decline that protected the pensioners far better than other large corporate collapses that left people high and dry. However reading that it has almost $500m in debt makes me wonder if now the management is simply looting the corpse?
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
I will happily shoot HP5+ and Fomapan 200 but no Kodak means no Portra no Ektar no E100.
wlewisiii
Veteran
Been expecting them to finish the looting and kill the corpse for a long time. Shifted completely to other companies a long time ago as a result with the exception of Pro Image and losing it won't phase me: Plus X was the one that hurt.
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
From their Form 10-Q SEC filing for last quarter. They are not giving up in film yet but… (Linked in the article):
www.fastcompany.com
Two Institutional and Mutual Fund holders:
Kodak stock sinks 25%: Why the iconic company says it might go out of business
The 133-year-old company already survived a bankruptcy when film photography gave way to smartphone cameras, but its days may be numbered.
Two Institutional and Mutual Fund holders:
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Bill Blackwell
Leica M Shooter
They lost me when they stopped producing Kodachrome!
Timmyjoe
Veteran
Doesn't sound like their dead yet, it is a shame about the stock price drop though.
Best,
-Tim
Best,
-Tim
AI misunderstood the info filing,
KODAK IS NOT GOING BELLY UP NOW
KODAK IS NOT GOING BELLY UP NOW
DownUnder
Vamoosed (for a while)
Me also. And Plus-X. And especially Panatomic-X, which I loved. There was, never has been, never will be another film like the old Panatomic.
I stocked up in the late '80s when almost expired stocks of Panatomic were being dumped in Australia for as little as $1 for a 36 roll. Also several 100 foot cans, two of which I still have in my film fridge. My goal is to use them before I pop off to that big darkroom in the wherever. But it looks as if Kodak as we knew it when I started in photography in the early '60s, will be in cloud land before I get there.
I did try Tmax 100 and 400, both good films but for me, nothing like the older emulsions. Eventually I moved to Ilford FP3 and HP5, and I've never looked back.
As for color, I used Ektachrome in the 1960s when I first got into photography. later Kodachrome with my first '35 camera. When Eastman pulled the plug on the latter film I followed what zillions did and went over to Fuji. Velvia 50 served me well until digital came along. That decision alone to dump Kodachrome probably cost Kodak a significant amount of its photo business. I know my long-held loyalty to Rochester certainly went down the tooter.
PS All the above of course written without any knowledge of what hidden agendas lie behind Kodak's 'leaking' of this information to the business media. WAs we know, in the bad mad sad murky world of business, when there is a will, there is always a way.
It can be difficult to know what to say or write when this sort of news hits the media. If this latest news is in any way accurate, it's sad news to me when an icon goes into decline and eventually fades into the ether.
I would be the last to say it's a deserved end to Kodak for the bad business decisions they made decades ago and the crappy way they've treated their customers at times, but that thought lingers in the back of my mind.
PS All this written without any knowledge of what motives Kodak has or had in 'leaking' this little bit of news to the media. As we know, in the murky world of business, when there is the will and the intent, there is always the way.
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NIKON KIU
Did you say Nippon Kogaku?
Kodak warns its business is in "substantial doubt" after 133 years
Kodak says it might not be able to meet its debt obligations, raising "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue business.
www.cbsnews.com
Kodak says there's 'substantial doubt' it can stay in business
Kodak warned in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it faces serious financial concerns, citing substantial doubt about continuing operations.
www.foxbusiness.com
It’s all over the news, big debt.
Kiu
Beemermark
Veteran
They've been in chapter 11 for years trying to stay in business. They made great strides but not enough. Income still cannot pay off debt. For an old guy it's sad but it will happen. Good news is all their business sections (including film production) will be sold to new companies. Sort of the cycle of life.
TenEleven
Well-known
Yes that's KODAK - not (Kodak) ALARIS which is the company that's making the film.Kodak warns its business is in "substantial doubt" after 133 years
Kodak says it might not be able to meet its debt obligations, raising "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue business.
Kodak says there's 'substantial doubt' it can stay in business
Kodak warned in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it faces serious financial concerns, citing substantial doubt about continuing operations.
It’s all over the news, big debt.
Kiu
Of course the news paraphrase this in the most misleading way possible and use images of old film stock to generate clicks...
Anyway the Kodak that's having financial troubles made... uh.... paper... and uh... printers?
And briefly dabbled pharmaceutical compounds in 2020...
TenEleven
Well-known
To add a bit of extra info, Kodak Alaris is privately held (UK pension fund) and a separate entity.
I am not a financial wizard but afaik they would not have to go through this public rigamarole because again they are privately held..
I am not a financial wizard but afaik they would not have to go through this public rigamarole because again they are privately held..
CMur12
Veteran
I hope they survive. Right now, Kodak Ektachrome is the only quality slide/transparency film available. Fuji hasn't had any Provia or Velvia on offer for quite some time.
- Murray
- Murray
Bingley
Veteran
Yes, my reaction when I saw the headline was to think that this did not apply to Kodak Alaris, which is a separate entity that produces Kodak film. Unless something has changed recently, I don't think this SEC filing indicates that the separate film business is on the verge of collapse....
wlewisiii
Veteran
It's telling, though, that so few of us really care enough to know enough about the various permutations of "Kodak" to know which version is which.
If they all went away tomorrow, I'd really not notice much difference in my world.
If they all went away tomorrow, I'd really not notice much difference in my world.
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
Ok thanks. I went into a panic when the film canisters popped up in my screen and and didn’t notice the warning label , ahem, CNN banner.
Freakscene
Obscure member
Kodak Alaris markets the film. Kodak (Eastman Kodak, strictly named, but usually referred to just as ‘Kodak’ and the company being referred to here) makes the film.
More than $US16 trillion in stock market wealth has been created in the past 10 years. Someone will buy Kodak’s fermenting leftovers. Some of the wealth that buys it will no doubt have been made out of Kodak on the way up (big time historically and in 2020) and down (now, and every other time since the mid-2000s apart from 2020). It’s a sort of financial cycle of life.
More than $US16 trillion in stock market wealth has been created in the past 10 years. Someone will buy Kodak’s fermenting leftovers. Some of the wealth that buys it will no doubt have been made out of Kodak on the way up (big time historically and in 2020) and down (now, and every other time since the mid-2000s apart from 2020). It’s a sort of financial cycle of life.
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