Well, at least Ilford still likes film.

Thanks for the link Erik. And hooray for Ilford! They seem to recognize that they can pick up market share as some other players drop out. It sounds like they may be streamlining their processes to enable production of small batches of low-demand products (vis. SFX) which is a good thing.

- John
 
Good for Ilford. It's odd how the other film manufacturers don't feel it necessary to issue such statements though.
 
Because they (fuji, and ... who else ??) are on both sides of the fence.

I find it ironic everytime I see a digital camera from Fuji, it's called Fujifilm :)
 
An another one who believes in film is Fotoimpex, they are in the process to start a small film production in the vicinity of Berlin.
As far as I've read on their forum, they plan to do some R&D and testruns in Berlin and outsource the actual production but are prepared to do small batches on their own if the contractors drop out, as it happened before.

And the best thing about it, they want to produce at moderate price, so I expect their films at not much more than what Adox branded films cost at the moment.

And even better, they'll try to replicate Agfa B/W paper!
 
You guys think as film companies grow fewer, monopolies might become a bigger deal?

Right now there aren't all that many film companies, so if one or two big players drop out it may cause film to become more pricey.
 
Film will get more expensive as the market for it continues to shrink. It is just a fact of life.
The companies still actively supporting us could someday price themselves out of business, it is true. But I feel that is the least of our worries now.
Hooray for Ilford and Fuji!
 
Covich said:
Right now there aren't all that many film companies, so if one or two big players drop out it may cause film to become more pricey.
Click to expand...

I realize that we live in a capitalist world, but I for the life of me cannot envision Ilford willingly charging premiums on film only because they are (one of) the last major B&W player. Surely they must be smart enough to realize that higher prices naturally inhibit newcomers to gain entry into the B&W world; without these new consumers Ilford will have no one to sell to once the older generations slowly stop shooting altogether.

But maybe I'm just an idealist.
 
I certainly hope that film stays affordable, becasue it is just so much more fun than digital. I'm grateful that there are companies willing to risk their financial futures to help keep film alive.
 
Socke said:
An another one who believes in film is Fotoimpex, they are in the process to start a small film production in the vicinity of Berlin.
As far as I've read on their forum, they plan to do some R&D and testruns in Berlin and outsource the actual production but are prepared to do small batches on their own if the contractors drop out, as it happened before.

And the best thing about it, they want to produce at moderate price, so I expect their films at not much more than what Adox branded films cost at the moment.

And even better, they'll try to replicate Agfa B/W paper!
Click to expand...

Mirko is a interesting guy and I wish him all the best for his business plans. But still have to wait until 2008 for the MCP :bang: :D
 
This is indeed great to hear. Ilford deserves a big chunk of our B&W film budgets just for diving into the shrinking pond like they have. Luckily for me I like their films best. Higher prices are probably gonna be a fact for us halide users, I saw a pretty good hike from my last purchase of Ilford films- I usually buy 100 rolls of film at once and store it in the freezer. Price of Pan F and HP5 was a lot more this time. But, I crave film, so what can I do?

If Fotoimpex can bring back Portrigia I will be one happy printer! How about a VC version? Wow!
 
Those who predict the rise of film prices as more companies drop are incorrect. The rise in the price of film will equal higher margins for film. The higher margins will result in new or re-newed interest in a high profit business. The new entrants will introduce new product offerings which will compete on price, driving margins and prices down until equilibrium is achieved.

If Ilford was the only game in town raising prices to extremes would be foolish. Their goal would be to maximize revenue and the way to do that is to expand the market as much as possible and taking the lion's share of that market. As cited in the previous paragraph, increasing prices would open the door to more competition. Ilford would want to keep it a low margin, highish volume game. Revenue is maximized but the market itself less attractive to competition. One way not to increase the market would be to make their market offering - film, out of reach to interested consumers. Raising prices to riduculous rates on what is a commodity item in a mature market is not a good strategy even when competition wanes.
 
I find it interesting that Ilford, in re-introducing SFX200, appears to be adopting Konica's former once-a-year (maybe twice in Ilford's case) release of specialized film product. They're not just thinking bullish, they're thinking smart.

Praise the 'ford, and pass the XP2. ;)


- Barrett
 
foto_fool said:
Thanks for the link Erik. And hooray for Ilford! They seem to recognize that they can pick up market share as some other players drop out. It sounds like they may be streamlining their processes to enable production of small batches of low-demand products (vis. SFX) which is a good thing.

- John
Click to expand...
European companies are good at this. Just look at the airline industry...there's not a single US carrier making a profit in the largest market for air travel while most european carriers are very much in the black.
 
The "film is dead" people are going to call Ilford cuckoo. "What does Ilford know!" they'll cry. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the link, Erik.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
T"What does Ilford know!" they'll cry.
Click to expand...

I'm at a point right now to call Ilford more of a god than the Massive Dev. Chart.
Considering all the pushing and pulling of film I find myself doing, at least to me that says a helluva lot for the little white box.
 
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