Ektar 100 Discontinuation

[sevo]

Mainly looking if anyone can get a better response from Kodak than I can.

Well, where did you get what response? The snippet lacks all relevant information as to who and where. Indeed it rather looks as if it were from some online forum (see the "Discussion Thread" caption in the middle). Did your dealer ask Kodak at all, or did he merely forward some posting he found on apug or whatever?

 

[jsrockit]

Aaaaaaaand....another internet rumour run wild.

Journalism 101: Check and verify before printing wild speculation.

Wait, RFF posts are now journalism?

 

[jsrockit]

... it is merely an assumption made by you based on the sketchy Email communication with a person at Kodak who is obviously clueless (else she wouldn't have directed you to the motion picture department) and should be fired...

Wow, I wouldn't want you for a boss... fired after one e-mail mistake? jeez. 🙄 There is no such thing as perfect customer service.

 

[sevo]

Didn't they discontinue it in large format this summer? This could be what the source is referring to.

As far as I can make out, nobody has so far claimed they'd discontinue 4x5 - 8x10 however has been relegated to a special order item. And large format isn't handled by the motion picture division either. The answer must be more misguided than that.

Nobody would be surprised at Kodak quitting film - and even less so, colour film. But it would be very, very odd indeed if these news only spread to the obviously film ignorant 1st level support and some local digital camera dealers rather than their PR department and the big mail order dealers (who generally do a roaring trade in the discounted remains in such a case).

 

[Gumby]

The 2013 catalogue still has Ektar in 35mm, 120, and 4x5.

Given two experiences in the past few months with Kodak customer service, both of which proved them to be nonresponsive nincompoops, I am assuming that this is just another experience where they don't understand or answer the question.

And 100% consistent with my recent experience, their response really tells you to call someone else. They just can't seem to muster up the courage to say, "I don't know and I'm not going to try to find out".

 

[benmacphoto]

Well, where did you get what response? The snippet lacks all relevant information as to who and where. Indeed it rather looks as if it were from some online forum (see the "Discussion Thread" caption in the middle). Did your dealer ask Kodak at all, or did he merely forward some posting he found on apug or whatever?

Did you not read that the Kodak rep had told him Ektar was done.
No forward of a message on a forum or anything. It was not discussed what size, rather all of it.

The reason I posted this was to get a better response, due to the generic email. Someone like Rodger on this forum who can get someone better at Kodak to answer the message.

 

[venchka]

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/colorNegativeIndex.jhtml?pq-path=13319/1230

'Nuff said.

Wayne

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Poorly written (mis)communication causes confusion - SHOCK!

I think this also illustrates why many institutions implode (to misquote a metaphor): the left hand doesn't know what the left hand's pinky is doing

 

[DtheG]

That's last month's future. Now it's just Industrial Printing 😉

I think it was supposed to be printers rather than the ink. But when your product is no different from all the other 'made in the same factory in China' competitors there's not much chance of selling at a premium price. And there's no market at all once people realise that you are going to overcharge for ink just like all the others.

Industrial Printing: just very big printers manufactured by someone else, that won't command a premium price by being branded with a name that's known to be going out of business.

 

[Photo_Smith]

Obviously a case of cluelessness on the part of the person called Ruben H.

I've always found waiting for a deletion notice before getting exited, but I guess in the age of the super misinformation highway, rumour will proliferate.

I don't blame the OP though, most of the fear of losing materials is real, and the spectre of Kodak not being able to sell the division, and the overall incompetence of top management tend to pour petrol on the fire of the internet whisper game...

 

[henri klein]

— DISMAY NOTICE —
October 9, 2012
Due to ending production of several film types my demand for Kodak products has declined significantly, and it is no longer practical to buy from this manufacturer.

The suggested replacement is Ilford film particularly high speed B&W film.
In fact, for most applications Ilford Film types are actually the better choice.

 

[johannielscom]

Ilford B&W?

Ektar is color film...

Being informed isn't just necessary for Kodak personnel...

 

[Photo_Smith]

... and what's worse, Jose G and Luis G (also names used on replies from Kodak) are just as useless.

I think the term they use is first tier support, generally meaning the guy at the other end uses google to have a stab— the tea boy will take a guess and be more accurate...

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Ah, those "job creators". One dollar for you for extra over time, 1000 for my tax-free fund... Long-term solutions are overrated.

 

[vitaly66]

It wouldn't be the first time Ektar was discontinued...

 

[Gumby]

I think the term they use is first tier support, generally meaning the guy at the other end uses google to have a stab— the tea boy will take a guess and be more accurate...

I once had a computer hotline tech (a very nice girl in India or Pakistan) try and try and try to fix my problem. We both thought she did but as a parting gift she gave me the number for the "second tier" support and advised me that further problems will need to be discussed with someone "who really knows what they are doing". We both laughed, I asked her for a date, and then we mututally decided that geography would make that difficult.

 

[wblynch]

I will not panic until the final end of Kodak Gold / Color Plus.

Then I won't panic until the final end of Fujicolor.

 

[sepiareverb]

— DISMAY NOTICE —
October 9, 2012
Due to ending production of several film types my demand for Kodak products has declined significantly, and it is no longer practical to buy from this manufacturer.

The suggested replacement is Ilford film particularly high speed B&W film.
In fact, for most applications Ilford Film types are actually the better choice.

Wonderful.

 

[bugmenot]

— DISMAY NOTICE —
October 9, 2012
Due to ending production of several film types my demand for Kodak products has declined significantly, and it is no longer practical to buy from this manufacturer.

The suggested replacement is Ilford film particularly high speed B&W film.
In fact, for most applications Ilford Film types are actually the better choice.

And replace colour with Fuji? But their negatives aren't that good 🙁 ... Fujicolor Pro 400H (or even the 160's) for example just can't do what Portra or Ektar can ... And Superia is budget film :bang:

I will not panic until the final end of Kodak Gold / Color Plus.

Then I won't panic until the final end of Fujicolor.

And then you shall switch to digital for colour? 😀