Fuji film price hike in the offing

There seems to be a circle of confusion. Some think Fujifilm is zooming toward extinction and that's all there is Touit. But only time will tele whether they keep producing film or whether the focus will shift to other products.
 
The fact that film demand has been increasing for many years is a proven fact and not open to debate. The issue in Fuji's case is that unlike Kodak, I.ford and others, they were not able or willing to invest in equipment designed for lower volumes tha there were at the peak of film sales.

Saying demand is down is completely false.
 
Faintandfuzzy said:
The issue in Fuji's case is that unlike Kodak, I.ford and others, they were not able or willing to invest in equipment designed for lower volumes tha there were at the peak of film sales.
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Kodak and Ilford need to keep making film to survive. Fuji doesn't. Fuji's cost of making film might be much much higher than Kodak's when you also take into account the opportunity costs of Fuji's film production (Fuji could probably convert their film production capacities to something much more profitable and future-proof). The incompetence of Kodak to (successfully) transition into other branches could actually save colour film.

dourbalistar said:
I think this is a well researched and balanced article. We may not agree with or like the discontinuations, but it puts Fujifilm's business decisions in some perspective:
https://emulsive.org/articles/thoughts/fujifilm-put-down-your-pitchforks-its-survival-of-the-fittest
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I especially liked his closing arguments that we will always have Instax (still waiting for the answer how he managed to put Instax into Xpan) and that it's just a matter of time when there will be new colour films flying out of garage size "factories". Seem like he really knows what he's saying...
 
brbo said:
The incompetence of Kodak to (successfully) transition into other branches could actually save colour film.
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Eastman Kodak is largely a Printing Systems and Industrial Chemical manufacturer. Consumer film and industrial chemicals generate one of the minor portions of revenue. Whether you consider that enough diversification is up to opinion.
Kodak's problem is that they have a lot of debt (which they pay a lot of interest on), but they also spend a lot on Research and Development - for what? For a company that was haemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars every year not long ago, to be back to minor profitability is still quite a success. However, if they were to stop producing film tomorrow, they would increase their profits because right now the whole Consumer and Film segment is running at a loss.

I still think there's a lot of consumer market potential that Kodak could tap into beyond the popularity of their name only, and there's certainly many technologies related to the production of coated thin-films and that is a global market still with a lot of growth even if they are only a part-supplier and not a producer of finished products.
Think solar panels, intelligent building cladding, superior micro building wraps, solar panels, television/computer/smartphone/camera displays/aerospace products.

Why has Kodak not produced photographic lenses again under an external supplier like Cosina or Tamron (autofocus)? They should be able to sell the MOQ on hype alone.

It looks like they are trying to move into Consumer 3D Printing... but why not just serve the small-scale commercial manufacturing segment instead? CNC machines, extruders, casting machines, presses etc. and maybe those larger metal 3D printers - things that Kodak already uses in their day to day operations. The sort of things that local businesses will buy.

They have swathes of unused patents, surely they didn't need to lower themselves to (struggling) to produce a simple Super 8 camera? If Fuji can make decent money selling digital cameras, in a market that is totally bloated, surely Kodak can sell a few lenses every year. Having so many different camera mounts on the market should make it a breeze.
 
Ten years from now it will be interesting to look back on this thread and see who could read the writing on the wall, and who couldn’t.
 
Larry Cloetta said:
Ten years from now it will be interesting to look back on this thread and see who could read the writing on the wall, and who couldn’t.
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If you've Cosina the writing on the wall, the Bessa solution is to stock up now while you can. Otherwise, you may end up banging you head on the wall. :bang:
 
Film is Cheap

Film is Cheap

Thanks for posting the Emulsive article. Interesting. Especially the current cost comparisons adjusted for inflation.

When I was in college the Professors would preach "Film is cheap." Don't skimp on film not to get the shot you need.

Easy for them to say. I was making $3/hr working part time and living on peanut butter and jelly. Didn't seem so cheap but I understood their message.

When photography paid the bills I realized film was cheap. Sure, it helped that somebody else was paying for it. It was billable. But in the BIG PICTURE (sorry) of producing a commercial shoot film cost was pretty insignificant. I remember one of the last jobs we did we had a model with make up/stylist in front of a small private jet we rented at a small airport in NJ. With all those costs going on nobody would complain if I shot a few more rolls to make sure it was covered.

No that photography is an avocation film is the cheapest part of my hobby. Table equipment costs for now, that's another discussion. I don't burn a lot of film. My goal is to have fun and make images that make me smile that if I really like I hang on the wall.

I shot this great abandoned old house the other day. Shot 4 frames of 120. I did 2 different angles and 2 exposure brackets of each. So the 4 frames cost me about $2.65. Processing, scanning, printing are much more expensive. If I like the image and want to frame it, with Museum Glass, that's expensive!

So if my film for that shot cost me $3.65 would it make a difference? Naw.
 
I think the puns are funny and I enjoy reading them.

Dourbalistar, your puns are very clever and creative, please keep ’em coming.

Mike
 
dourbalistar said:
If you've Cosina the writing on the wall, the Bessa solution is to stock up now while you can. Otherwise, you may end up banging you head on the wall. :bang:
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These puns are immensly disruptive for these of us trying to follow the comments on topic. Why not start a new 100% puns thread in the humor section of RF?
 
I'm in agreement with Bjørn. A little joking/punning is fine, but when it interferes with finding the intended subject matter of the thread, it's a major hijack and it becomes trying.


- Murray
 
Fair enough, apologies for the disruption - I didn't mean to hijack the thread, just trying to have a little fun. Out of respect for the OP and those who are trying to stay on topic, I've started a new pun thread. I didn't actually find a humor section on the forum, so for now, I've posted in the Photography General Interest sub-forum, where the other joke thread lives.
 
dourbalistar said:
I think this is a well researched and balanced article. We may not agree with or like the discontinuations, but it puts Fujifilm's business decisions in some perspective:
https://emulsive.org/articles/thoughts/fujifilm-put-down-your-pitchforks-its-survival-of-the-fittest
Click to expand...


I just read this article and found it very well thought out and probably closer to the truth of the matter. Thanks for sharing it with us!


I also like your idea of starting a separate photographic pun thread. :D


- Murray
 
Teemō;2874520 said:
Well, it's probably a decent time to buy Kodak shares if you ever wanted them. :p
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Kodak shares have ripped higher for the past 2 weeks. It has been on an absolute tear. Not sure why. No news has been published that I can find.
 
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