if kodak dies

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Tom what will you use to replace tri-X?

i am sooo worried i bought 20 rolls today and starting a Tri-X M2 month.
 
I agree, alternative B&W options should be available for quite some time. I really don't like the outlook for color, though. Including movie stock.
 
I will guess that the film division would be sold (or spun off) to another entity. Not being an expert on the subject, but management says that the film division took its big hit because of lower demand and the rise in silver prices.
 
mwooten said:
I will guess that the film division would be sold (or spun off) to another entity. Not being an expert on the subject, but management says that the film division took its big hit because of lower demand and the rise in silver prices.
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I keep reading on various threads that film prices (including color) are increasing because of silver prices but I always thought color film doesn't use silver, does it? Thought it was dye-based.
 
When a thread appeared in RFF last week concerning Kodak I went and looked through Kodak's latest 10Q. On page 36 (I think) in the notes the management give the reason as being, in part, based upon the price of silver.
As far as how color film works, I really don't know if silver is used or not.
 
NickTrop said:
I keep reading on various threads that film prices (including color) are increasing because of silver prices but I always thought color film doesn't use silver, does it? Thought it was dye-based.
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The silver is bleached out during processing.

Dante
 
I don't think Kodak will ever be completely gone. You can bet that even in the worst case scenario some company would end up producing at least a couple of the products - or at the very least using the trademarks.

The Tri-X trademark is probably too valuable for anybody to let it die. Whether it would be the same or not if somebody else picked it up - who knows... Kodak has already changed and revised the formula a bunch, so a new manufacturer may not care too much about how it is made.

I would be more worried about something like Endura Metallic VC, that aren't likely to get pick up, or have no rough equivalent.
 
Think about all the photographs recorded by humans word-wide in the past 60 days with any sort of camera in any sort of medium.

Now, how many of those photographers have ever heard of Tri-X? The answer is: hardly any.

Since 2000 film has been slowly but surely transitioning into a niche product for a very small percentage of the global photography market. If Kodachrome died, so can Tri-X.

All you can do is delay the inevitable. Freeze as much Tri-X as you can. Over the years modify your development technique to offset the inevitable fogging from cosmic-ray exposure.
 
tunalegs said:
I don't think Kodak will ever be completely gone. You can bet that even in the worst case scenario some company would end up producing at least a couple of the products - or at the very least using the trademarks.

The Tri-X trademark is probably too valuable for anybody to let it die. Whether it would be the same or not if somebody else picked it up - who knows... Kodak has already changed and revised the formula a bunch, so a new manufacturer may not care too much about how it is made.

I would be more worried about something like Endura Metallic VC, that aren't likely to get pick up, or have no rough equivalent.
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Any emulsion technician. Ask 'em.

It WOULDN'T be the same.

Even when you move a coating machine, and use the same formulae and the same people to run the machine, it's extremely difficult to get an emulsion absolutely the same as before. Ilford found this when they moved to Mobberley, and the most recent update of Tri-X coincided with a move to another machine at Rochester. As I said elsewhere, it's very like brewing: at least as much art and alchemy as science, even though there's lots of science in it.

Besides, as Willie 901 says, it's not really that important. Until the last revision of Tri-X, my wife (fractionally) preferred HP5. Now she (fractionally) prefers Tri-X. Anyne who believes that their photography will come to a crashing halt if a given product is abandoned should ask themselves a simple question. Which is more important, their film choice or their skill and artistry?

Cheers,

R.
 
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I would hope that if Kodak goes down, someone would snap up the film division. Films like TriX is still profitable - probably the highest margin of any of their products. It is almost a "generic" name for black/white - really no need for advertising/marketing etc - which saves a lot of money. There is probably a lot of "parent" rolls of it in the saltmines too.
Just in case. I will start adding some more TriX to my current stash of 100 ft spools - and in the worst case scenario - there is XX 0 though I should stock up on that too.
I do hope they survive with a reasonable structure in place. They really put photography in the hands of everybody with the first box-cameras - and with films like TriX - what we know of the 50's and 60's and later is very much captured on that iconic emulsion.
There are other films - but after 50 years with TriX I would really hate to have to learn a new film!
 
Roger Hicks said:
Any emulsion technician. Ask 'em.

It WOULDN'T be the same.

Even when you move a coating machine, and use the same formulae and the same people to run the machine, it's extremely difficult to get an emulsion absolutely the same as before.
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That goes without saying of course. ;)

I was thinking more along the lines of what happened to Agfa.
 
My thoughts are that nothing physical need be moved. No coating machines, nor the folks that apply their alchemy and create the films we love need be moved. The only change would be ownership.
 
Maybe its about time that Tri-X is gone and so is the whole out-dated photography baggage that young photographers are forced to carry today, so we can get on with the business of photography with the means available and save ourselves from the schizophrenia of film and digital.
 
claacct said:
Maybe its about time that Tri-X is gone and so is the whole out-dated photography baggage that young photographers are forced to carry today, so we can get on with the business of photography with the means available and save ourselves from the schizophrenia of film and digital.
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Possibly, but do you really think there's so little future for digital that all we need is HP5?

Cheers,

R.
 
mwooten said:
My thoughts are that nothing physical need be moved. No coating machines, nor the folks that apply their alchemy and create the films we love need be moved. The only change would be ownership.
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That seems to me the second likeliest scenario, with Kodak's staying in business as the likeliest (though I'd not place bets either way). The third likeliest is a simple disappearance, and the fourth is an attempt to re-create the film after a hiatus, Agfa-style.

Cheers,

R.
 
The company will break up in order to survive. Patent sales will be used to finance things. The name, 'Kodak' has real value and will remain attached to whatever portion of the business has the best chance of long term survival. Tri-X will be made for at least the next twenty years. Likely, by a company that purchased the rights and equipment from Kodak. Don't know if it will remain a close imitation of the present product.
 
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