Kodak Alaris CEO asking for input

[slidesandthecity]

I just found this on APUG and thought, it might be of interest to some.
A video of Kodak Alaris' first CEO, Ralf Gerbershagen, in which he briefly introduces himself and is also asking Kodak users to send him questions/feedback/other input. Video

If you don't want to watch the video: His address is ceo@kodakalaris.com.


Kind regards

Philipp

 

[Rob-F]

I'll start my comments by asking to bring back Plus-X.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

.......and Kodachrome...!!

 

[valdas]

isn't it a bit too late?

 

[Rodchenko]

We should campaign for the return of 220.

 

[RedLion]

Most important thing to do is to provide some kind of sustainable infrastructure so that people can get their film developed and scanned for a reasonable price and turn-around time.

I would suggest a prepaid envelope. You put your film in. Drop it in the mailbox. And 7 days later you see your fully high-rez scanned film in your account on their website.

 

[jsrockit]

Most important thing to do is to provide some kind of sustainable infrastructure so that people can get their film developed and scanned for a reasonable price and turn-around time.

I agree. High rez scanning at a decent price is the missing link for me.

 

[Tijmendal]

Most important thing to do is to provide some kind of sustainable infrastructure so that people can get their film developed and scanned for a reasonable price and turn-around time.

I would suggest a prepaid envelope. You put your film in. Drop it in the mailbox. And 7 days later you see your fully high-rez scanned film in your account on their website.

This is a great idea (for some). Most people don't develop themselves I think. If Kodak could set up processing centers in the US, Europe, Asia/Japan I think that could definitely work.

 

[anjoca76]

I like the process/scan idea. I don't see them bringing back Kodachrome or 220.

If nothing else, I would be thrilled if they kept Tri-X, Portra, and Tmax (which I personally find much better than Tri-X, but to each his own).

Ektar 100 could go, for all I care. When it's perfectly exposed in perfect light, it's excellent. But anything less than that and it's garish.

Anyway...I just hope they keep the line of films they currently have.

 

[Pete B]

Most important thing to do is to provide some kind of sustainable infrastructure so that people can get their film developed and scanned for a reasonable price and turn-around time.

I would suggest a prepaid envelope. You put your film in. Drop it in the mailbox. And 7 days later you see your fully high-rez scanned film in your account on their website.

That's a great suggestion.
I'd like to see a partnership with a scanner producer, be it Kodak's own engineers, or Plustek's, that gives us a one button scanning solution. Pushing that button profiles the film, and perfectly inverts it (c41), leaving us only to select the output file parameters.
Also, perhaps a wide dynamic range reversal film that is designed to be scanned.
Pete

 

[oftheherd]

I would really love to see Kodachrome come back, but I think that is a lost issue. There probably wouldnt' be enough interest to start up a factory, and dispose of the hazerdous chemicals. But I sure would like to see it. sigh

Most important thing to do is to provide some kind of sustainable infrastructure so that people can get their film developed and scanned for a reasonable price and turn-around time.

I would suggest a prepaid envelope. You put your film in. Drop it in the mailbox. And 7 days later you see your fully high-rez scanned film in your account on their website.

Kind of like you snap the picture, we do the rest? Somebody thought of that something like 100 years ago. 🙂

This is a great idea (for some). Most people don't develop themselves I think. If Kodak could set up processing centers in the US, Europe, Asia/Japan I think that could definitely work.

We have enough in the States already if they were just used more. One of our members is Precision, who even offer us RFF members a rebate as I recall.

But I sympathize with all the suggestions. Plus-X would be nice, 220 would be nice, Kodachrome would be fantastic.

 

[pvdhaar]

Kodak tested the waters with scanning to Photo-CD. At the time, affordable home scanners didn't really exist. Photo-CD never took off. What's worse, now's a different time; they'd need to better the best in film scanners. And that would mean at a quality level of drum scanning, which is again far from cheap and would mean a very niche market. I can't see such develop & scan service being a viable business model..

The question is whether Kodak can re-invent itself.. Like Oftheherd said, a century ago, they had a golden concept; you press the button, we do the rest. Kodak's message wasn't about film, it was about the result; it was what people really needed. They drifted away from that, concentrated on maximizing margins by creating cheaper stuff for higher prices and throwing dust in people's eyes (APS). That wasn't about what people needed anymore, and IMO that's been their downfall..

Today, Impossible Project and Lomography are on the upswing; they're not big players, but they have a strong idea about what and why they do what they do, and as a customer you don't get the feel that it's just about the money. If I were Kodak, I'd take my cues from that..

 

[lynnb]

The scanning idea would be good if offered in Australia/NZ as well. Provided they return your negs, of course. I seem to remember reading that some develop-and-scan services don't!

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Get thier high prices for B/W film to average price range.

 

[k__43]

Ektar a special beast and deserves to live, although not my favorite.
My request would be: please don't axe anything more than you already have (and maybe bring back E100G)

 

[__--]

I agree that a quick developing/hi-rez scanning service is the weak link, but I'm pessimistic that there will be an economic solution for this.

Incidentally, roughly two years ago, I made an impulse purchase (at Le Moyen Format in Paris) of a mint, beautiful, black Hasselblad 903-SWC — it even had a new Hasselblad strap. It was the only impulse purchase of a camera that I ever made, and my plan was to use the best B&W darkroom printer in Bangkok, as I didn't want to scan and print digitally — and had no time or means to do this, as I was traveling abroad virtually every month or so. The trouble was that when I got back to Bangkok a month later I found that he had tragically died in a car crash — one of the nicest guys I've known. The second good darkroom printer had taken off to follow a girl friend to Laos and had ever returned. That put an end to my only effort to get back to film and I sold the 903-SWC, losing only US$100 on the transaction.

MITCH ALLAND/Potomac, MD
Download links for book project pdf files
Chiang Tung Days
Tristes Tropiques
Bangkok Hysteria
Paris au rythme de Basquiat and Other Poems

 

[RedLion]

Kodak tested the waters with scanning to Photo-CD. At the time, affordable home scanners didn't really exist. Photo-CD never took off. What's worse, now's a different time; they'd need to better the best in film scanners. And that would mean at a quality level of drum scanning, which is again far from cheap and would mean a very niche market. I can't see such develop & scan service being a viable business model..

.

Convenient processing centers are dropping like flies, and those that remain offer lower and lower quality. (I had a roll of film ruined just last week by CVS) Sure, I can still mail off my film and have it developed and scanned, but at $12+ per roll and weeks waiting time for it all to get mailed back, this is only a viable option for the pro or hard-core hobbyist, IMO. But, the hard-core hobbyist is also likely to develop and scan their own, further reducing the demand and so bumping up the unit costs for those few remaining develop&scan providers. So what I'm saying is that current trends in consumer development and scanning WILL NOT support large scale manufacture of consumer film products.

Unless something is done to reverse this, film will end up as a high priced boutique product offered by a small number of boutique firms, thus suitable for a small cadre of pros and serious hobbyists. This scenario won't support the continued manufacture of film by the likes of Fujir or Kodak Alaris, but Ilford "could" possibly survive.

The only way to reverse this is to make film use attractive to more people. I believe this is achievable, since we now have millions upon millions getting more involved in photography in general via using their P&S and cell phone cameras as well as all those DSLR users. The key will be how to entice THEM into including film as a part of their photography. This is a limited window of opportunity.

Marketing efforts by such firms as Lomography may get more people in the front door, but unless the back-end of developing and good quality scanning can be provided, the continued decline of convenient develop&scan will cause film use to fade again and may give the "Coup de grâce" to the large scale manufacture of film (Fuji & Kodak).

 

[xyz3450]

Most important thing to do is to provide some kind of sustainable infrastructure so that people can get their film developed and scanned for a reasonable price and turn-around time.

I would suggest a prepaid envelope. You put your film in. Drop it in the mailbox. And 7 days later you see your fully high-rez scanned film in your account on their website.

Agreed -- I have spent some time sending film to different organizations wondering about quality issues, time-to-complete order, different quirks that each organization has etc. A simple and clear procedure like you suggest would help me.

 

[krötenblender]

I can't agree with the Ektar-comment. It is my favorite film, no problems with correct exposure and easy to scan with good color results. Also I would like to have Kodachrome back, but I suspect, that it is more the images (meaning the time and situations they were taken in) than really the film...

 

[littleearth]

Ektar is unique and it's one of the best emulsions available today. Just like Fuji Acros 100 !
I completely agree with the processing/scanning service, that's what makes the difference in the digital age.
I'm always amazed by the quality of scans from some prolabs, but unfortunately it gets very expensive and I can't afford a Fuji Frontier !