Kodak announces BW400CN discontinued ...

[Dante_Stella]

... and here are some good news from Ilford (20th August 2014):

ILFORD XP2 SUPER a confirmed stayer!

ILFORD PHOTO confirm no plans to discontinue XP2 SUPER Film

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/pressroom/article.asp?n=191

Ilford has been out of business more times than Kodak, so don't hold your breath!

Dante

 

[jultou]

Too bad, I used the BW400CN a lot the last years... It was a great film, very convenient, I had great result with it. Still have 5-10 35mm rolls in the freezer.

Started to use XP2 medium format lately, I guess I'm going to continue that way lol.

 

[KoNickon]

This one hurts. Just a great film. Still, very good to know that XP2 Super will continue -- it preceded the 400CN and survives it.

 

[Faintandfuzzy]

Ilford has been out of business more times than Kodak, so don't hold your breath!

Dante

Really? Ilford is tooled for small production...Kodak isnt. Ilford will be around long after Kodak is gone.

 

[Godfrey]

A good film, sad to see it go, but overall I have found XP2 Super more flexible.

G

 

[maddoc]

Ilford has been out of business more times than Kodak, so don't hold your breath!

Dante

Ilford has been out of business a couple more times than Kodak but they are a much smaller company, easier to adapt to the market requirements and also easier to get back into business compared to the huge Kodak company. Also, Kodak`s business depended a lot on the movie business in Hollywood, while Ilford focuses onto still photography if memory serves me right.

 

[Vincent.G]

Regardless whether I use the film or not, one more film discontinued means one less choice for me and anyone else.

 

[maggieo]

What a downer. I really liked it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mediawench/sets/72157628673013393/

 

[Sparrow]

i much preferred illfords xp2...

... yep, and xp2 scans so easily

 

[sevo]

I'm surprised it was only cancelled now. As far as availability in Germany went, I thought that to have happened two or three years ago - it went through a massive discount at DM and Müller stores back then, not to be seen any more at sellers I would expect to buy from official distribution channels only...

written on the road

 

[Ansel]

This is a film which, by Kodaks own admission, did not sell very well.

It doesn't mean the end of film is nigh.

 

[ravilamir]

Ilford has been out of business more times than Kodak, so don't hold your breath!

Dante

Would you be so kind as to explain how many times?
As far as I know only once in 2004. And it was aborted in time as the Management bought the company.

 

[Keith]

I can't say I'm surprised by Kodak's decision here. Once upon a time there was C41 processing available nearly everywhere and usually within the hour. Not so now!

 

[robert blu]

I'm also a user of xp2 when I use chromogenic B&W film, only in 120 format (I use silver in 35). Anyway I feel sad that another film is disappearing from the market. I guess at the end is a question of number from the point of view of the producer. Not enough sales, too higher cost. From our point of view of course is different, it's about passion 🙂
robert

 

[Rayt]

BW400CN scans better than XP2 but the latter is much better for traditional wet room work. I find either film especially suitable for high contrast scenes.

 

[shortstop]

I've tried CN film both with colour paper both with BW paper. Better with BW, but true BW films are another thing. then I will not miss it.

 

[Solinar]

It's sad news that another film has ceased production - but at this point I really have my fingers crossed that Ilford can fill the gaps in the B/W market for a long time to come.

The trouble with the new Kodak/Alaris is I still see what I call parachute management teams and plant capacity that is way too large for the market. With regards to capacity - I read somewhere the Kodak emulsion plant is set up to do coating runs for 2 miles of film at a time. If they are not able to make money by doing much smaller production runs, then the handwriting is on the wall for them.

 

[Tijmendal]

Regardless whether I use the film or not, one more film discontinued means one less choice for me and anyone else.

Which hopefully also means that demand for other films will go up, making it unlikely that they'll be discontinued too.
Truth be told, I could live in a world where just TMX and Tri-X would be available as far as B/W goes.

I was thinking the same but asking myself, is there a profitable market for these kinds of films?

Apparently not...

 

[Noll]

I know this isn't what a lot of people care to hear, but I recently had a roll of portra 160 accidentally scanned in black and white and the results were breathtaking. I can imagine portra 400 could make an excellent b&w conversion also.

 

[thereabouts]

I've done a few conversions of Portra 400 scans into black and white, and it works really well. It felt odd to do, but excellent results.