Kodak discontinues HC-110 in Oz?

[mfunnell]

That's what I was told when Vanbar called me back to discuss an order. I'd ordered some cheap (AUD$2.50/roll) Lucky brand film (on the "how bad can it be?" theory) and some HC-110. They called me back to say they were all out of cheap film (of course) but could ship the developer if I still wanted it, which I did.

The guy who called me, however, noted that Kodak had discontinued distribution of HC-110 in Australia and that my order was for the very last of their stock.

None left. At all. Never to be replaced.

If this is so (I couldn't find anyone at Kodak who could tell me a thing about it, although I didn't try that hard in ringing around) then it is probably all my fault, as I decided to use HC-110 in a personal project. Of course a material I decide to standardise on wil always be immediately discontinued. That is in the nature of things.

So everybody should start really worrying about the availability of Tri-X 😱

...Mike

 

[Keith]

Isn't that always the way ... if they stop importing Tri-X they'd have a riot on their hands I suspect. All eleven photogs still shooting film in Oz would be up in arms! 😛

I notice that Freestyle have HC110 listed without the ground shipping only warning!

 

[MichaelW]

They haven't brought Plus-X into Australia for years, so obviously Kodak Australia is prepared to dump products even though they are available in the rest of the world. At least you can buy Plus-X direct from places like Freestyle. You'd have to check the shipping restrictions on something like HC-110, I know that Freestyle are not permitted to send Rodinal by air. Anyway, it seems like a stupid decision; how hard can it be to hold some small stocks of developer? They may not sell much but i think there is an obligation to support the full product range.

 

[sepiareverb]

Way to go Kodak. They really don't seem to care about their analog product line very much at all anymore do they?

 

[Keith]

Way to go Kodak. They really don't seem to care about their analog product line very much at all anymore do they?

Historically Kodak were the company that brought photography to the masses ... probably now leading the field as one of the players who seem to want to take it away from us! 🙁

 

[sepiareverb]

Historically Kodak were the company that brought photography to the masses ... probably now leading the field as one of the players who seem to want to take it away from us! 🙁

I'm still smarting over the loss of my SW fiber paper for contact sheets.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Kodak doesn't want to be an analog company. Hasn't in a long time. Their analog business is pretty small, now. I can't imagine they sell much HC-110 anywhere.

 

[ZeissFan]

Kodak has been big on introducing new lines of film and then abandoning them when sales fell: 126 Instamatic, 110, 620, 127, 616, Disc and on and on. To be fair, it did stick with 620 (a terrible idea) for an absurdly long time.

 

[nome_alice]

i guess that's good news for Ilford. LC29 is nice stuff 🙂

 

[John Bragg]

Hi Mike.

Although I have never used it, Ilford's "Ilfotec HC" Developer is supposed to be near identical in usage and characteristics. Somewhat like their ID11 to Kodak's D76 I guess.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/product.asp?n=32&t=Film+Developers

Regards, John.

 

[antistatic]

They haven't brought Plus-X into Australia for years, so obviously Kodak Australia is prepared to dump products even though they are available in the rest of the world.

I've bought Plus X quite a few times here in Perth from a local shop in recent months.

 

[mfunnell]

Hi Mike.

Although I have never used it, Ilford's "Ilfotec HC" Developer is supposed to be near identical in usage and characteristics. Somewhat like their ID11 to Kodak's D76 I guess.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/product.asp?n=32&t=Film+Developers

Regards, John.

John, thanks for that. It would probably work, except I don't know anywhere to get hold of it here in Oz, either (Vanbar doesn't carry it, nor do other places I've looked).

Oh well. At least I'll have enough HC-110 on hand to last me a while.

...Mike

 

[peter_n]

Kodak doesn't want to be an analog company. Hasn't in a long time. Their analog business is pretty small, now. I can't imagine they sell much HC-110 anywhere.

Calumet over on the other side of the river in Cambridge sell quite a bit, it seems to be a standard soup. Lots of schools with photography classes in this area.

 

[maddoc]

Here in Sapporo (Japan) I can't buy it fast enough as soon as it is out of stock. Should pile up some of the stuff ... 😎

 

[sepiareverb]

I'm with Peter- I'd suspect HC-110 could be their #1 selling B&W chemistry.