Kodak said on Thursday it would sell its traditional off-the-shelf print-film busines

[Jamie123]

How much chance to get it right in Russian Roulette?

Usually it's a 5:1 chance so not bad at all! 😉

 

[jsrockit]

Personally don't give a flying f**k about the Kodak company - I just care about the films. All this talk of 'end of eras' and so on is of minimal importance in comparison to the survival of Portra, for instance.

Killing me... 😀

 

[Keith]

To me the sensation of the axe being poised over the head of every film user in the world just won't go away!

I think those of us who choose to stick with this medium will be paying a lot more for the privilage in a few years.

And as much as Ilford HP5+ is a decent film ... it ain't Tri-X!

 

[I Love Film]

So, now is the time to dump your film cameras.

To my mind, there are roughly two kinds of film cameras.

1) Highly functional user cameras. A Leica M6, a Nikon FE, a Nikon F3, a Pentax K1000 are just a few that quickly come to mind.

2) RARE antique collectibles, cameras that will still function and take photographs, but primarily are kept as investments and curios. Not used for daily photography.

I still have film cameras and I still take photos with film. As a matter of fact, I have a LOT of film cameras, as well as a lot of digital cameras.

But I think there is a tipping point with everything, and I finally think the day is here to start dumping my user film cameras.

Within a few years, film is going to dry up as a reasonably priced commodity that can be easily obtained, and commercial processing is going to rise astronomically in price, and will become a niche market only for extreme hobbyists.

Yes, I know you can still buy the material to make tintypes, and that film will be around for many more decades, but the heyday of film is now long past, the slope has become wildly slippery towards extinction.

Yes, I know college kids will want to try taking pictures will film, and that you can still get a turntable for vinyl records, but film is OVER.

The price of film cameras that are users, not rarities is going to plummet.

If you want to sell, sell now.

Get rid of the stuff. Keep a couple of film bodies if you must, but if you have a lot of money in film cameras, clean 'em out now.

This is the time to do it before they become worthless.

 

[Gumby]

Oy veh. . .

 

[I Love Film]

Oh, sure, those ordinary roll film cameras that use non-obtainable types of roll film are just climbing in value, aren't they?

Oy veh. . .

 

[RObert Budding]

I guess some folks in APUG will join also. If it is worth US$200M (hypothetically), we need 1 million shares pricing it at $200 a share. I am willing to ditch a couple of my M bodies in exchange of 10 shares. 😉

If we were a hedge fund we'd only need to raise $6 MM. Gotta love 33:1 leverage!

 

[RObert Budding]

Blarney (Bull**** if I were less polite)

Blarney (Bull**** if I were less polite)

So, now is the time to dump your film cameras.

Nonsense. You can still buy oil paints and water colors. Photography didn't wipe them off the face of the earth during the past 150 years. So film will still be available, but the market will be smaller. But, hey, I'll take that obsolete Leica off of your hands for $50 if you'll cover the PayPal fees and shipping.

 

[KM-25]

So, now is the time to dump your film cameras.

To my mind, there are roughly two kinds of film cameras.

1) Highly functional user cameras. A Leica M6, a Nikon FE, a Nikon F3, a Pentax K1000 are just a few that quickly come to mind.

2) RARE antique collectibles, cameras that will still function and take photographs, but primarily are kept as investments and curios. Not used for daily photography.

I still have film cameras and I still take photos with film. As a matter of fact, I have a LOT of film cameras, as well as a lot of digital cameras.

But I think there is a tipping point with everything, and I finally think the day is here to start dumping my user film cameras.

Within a few years, film is going to dry up as a reasonably priced commodity that can be easily obtained, and commercial processing is going to rise astronomically in price, and will become a niche market only for extreme hobbyists.

Yes, I know you can still buy the material to make tintypes, and that film will be around for many more decades, but the heyday of film is now long past, the slope has become wildly slippery towards extinction.

Yes, I know college kids will want to try taking pictures will film, and that you can still get a turntable for vinyl records, but film is OVER.

The price of film cameras that are users, not rarities is going to plummet.

If you want to sell, sell now.

Get rid of the stuff. Keep a couple of film bodies if you must, but if you have a lot of money in film cameras, clean 'em out now.

This is the time to do it before they become worthless.

Any relation to one recently banned user who's username is now "..." by chance?

Sell your cameras if you want to, but I think you will find most of the above to be way off in 5, 10, even 20 years down the road. If nothing else, Ilford knows *exactly* what they are doing and is in the black and white film game like many of us are, to stay. And why would people who have done like I have who have invested not hundreds, thousands but TENS of thousands dollars in enough film, paper and chemistry to last 20-30 years do something utterly stupid like sell perfectly good film cameras when they can make a *kiiling* in the fine art market?

Sell away bud, but watch what happens, it's not going to be what you think...if that is what you really think.

 

[Ranchu]

Digital sucks @ss, regardless.

 

[Keith]

Digital sucks @ss, regardless.

Yawn ... !

 

[cosmonaut]

Why would Ilford want it?

 

[Ranchu]

Convenient though. That's important.

 

[KM-25]

My wife just came in and asked why I was wasting my time with this when I have a great life as a photographer who simply knows better.

Besides trying to get some digital work out and get invoices done before the weekend, I said I really don't know and then I showed her this disgusting post:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1951287&postcount=5

I am so outta here, this place is truly depressing...:bang:

 

[Ranchu]

Imagine being the person who wrote that post and count your blessings!

 

[zvos1]

No need for panic yet, what we are seeing now is the RESTRUCTURING of the industry. It is capitalism after all, in order to survive film manufacturing industry has to restructure.
As long as there is a demand someone will be producing and selling film, choices might be smaller but film is not going away as long as we keep shooting it.

 

[sevo]

Within a few years, film is going to dry up as a reasonably priced commodity that can be easily obtained, and commercial processing is going to rise astronomically in price, and will become a niche market only for extreme hobbyists.

It all depends on your definition of reasonable prices. The current prices from Kodak and Fuji certainly are not - they are producing on a larger scale than the market can absorb, and have to price accordingly.

Ilford are on the lower threshold of sustainable prices - once the market has sorted out, we'll have to settle for higher prices. But then film is pretty negligible compared to the cost of prints and getting at your subject (whether by running a studio or travelling). Even at $30 a roll it would still be a small factor for serious users.

 

[thegman]

I'd say nothing lasts forever, but film has a long time left.

We have heard that the film division of Kodak was the only part making money, if that is true, or nearly true, then it's obvious this is not amount the demise of film. This is about management not being able to cope with a rapid shrinking of a market as well as Fujifilm or Ilford did.

If it is indeed true that the film division is profitable, or has the potential to be profitable, I'll look forward to seeing Kodak Film Company running as a profitable, much smaller company. The potential for a profit making film company with Kodak's know-how is immense, and they're just held back at the moment, IMHO.

 

[steveyork]

Yes.

But could we read : "If Kodak's [$4.50 per roll] B&W films do end up going away, I'll switch to Ilford [$9.50 per roll films]." ?

This is one big question.

This is the reality staring North American users in the face. Maybe Ilordf's a bit less expensive in europe.

The curent demand was never enough for 3 big companies, and maybe a a reduction in competition will reduce pricing pressures. There will always be somebody offering film. I'm frankly surprised we still have so many choices.

But its the loss of iconic films -- like tri-x -- that's also disheartening. First Kodachrome, then Plus-X, followed by Ektachrome, and now ... we'll see.

 

[Dylan Hope]

But its the loss of iconic films -- like tri-x -- that's also disheartening.

We haven't lost it yet, and no one can say for sure if it will go.