More Kodak

[Ian Grant]

"Uwe Keller" Pro-lab consumer division, Europe

. . . all products were in constant review "We can offer no more of a guarantee that we will continue to manufacture black and white films and chemicals than any other company" he said when asked about the future of other monochrome products.

John Sexton chastises Kodak for their discontinuing papres with so little warning, leaving stocks predicted to last 3 to 6 months. He also calls on photographers to voice their concern to Kodak Directors.

Martin Reed, owner of the UK's premier specialist B&W dealer "It's handed the business straight to it's competitors, notably Ilford and Forte".

[Bob Carnie]

I wonder if a supplier some have not thought of is a possible candidate to take this market.
Fuji has introduced Acros, as well I have bought and printed with their Rembrant fibre paper (very nice by the way) .
I would not be suprized if Fuji comes into this Black and White market as a major force.
Agfa and Ilford have a golden opportunity here, but judging by past upper management decisions I rather doubt they will capitalize.

[Ian Grant]

Unlikely Fuji would manufacture B&W materials themselves, their Acros films are made by Ilford, probably same for the paper. However this means work for Ilford, and sense for Fuji to outsourch in a shrinking market place.

Fuji were the only company to forecast the changing market place with any accuracy, and it's interesting that they are the only company not needing to restructure, or relocate manufacture. Sure they've ceased producing some highly specialist roll film camera but these weren't volume manufacture and there are alternatives still available elsewhere.

[Kirk Keyes]

Originally Posted by Ian Grant

their Acros films are made by Ilford,

And where can I read more about this claim?

[BradS]

Originally Posted by Ian Grant

John Sexton chastises Kodak for their discontinuing papres with so little warning, leaving stocks predicted to last 3 to 6 months. He also calls on photographers to voice their concern to Kodak Directors.

He's got to be kidding...unless you happen to hold a few million shares of big yellow stock, the directors' and the executive management's interest in your (our, customers') opinion of business decisions is probably less than their collective interest in a rain drop that evaporated from one of their parking lots...

[Ian Grant]

Originally Posted by Kirk Keyes

And where can I read more about this claim?

By going back through various press releases, reading industry publications etc. You WILL also find information by searching the internet carefully. It's not a trade secret that Ilford and Fuji collaborate on some products. Start searching back issues of the British Journal of Photography, it's weekly !

However most of the press releases (I've seen) were in UK trade publications it's unlikely they were sent to the US as the products were not due to be sold in that market place, where they would have been competing with Ilford's own films.

BTW Ilford and Fuji only released facts not claims :-)

Originally Ilford manufactured Neopan B&W films were only available in the Japanese & Far East market, then Neopan 400 was released elsewhere followed years later by Neopan Acros.

Neopan 400 CN is a Fuji version of XP-2, made here in the UK.

Here's a link
http://www.apug.org/forums/archive/i...hp/t-8686.html

Ian

[eric]

He also calls on photographers to voice their concern to Kodak Directors.

.

Oh yah, that'll get them shaking in their Florsheims. I don't think they would give a darn about out type of consumers. Our demographic profile are not in the cash cow corner.

Its like calling our car companies and telling them to put more gas mileage in our cars

[RAP]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050620/phm005.html?.v=15

Kodak giving its High margin analog business in favor of the highly competitive, low margin digital cameras.

[Flotsam]

Maybe they will bring brilliant new innovations into the digital world like they did with the Disc format or their 126 SLR. Or perhaps capture the market as they did with their Polariod killing foray into instant imaging.

[ajuk]

Is it just rebranded Delta 100 fuji sell?