Agfa-photo bankrupt

[dschneller]

Filing for Creditor Protection is far from closing up shop. Take heart, Ilford re-emerged out of the process. Personally I have worked for a company that has been through CCAA, although CCAA may be different from what Agfa will face, and it certainly is one way to shed a substantial amount of debt.

Dave

[JHannon]

I can see Morten and Tony (TPPhotog) in a shopping cart battle over the last bottle of Rodinal.

At least Photographers' Formulary is making Rodinal kits so the developer won't be going anywhere. If this does happen, I will miss the APX 100 (120) like the 4X5 version. Reasonable price and I liked the look with Rodinal.


Regards,
John

[Flotsam]

Well, You can't say that I didn't warn you.

I wrote this in a thread that I started a couple of weeks ago asking for opinions on Agfa MC 111 :

Thanks to all for the excellent input. I'll definitely try a box based on what I have read here.

Of course you realize that if I decide that I like it and start to use it exclusively, it will inevitably be quickly discontinued and pulled from the market.

[Bob Carnie]

I agree with dave schneller
this will take time and they will still be selling paper and chemicals in the future.
I met one of the Vice Presidents of Agfa product division , about 7 years ago and was amazed to find out he did not know what a Platinum print was. I am supprised it took so long for Agfa to be hurting.

[Thilo Schmid]

No idea what the laws are like in Germany, but in the USA there's a difference between Chapter 7 bankrupcy, which means the end of the company, and Chapter 11, which may be rescue.

There are no differnt types of bankrupty in Germany. There are only different procedures for natural and legal persons. After the court has determined Insolvency, the primary issue is to protect outstanding trade depts. It is unlikely that the business continues, if no additional investor appears. It is a rare case that a company in this order of magnitude recovers from Insolvency. It is more likely that a rescue company is founded in which the immaterial assets (Trademarks, Patents, etc.) continue to live somehow. Sad, but it seems that Agfa-Gevaert has made the right descision to sell the film and paper business last year.

[mcgrattan]

I gather that the Calbe/Adox products are the same formulae as the Agfa stuff.

So R09 = Rodinal (in a slightly different concentration) and A49/ATM49 = Atomal.

I've had very nice results with the A49.

Retrophotographic in the UK do them:

http://www.retrophotographic.com/shop/38/

As far as I know Calbe was once the former East German wing of Agfa/Orwo.

Their homepage is here:

http://www.calbe-fotochemie.com/e-pr...roducts-bw.asp

[Donald Qualls]

From *way* back up the thread -- if you stock up on Rodinal, dont' freeze it, just leave it on the shelf. It'll last decades in the sealed bottle. Heck, it'll last decades in a partially full, opened bottle.

[gareth harper]

Ilford may have come out of the other end of the insolvency process, but only just. I'd reckon Ilford is fine for just now, but in the long term they are still fighting to survive.

Once more it must have been a nightmare for the employees, many have lost their jobs, and I don't know what it means for their compnay pension etc.

I think at the end of the day, as traditional photographers we are going to have to get used to less choice as far as materials go. At some point though the decline in film and more importantly b&w film and paper sales should bottom out. I would have thought we were pretty much at that point by now.

The other thing is we have to get younger snappers interested in film based photography.

I do hope that Afga pulls through this process, both for the employees, and from a personal view point in that I'm rather excited by my second attempt at APX100 in rodinal. What a combination. Why did I not use this before?

[Ole]

I think this is my fault, guys. I bought my first bottle of Rodinal last weekend, and was planning on opening it tomorrow to try out

We'll split the blame - so did I!

And this morning (before I got the news) I ordered several packs of APX100 in 6.5x9cm and 13x18cm...

Come to think of it, it must all be my fault

[modafoto]

I can see Morten and Tony (TPPhotog) in a shopping cart battle over the last bottle of Rodinal.

I am training my shopping cart skills already!