Over the previous couple of months issues have been altering in the case of Kodak movie. After the chapter proceedings of 2012, Kodak was cut up, with Eastman Kodak growing and manufacturing movies, whereas Kodak Alaris marketed and distributed it. Now nevertheless Eastman Kodak has began to distribute sure movie shares once more, which could possibly be thrilling for photographers, with doable worth drops and extra stability out there.
It’s a barely complicated state of affairs although, as Eastman Kodak hasn’t taken again all movie inventory. As it stands it’s now dealing with growth of all shares, along with advertising and distribution of Kodacolor 100 and Kodacolor 200, which had been each launched final 12 months, with the packaging and branding of Kodacolor, moderately than the Kodak Professional that Alaris was utilizing.
Gold 200 and Ultramax 400 have additionally had the branding replace to Kodacolor however, confusingly nevertheless Ektar, Tri-X, Portra and so on nonetheless seem to have the Kodak Professional branding, which Alaris has been promoting for over a decade. I do know, it’s arduous to maintain up!
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What does this imply for us as photographers? Well, it’s arduous to say as each Eastman and Alaris flavours of Kodak are fairly tight lipped about issues however my hope is that Eastman Kodak turns into the distributor of all shares, bringing some stability and hopefully, with fewer cogs within the machine, some worth drops.
The new Kodacolor 100
Image credit score: Jon Stapley
The new Kodacolor 200
Image credit score: Jon Stapley
Whether this may occur or not stays to be seen however Eastman Kodak is clearly being proactive, not too long ago releasing Ektar 100 and Tri-X 400.
Looking at their financial reports for the last year or so it’s clear that revenue and profit are both increasing, making the company more interesting for investors, as well as consumers.
This is very much a case of wait and see but if you, like me, are a film photography enthusiast it looks like the future might just be a little brighter. With the cost of film increasing over the last decade or so, that’s an attractive proposition and my film fridge could well be stocked to capacity again!
At the same time, the amount of film photography showing up on social media, not just in imaging but in celebrity feed is increasing. This has an inevitable knock on effect, as the influence does its job and people rush to ebay to get the gear their heroes use. Of course this could hike the price of the cameras but the expanding user base means a larger market and with that even more possibility for stability and (fingers crossed) reductions in pricing.
Film is dead, long live film!