What are Kodak's true motives?

[marc]

If Kodak claims to be getting rid of the K40 in super 8 because of "low market demand", what happens when people shoot even less of the 64T because they do not care for it? Will this be their excuse to terminate the format alltogether?

[Basstruc]

64T is allready dead, mate. It sells so few in 24x36 now... Interior architectur photographers did almost all moved to Fuji S3 Pro, digital magazines or Canon 1DsMarkII.

[marc]

My point exactly. Except that there are a lot of Super 8 users that will not find this out for themselves untill they use it. If Kodak continues to degrade the quality of the image untill everbody just gives up in disgust and moves up to 16mm ( which is really what they want to get more money out of their target market) or shoot on Digital video ( which seems to be very current issue with Kodak's financial position) you will see it all go! The only other posssibility is if Kodak plans to continue their production of the Negative Super 8 because the next generation of film scanners are going to revolutionize the use of the negative stocks in Super 8 and the possibility that they might put one out for Super 8 filmmakers.

[monobath]

I'm reserving judgement on 64T until I try it in Super 8. I shoot it in 4x5 and 8x10, but grain is not an issue at those sizes. Super 8 may be a different story.

For me, the test is projection. Kodak warmed up the emulsion a bit some years ago, and they may be tweaking it some more for S8 (how else could you possibly call EPY 'super-saturated'?)

If it looks good projected, I'll use it. It's as simple as that.

[LastQuark]

Kodaks true motive is to improve their books and impress their Board of Directors that their profit-to-sales ratio is improving. Super 8 is holding this down to a small extent. It is not huge but Kodak decided to axe is anyway.

It takes their focus out of their main business. They should just have spin it off to a subsidiary or as a separate entity so it will not affect their bottom line and not be subject to shareholder pressure. They could have, but they didn't.

 

[Actor]

LastQuark hit the nail on the head. Kodak's ultimate motive is simply the survival of the company.

[John_Pytlak]

The Kodak announcement was quite clear (and truthful):

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/about ... per8.jhtml

As part of the portfolio revamp, Kodak will discontinue sales of its S8 KODACHROME 40 Movie Film. Final sales of KODACHROME Super 8 will be based on product availability over the coming months. Sales of KODACHROME 16 mm films will continue, unaffected by this announcement.

The decision to discontinue KODACHROME in Super 8 was driven entirely by marketplace dynamics.

"Because the 'home movie' market has shifted to digital, sales of KODACHROME Super 8 film have declined significantly," according to Mayson. "In tandem with that decline, the availability of processing for KODACHROME Super 8 cartridges has diminished. In other words, fewer and fewer labs worldwide have the machines and the chemistry necessary to process this film emulsion in the Super 8 format."

Kodak will give customers at least a year to process their KODACHROME Super 8 film with Kodak or seek an alternative.

Kodak remains committed to the Super 8 format, as evidenced by the new film announced today. Kodak is building on a product line that covers the needs of enthusiasts, from a choice of stocks in negative, black and white, and reversal films. Kodak's intent is to maintain the format as long as it is supported by marketplace conditions

[monobath]

Well, I just did my part to help reverse that trend, John. I ordered 50 carts of K40 today. I may order another 50. Gonna shoot as much this summer as I can.

[Paul L.]

John, we've been told for years (especially around the time when Kodachrome 40 Sound was terminated) that Kodachrome sales worldwide were healthy and improving. Is a sales downturn a recent development? If sales are the problem, why is Ektachrome 64T going to change that?

[John_Pytlak]

As noted in the announcement, much of the problem is that few labs even process KODACHROME anymore in ANY format. The E-6 process is much easier to run (it can even be done at home), and labs are more likely to equip themselves for this process in Super-8 if they see a market.

[Paul L.]

What about this statement:

"Because the 'home movie' market has shifted to digital, sales of KODACHROME Super 8 film have declined significantly,"

This is not what we were led to believe a couple years ago. Supposedly Kodachrome sales were up. Did they suddenly decline? Were are they now as compared to 2 years ago and 5 years ago?

[LastQuark]

Hi John,

Nice to see you here. I am having some problems understanding part of the announcement here:

In other words, fewer and fewer labs worldwide have the machines and the chemistry necessary to process this film emulsion in the Super 8 format."

The information we have so far indicates that even Kodak Switzerland and Dwaynes were not aware of this plan until the announcement was made. There were already few labs - 2 or 3 we can count. They already have the machines. The announcement says there are "fewer and fewer". Does that mean Dwaynes also decided to pull out of the market? It looks to me users are happy the way it is now with 2 (or 3) K40 labs. They are happy keeping it as it is and even willing to pay a higher price to keep K40 alive.

Part of the anxiety here is also about the new stock. A lot of things are not clear - the cost, the grain, 75% of the cameras not able to use it, accessibility in getting one in a nearby store particularly for loyal users in Germany, and thickness of the new stock are some examples. If only Kodak can add to the Q and A to address some of these concerns, the petition being passed around can be forestalled.

 

[John_Pytlak]

I can't speak for Dwaynes --- that is their decision to make, based on the market.

As announced, Kodak Switzerland will continue to process Super-8 K-40 for at least another year. AFAIK, that is only a relatively small part of their business.

[Evan Kubota]

"As noted in the announcement, much of the problem is that few labs even process KODACHROME anymore in ANY format."

Yet it's still going to exist for 16mm...?

Dwayne's stated in another thread that they will continue to offer K40 processing. They already have the capacity, so I don't see any reason why the number of labs is even an issue, especially when it's still offered as 16mm.

[Patrick]

I hope that Kodak can give a date as a deadline when the last K40 cartridge can be developed by Kodak Switzerland.