My Q's for Kodak

[Angus]

Here are some questions that, were I ever to talk with Kodak, I would like answers to. Roger, perhaps if you ever get to conference with Kodak again you could ask this. I don't have the time, inclination or contacts to ask these but here they are anyway...

1) What are worldwide sales anually (in units) for each S8 filmstock?

2) How does this compare with 20 years ago?

3) Is Kodak at all willing to provide S8 carts to be filled with another manufacturer's film? EG Fuji single 8 emulsions, or Fomapan?

4) Is Kodak willing/able to manufacture sound carts and have somebody else (Witter??) post-stripe S8 film and fill the carts?


Q3 is perhaps the most important, 1&2 are merely my curiosity. The big problem for film manufacturers producing S8 is the damned cartridge, no photo company wants to tool up to produce their own carts because this would cost hundreds of thousands...but if Kodak were to agree to manufacture carts for other companies that problem would be solved immediately. We know they provide carts for the pro8 films, but they are slit and reperfed Kodak stock...would Kodak ever agree to Fuji single 8 stocks (200T for example) being loaded into their carts?

[Carlos 8mm]

3) Is Kodak at all willing to provide S8 carts to be filled with another manufacturer's film? EG Fuji single 8 emulsions, or Fomapan?

Q3 is perhaps the most important, 1&2 are merely my curiosity. The big problem for film manufacturers producing S8 is the damned cartridge, no photo company wants to tool up to produce their own carts because this would cost hundreds of thousands...but if Kodak were to agree to manufacture carts for other companies that problem would be solved immediately. We know they provide carts for the pro8 films, but they are slit and reperfed Kodak stock...would Kodak ever agree to Fuji single 8 stocks (200T for example) being loaded into their carts?

Kahl in Germany sells the same Ukrainian Kaccema reloadable cartridges (Great Soviet invent !). I guess some in Germany bought the molds and makes them.

Until 1993 Svema in Ukraine manufactures S8 film who they sells in two ways:

a) In dismissable plastic cartridges (Just like Kodak).
b) 15 ft. film rolls in cans to be loaded into reloadable cartridges.

I think this could be the solution: Someone who manufactures 50 –200 ft reloladable cartridges. As many times I said in this forum, this can resolve the BIG problem of manufacturing dismissable plastic cartridges to many Film manufacturers like Foma, Agfa, Orwo, Fuji, et-cetera.

Carlos.

[Angus]

Other companies have looked into manufacturing S8 carts, and the costs of starting from scratch are *very* prohobitive.

I believe the only company currently making S8 carts is Kodak, so the only hope for other filmstocks is if Kodak are willing to have another organisation's film in it's own carts.