[Leica] C-41 B&W

[buzz.hausner at verizon.net (buzz.hausner@verizon.net)]

Yeah, Jim, but isn't Ilford aboput to embark on the big sleep?

Buzz
> 
> From: Jim Laurel <jplaurel@nwlink.com>
> Date: 2004/10/05 Tue PM 02:56:46 EDT
> To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] C-41 B&W
> 
> I assume you guys mean to say that these films will disappear 
> altogether one day.  Personally, I'm not too concerned.  It is 
> perfectly natural that all the major players are scaling back their 
> film efforts.   But I wouldn't get too alarmed.
> 
> -- All this means is that the film market is shrinking to the point 
> where it is no longer significant or interesting for large companies.  
> At my former employer, a large software company in Redmond ;-), ideas 
> that don't have the potential to be a billion dollar business don't 
> merit consideration. 
> -- There are simply so many 35mm film cameras around that there will 
> always be a market for film in some form.
> 
> -- That market, however diminished, will be interesting to smaller 
> companies. There could be a sizable opportunity (from Ilford's and 
> Efke's perspective) in the form of increased film sales, once Kodak and 
> Fuji leave the market altogether, that could last for some time.
> 
> -- Kodak, Fuji, et al, have a lot of intellectual property tied up in 
> film technology.  Though producing it may no longer be interesting to 
> them, they would rather sell the IP to smaller firms which are 
> interested in smaller markets than let it languish until it is worth 
> nothing at all.
> 
> -- Traditional black and white films are based on simple technology and 
> can be produced by small firms.  
> -- High tech films, such as Velvia 100, may indeed disappear since the 
> level of investment needed to produce them can not be justified given 
> the smaller market for such products.  We may be looking at a day when 
> Kodak sells the IP rights to Efke to produce traditional formulations 
> of Tri-X.  Sounds great to me.
> 
> I have a friend who is a software engineer for that big software 
> company in Redmond.  He's a real tech hound, a big digital advocate, 
> and has been shooting digital for many years.  A few weeks ago, he 
> loaded some film into his old Nikon and took it on a hiking trip.  He 
> was flabbergasted.  "I had forgotten", he said, "how beautiful film 
> looks..."
> 
> --Jim
> 
> 
> On Oct 5, 2004, at 11:25 AM, Kenneth Frazier wrote:
> 
> >> XP-2, but don't get attached to it.
> >
> > Ditto, and FP-4+, and don't get attched to it, either!
> >
> > Ken Frazier