Submitted by Double Negative on January 6, 2015 - 11:09am
The Financial Times is sharing a video of "Film didn't die with Kodak's Chapter 11" saying, "Kodak's Chapter 11 filing in 2012 was believed to spell the death of film photography. Only a few manufacturers now make film and much less of it, but celluloid appears to be making a comeback. The FT's Steve Ager investigates the resurgent interest in analogue."
Submitted by Double Negative on August 21, 2014 - 6:42am
Kodak has discontinued BW400CN film effective August 14, 2014. Billed as "The world's finest-grained chromogenic film" it used the C-41 processing for black and white photography. If you're a fan, you can still find some BW400CN film at B&H, Adorama and Amazon. Read more below for details - and an update from Ilford!
Submitted by Double Negative on January 14, 2013 - 3:31pm
You may recall back in 2009, Kodak announced that production of Kodachrome would be ending. Photographer Steve McCurry asked if they would give him the last roll, and not surprisingly - Kodak said yes. A crew from National Geographic decided to follow him and document the last 36 frames that would ever be shot on Kodachrome - and here is the result. Read more below for an update.
Submitted by Double Negative on January 14, 2013 - 1:03am
On Friday a judge approved the sale of 1,100 Kodak patents to a consortium led by Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The patent portfolio sold for US$525 million, well below Kodak's hope to get up to $2 billion for the patents. The once all-powerful photography company Kodak is going through bankruptcy in part due to the decimation of its film business with the advent of mass consumer digital photography over a decade ago. The company made the jump to digital too late and could not keep up with other competitors who quickly became leaders in the field.
The patents in the portfolio sold off on Friday are "for imaging technology used in digital cameras, smartphones and tablet computers," according to The Wall Street Journal. Besides Apple, Google, and Microsoft, other members of the consortium who bought the patents are Adobe, RIM, Samsung, HTC, Fujifilm, Facebook, Amazon, and Shutterfly.
Submitted by Double Negative on August 24, 2012 - 12:03pm
You knew it was coming - but now it's happening. Kodak is selling their film business which includes its "traditional photographic paper and still camera film products." The unit also includes its retail division, which encompasses tens of thousands of photo-printing labs and kiosks, as well as its "event imaging" division, which provides souvenir photos at theme parks and other venues. In addition, the company is selling its document scanning business.
Submitted by Double Negative on November 8, 2011 - 7:07am
Perhaps not surprising, but it does send a slight shiver down our spine. Reuters reports that Kodak has sold its Image Sensor Solutions business to Platinum Equity in a bid to strengthen its financial position. The company, which has struggled to manage the shift in the consumer photographic market from film to digital, also recently revealed that it may have to raise cash by the sale of more than 1100 patents to survive the coming year. Image Sensor Solutions provides sensors for the Leica M9 and S2 and a number of medium format backs, as well as a wide range of specialist imaging applications. Here's the press release: