Kodak Supports Film Photography

Do you love great B&W photography? Go to www.bwphotopro.com

Kodak Supports Film Photography 

Film is not dead.

Kodak introduced a new B&W film in 2007, and more recently made a (somewhat controversial) commitment to keeping a wide variety of large format and ultra-large-format films available. And while their outreach to and support for film photographers isn’t what it used to be, Kodak is still promoting and supporting the work of film shooters. We caught up with the man in charge of Kodak’s B&W films and film photographer support. Read the story below:

“People need ways to differentiate themselves as... photographers, and shooting film and moving up to medium format and large-format are great ways to set yourself apart from the digital crowd.” -- Scott DiSabato

Scott DiSabato, Kodak’s Marketing Manager for Professional Film

When we came across Michael Crouser’s terrific work we were surprised to learn that Kodak is still actively supporting film-based B&W photographers like Crouser.

We’d wrongly assumed that any sort of support for film shooters – especially for B&W film shooters -- was a thing of the long-ago past.

So we looked into it, and spoke at length with Scott DiSabato, Kodak’s Marketing Manager for Professional Film.

(Surprised there is still such a position? So were we, but he also works with labs that print digitally to Kodak’s photo paper, a business he says, “hasn’t suffered from the digital photographer revolution.”)

FILM IS STRONG

There is indeed good news for B&W film shooters, DiSabato says. 

“In the past two years B&W film has emerged as largest part of the professional film portfolio, due to two things – a lot of color is of course, digital – but at same time we’ve seen relative strength in B&W film, from documentary work, photo education and fine art photographers. Silver gelatin just lends itself to the creation of art and documentary work. It is a fitting and suitable format for permanence, an artistically beautiful approach. B&W film opens up new areas of artistic expression and interpretation.”

DiSabato is optimistic about B&W in particular. “The sustainability of B&W film looks great; everyone’s had exposure to digital and would have gone that way if that’s the way that photography was calling to them.”  Plus, it doesn’t hurt that B&W film can be easily processed by photographers, independently of a professional lab, he notes.  

Even Kodak’s controversial decision to make many films above 4x5” in size into special-order-only products, produced only when sufficient hard orders have been accumulated, is good news, he asserts (read more about this, below).

How is that good news? It’s simple: “These large and ultra-large format films are still available, and we're now selling formats that haven't been produced for many years,” DiSabato says. Specifically, DiSabato says these sizes are now all available for special orders via Canham: 11x14, 20x24, 7x17, 12x20, 14x17, 5x7, 8x10, 16x20, 8x20.

NEW FILMS

There is also, “a credible indication that marketplace has rallied around Kodak’s’ vision of film in the digital age,” DiSabato says. The company has made substantial investments in the past 4-5 years in four brand-new photo pro emulsions, both B&W and color.

Most importantly for B&W shooters, in late 2007 Kodak introduced a new B&W film, T-Max 400, which DiSabato says looks more like a slower 200 ISO product. “T-Max 400’s grain structure is like that of a 200 speed T-Max (had such a film debuted in 1986), but at 400 ISO it has twice the speed and amazing latitude.”

Following the introduction of the new T-Max 400, USA B&W film sales overall increased the following year. He notes that prior to that it has been many years since that had happened. “We’ve adapted new technology into our products and made them more relevant; you get rewarded for that.”

The new T-Max is a major B&W film, he notes, “the finest grain 400 speed silver-based B&W film out there.” 

“We didn’t mess to much with the tonality. People enjoy the straight-line mid tones for contact printing. Many who tried original T-Max, and didn’t like it, love the new T-Max 400.” 

(T-Max films were introduced in 1986 and were among very first films to use tabular T-Grain, a new technology at the time. He explains: T-Max 400 incorporates a more modern, more efficient T-Grain that improves the grain-to-speed ratio considerably. “Our emulsions also transmit light more efficiently, allowing more light to penetrate deeper into the film, resulting in finer grain at a given speed.”) 

DiSabato notes that they have not messed with the holy grail of Tri-X. “We’ve kept the Tri-X classic formulation and left that alone, because that’s just special.”

Kodak invests hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, in each of these new products, and he is confident that time will prove these investments to be wise. 

“We’ve done a good job of controlling costs, and, this many years into what many thought would be the end of film, we’re still bringing out new films.”

Kodak’s continuing strength in the motion picture film business trickles down to help stills shooters. “Our motion picture cousins have a more active R&D program and a bigger business than what we have. All that technology and raw science they’re engineering is applicable to what we do in stills.”

OUTREACH TO FILM PHOTOGRAPHERS

DiSabato acknowledges that there is a, “huge difference in the amount of outreach and photographer support in marketplace versus 10 years ago. We had to get all of our costs under control to be able to continue to provide this significant portfolio of films.”

Aside from supporting B&W photographers like Crouser (mainly by supplying film and other key products), Kodak continues to sponsor many other individual photographers as well as John Sexton’s workshops, the Woodstock Center and the PDN 30, the magazine’s special focus on young photographers, “many of whom are B&W oriented.” 

Specifically, Kodak has recently supported to work of the following B&W-centric photographers: Roman Loranc, Pari Dukovic, UK photographer Jocelyn Bain Hogg, Graeme Mitchell, Cole Barash, Amy Postle, Andy Spyra, Ryan Pyle and many others.

That said, there is not a lot of outright money to support B&W film photographers, so Kodak supports them with film. “There is limited funding – we review a lot of proposals – so if we can provide film we’ll do that if there is a fit, and also feature them on a podcast, blogs, social media. We’ll also feature images on our pro web site and include them in trade show panel discussions. We’ve even put their B&W images on Times Sq. Marriott Marquee.”

The bottom line however, is that Kodak still makes B&W film, in all the usual sizes and in some very special large sizes too. “The most important thing we can do is continue to offer our portfolio – of course we’ve taken a hit on the universe of film photographers out there to work with, and it doesn’t make me real happy, but we’re doing great job with resources we have.”

While Kodak still makes large format and ultra-large-format films, most of them are no longer regularly-stocked items, but have for the most part become special-order products only.

The trade off of regularly producing slow-moving large format and ultra-large-format films for the flexibility of running off these special formats and emulsions when we have sufficient demand is also good news, DiSabato says, as it keeps these niche films available.

KEEPING LARGE FORMAT FILM AVAILABLE, VIA CANHAM

In an unusual move, US-based K. B. Canham Cameras has become Kodak’s Ultra-Large Format Master Film Distributor. 

It works like this:  Canham takes orders for film via their Web site and when about $15,000 worth of hard orders are obtained for a particular size, Kodak manufactures and ships the film.

Under this new arrangement, “As long as we continue to make and support a particular emulsion, we will manufacture large format and ultra-large-format film sizes when we accumulate hard orders totaling around $15,000,” DiSabato explains.

After questions about his cameras, the availability of big film is the second question view camera-maker Keith Canham gets in selling his highly regarded cameras (sizes 4x5” to 12x20”), DiSabato says. 

To help provide a simple, clear answer to the question, “Can I get film for this big camera?” Canham volunteered to become the venue for collecting the $15,000 in hard worldwide orders Kodak had determined they needed to actually produce these special films. (See the Kodak film order page on Canham’s web site, here: http://www.canhamcameras.com/kodakfilm.html )

This was announced at the last Photokina. “It was kind of a relief – as this keeps the large and ultra-large format portfolio vibrant,” he says.

He explains the program’s common-sense motivation:  

“We’ve seen a trend in recent years of large format film being hard to find by photographers, yet we had warehouses full of stocked inventory. I believe that if a dealer orders a case of sheet film and ends up discarding or discounting the film due to passing the expiration date, they will never again order the product. This sets up the scenario where a photographer wants and needs a box, and Kodak has the film stocked; yet the supply and demand have trouble joining up. Kodak then has a situation where our inventory starts aging, and the slow inventory begins to draw negative attention. 

“This is frustrating, to say the least. Our solution has been to move from a stocking strategy to a make-to-order approach. Dealers, distributors and photographers can all purchase directly from Canham Cameras, and he will ship across the world.

“For most part we have regular production in 4x5 and some films in 8x10. We no longer stock T-Max 100 (TMX) and T-Max 400 (TMY) in 8x10 ...however we maintain the 4x5 catalog numbers. Quite recently Canham received over 200 boxes of T-Max 100 in 8x10, and I believe that Keith is currently collecting requests for T-Max 400 in 8x10. The system is working, but everyone needs to be clear on one key point: that ‘not stocked’ does not translate into not being available.

“Our commitment to film and B&W is shown through actions, like investing in film and developing new products and managing the portfolio in a way that may not initially make sense to people, but which ultimately ensures that the entire portfolio stays healthy. We’re working to keep the whole thing healthy; it is like pruning in agriculture, almost.”

B&W IS STRONG

“Looking at the pool of existing photographers using our B&W products – right beside them are also these younger teenagers and people in their 20s -30s whose primary or only photo experience was digital. But they have a friend who is into film, or they take a course and get exposed to analog materials – and they have that magic moment seeing a B&W print emerge in the darkroom for first time. That experience continues to have magic and to really draw people in with its organic authenticity. People are discovering film for first time, and that pool will be replenished and refreshed and possibly even grow.”

We mentioned to DiSabato that the film-and-B&W-centric Freestyle catalog gets bigger, livelier and more interesting with each new issue, so clearly there is great interest in – and seemingly money to be made in selling -- traditional B&W materials. DiSabato enthused, “When I read that catalog I want to take pictures! It emphasizes basic stuff  - digital and film in many ways have stopped competing, it is about the difference that give each category its strength; film, with its realism, simplicity and happy mistakes, from creative standpoint, contrasted with the immediately available sterile, predictable prefect digital image.”

“In recent years at trade shows, and when I’m out with customers, people seek me out and say, ‘I love film!’ That’s great, but of course for years we saw the numbers erode, but now in some markets the numbers appear to be leveling off in a sustainable fashion.”

DiSabato has been especially encouraged by strength in U.S. large and medium-format B&W film sales. “People need ways to differentiate themselves as pro photographers, and shooting film and moving up to medium format and large-format are great ways to set yourself apart from the digital crowd,” he enthuses.  

--ends--