Too bad, if true. I really like Polymax Fine-Art.
Too bad, if true. I really like Polymax Fine-Art.
"I just checked the stock of paper in my darkroom. There's not a single box of Kodak paper there. Oh, I have a few Kodak boxes that are being used to store Brand X papers (perhaps cut to odd sizes), but I haven't bought a box of Kodak paper in at least 10 years."
My first thought was when I had last used Kodak paper. Best I can remember it was sometime in the late 1960's. I have not talked to a single person this am that has used Kodak paper in years. Azo being the exception.
Azo would be my main concern. There is no substitute in the market.
Ah, great! I'm right in the middle of a large project that's being printed on PolyMax FineArt. I love that stuff!
I guess I need to embrace change... :-(
"..do not go gently into that good night...rage, rage against the dying of the light!"
I agree with David, Azo is the biggest loss here, there are lots of other enlarging papers. But then Michael Smith has hinted at another silver chloride paper in the works, one can only hope.
My hope is that if indeed the reign of Azo has come to a close, that Michael Smith will sell another manufacturer on the idea of producing a similar paper and that company will produce it in more than two sizes and grades. (The big reason I have not yet tried Azo is because I'd have to cut it down from 20x24 to 11x14.)
John Cook has it right I work for a paper company in Upstate New York that recently did a deal with Kodak to provide them with paper stock from Germany in a long term contract with which they will coat for their paper operations. In the process, over 200 people lost their job at the paper company as it closed operations (and I lost a client) and who knows how many were affected at Kodak Rochester. Lets now read to much negativity into this business decisions. It will actually make Kodak stronger financially.
Cheers!
well at least I am happy I got about 50 pounds of b&w paper for free yesterday including 8x10 & 11x14 azo #2&3. What about the dectol and ektaflo recommendations on the boxes, I never used them
The Owner of a local construction company---a huge company at that---keeps his rusty and dented old loaded tool box in one corner of his office. "If I ever go broke, I can always go back to work." he's fond of saying when clients ask about the tool box that really stands out with the slick "executive" decor. I believe he would, too.
A very wealthy Nisei farmer grows specialty crops on a like a gazzilion acres complete with packing sheds and a fleet of trucks, but still lives on a little ten acre truck garden farm. "If I loose the ranch because some a-- h-l- from Berkeley tells me there might be a 'roo rat or fairy shrimp on the place, I can still earn a living and feed my family." He tells me.
Both these guys have embraced(niether are simple 'country bumpkins' )technology and that (and a lot of hard work) is probably why they are so successful, and yet they've both got an 'ace in the hole'---insurance I guess you'd call it. Kodak's ace in the hole is film, paper and chemicals and the reputation for quality that spans 100 years or so. Keeping that identity is Kodak's 'ace in the hole.' When the yellow boxes and envelopes where more profitable, they could have bankrolled profitable diversified areas in which to expand, but management elected to invest in unprofitable fields. With the loss of photo paper, Kodak hasn't sold the tool box(just the hammer and screw driver) or the truck garden farm(just disc and the tractor)
Sad.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
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