whole plate color film from Kodak

[Alex Wei]

Went to the PDN show on Sat. After browsed through a ton of digital stuff, I saw a big camera at Kodak booth and there was a bigger man besides it, Mr.Keith Canham

We talked a little bit about his camera and naturally the topic moved to film. I asked him if I can get any Kodak Portra 400 film in whole plate format (as you all know he is the one who is corresponding with Kodak for ULF film order) and to my delight he said it can be done.

So here is your chance, whole plate shooters, to get some latest color films (Portra 400) from Kodak in that size other then cut from 8X10 by yourself. According to Keith, the minimum order should be around 70 boxes with 25 sheets per box. The price is unknown for now. Once we can meet the number of boxes required, He will give us the price.

I will put down for 2 boxes for now, let's see if we have enough interest to make it happen.

Alex W.

[Scott Davis]

Price dependent, I could be in for four to six boxes.

[Richard K.]

Same here.

[Richard K.]

Bump. But it doesn't look too promising! Back to cutting down 8x10...

[Oren Grad]

If you look at the listing on Canham's website and do some arithmetic, you'll see that special cut Portra 400NC is consistently priced at approximately $0.18 per square inch of film. That would correspond to a price of just under $250 per box of 25 in WP.

If you look at it differently - take the $15K figure that's been mentioned as Kodak's approximate minimum for a special run and divide it by the 70 boxes estimated by Keith Canham - it comes out to about $215 per box.

So somewhere in the range of those two numbers seems likely for the price.

For comparison, 10 sheet boxes of 400NC are now $100 at B&H, or the equivalent of $250 for 25 sheets.

[Alex Wei]

Thanks Oren for figuring out the price range for the film.

Looks like there is not enough interests, cutting down always works

[Jim Becia]

Having tried to get an order of 8x10 E100VS together, I know the frustration in not getting enough interest. I wonder why Kodak doesn't do a special run of (let's say8x10 E100vs film by contacting all the film sellers (Badger, B&H, Glaziers, etc) and saying, we will take orders on 8x10 E100vs through some date in the future. One of the problems with trying to do it through the LF board or a Keith Canham is that there must be quite a few people that just don't see this info. Isn't that what Ilford does with their special orders or is that done through just one company? Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but there must be a better way. Just thinking out loud. Jim

[mhanc]

Jim - I was in on the e100vs order as well and was disappointed it did not work out.

Several weeks ago I have inquired about Kodak special order LF film through the Canham Cameras website and to date have heard nothing back. Perhaps understandable... perhaps not.

So, thinking out loud myself...

IMO, if Kodak wants to serve this market then they need to do the special order accumulation themselves.

I would imagine that it would be quite easy for Kodak to directly take orders via website from dealers and individuals and then manufacture when the amount meets their criteria. I think this would actually increase demand and the amount of Kodak LF film that gets manufactured -- how may special orders have really gotten done using the current "system" of internet forums and small dealers?

By way of example, Ilford has been able to successfully run a special order LF business by owning the order accumulation process. Although it happens only once per year, customers have clarity and certainty about their orders -- as does Ilford!!

Maybe this business is too small for Kodak to care about. After all, would anyone serious about running a film business really outsource their marketing, sales and distribution to a very small company [not primarily engaged in film sales] and then sit back and wait for the orders to roll in?