Kodak Drops Many LF Films

[Walter Glover]

LF Forum Members

May I draw your attention to Kodak's international website (http://www.kodak.com/) and in particular two new PDF files posted just in September 2001. They are F-9 Tri-X and F-32 T-Max Films.

Under the heading 'Sizes Available' on page 1 of F-9 it states that TXT (Tri-X sheet film) is now only available in 2 sizes ? 2.25"x3.25" in packs of 25 sheets (Cat No. 143 1535) and 10"x8" in packs of 50 (Cat No. 143 1634)

On page 26 of F-32 the Sizes Available in the T-Max range are

TMX (100) ? 5"x7" in packs of 100 (Cat No. 178 3737), 11"x14" in packs of 10 (Cat No. 179 0971) & 4"x5" Readyload packs of 20 (Cat No. 113 1812)

TMY (400) ? 5"x7" in packs of 100 (Cat No. 109 6676.

I had been warned by Professional Products Manager here in Sydney that the Kodak product range was being rationalised globally but, with all due respect to 5x7, 11x14 and readyload shooters, surely this must be worthy of the award for the least rational rationalisation. If there's too little call for 4"x5" to justify manufacture and packaging then how long will 5x7 & 11x14 be available. And when the re-introduction of the Readyload Single Sheet holder (Cat No. 893 7542) falls on its face due to the premium cost of the film (AGAIN!) what will we be left with.

Either there is a serious misprint in the PDF files or we are in serious trouble. Is it time for an orderly and well organised petition to be forwarded to Rochester voicing the need for a continuation of availability of these fine products in popular LF formats? Well do I remember the disappearance of fibre-base paper with the advent of the new plastic fantastic ? we were heard then and we should be heard again NOW!

Cheers ... Walter Glover

[Sal Santamaura]

We've covered this in another thread. I suspect you'll see further revision of those documents in the near future as Kodak introduces the 50 sheet boxes of common film sizes that D.K. Thompson reported are due out this fall. The current iterations probably reflect remaining stock of old package quantities.

[kthompson]

Hmm...I don't know what that's about, other than to say (as in Cool Hand Luke: "what we have here is a failure to communicate..."). I don't work for kodak, all I know is that I have this product sheet here and it seems that the catalog numbers listed on those updates are similar to the ones that have been discontinued...sounds like a mix up to me, but's that's just my opinion.

FWIW, we get our supplies on contracts. We recently ordered a case or two of TMX 4x5, and our original contract was for the 100 sheet boxes, however that had to be scrapped & redone because now they're all 50 sheet boxes...guess what....same amount of film costs more now due to all that packaging. Ah.....so you can bemoan the loss of certain of sizes, while I silently gripe over having to lose the 100 sheet boxes.

In short, send an email or call kodak if you have questions about their products, despite the bashing they seem to get on some of these forums, I have found their customer service to be top-notch . The US number has always been 1-800-242-2424.

[kthompson]

Hey, one more thing. If I had to speculate on this, I would tend to agree with Sal in that those cat numbers & sizes may just apply to those specific film sizes. That is, they may just be dwindling stock and that's what is going to be available in the near future. This list I have says that it applies to most popular films in the US, and that you should contact Kodak for info about other sizes. 4x5 is sorta the king of sizes for most markets, if anything it's all those formats that will be taking the hits. But, once again, this is just my opinion, and I really don't think it's wise to jump to conclusions over anything, when you can just contact the company directly.

[Pete Andrews]

Welcome to the future!I thought the earlier post about coating your own film was a bit off-the-wall, but now....?

[wm mitchell]

FWIW: Just got off the phone with an EK rep. According to him 5x7 T-Max 100 will be available in 50-sheet boxes after October 30th. The cat. no. is 822 6334. Hope he's right!! BILL

[kthompson]

Just thought I'd give you all a little update & say that the 20 boxes or so we ordered just came in....TMX 4x5 has survived, but it's 50 sheet boxes now. If you're familiar with the Ektachrome boxes that size, well that's it. The expiration date on these boxes is 2004, and from what I can tell the packaging is almost exactly the same, just a smaller box. I don't know if the package change is good or bad, just depends on how much you shoot. We shot about 60 something sheets in the past day and a half, so the size change is kind of a bummer.....

[Sal Santamaura]

On October 10, 2001 Kodak posted a change to the F-32 on its Web site. Curiously, the publication is still listed as September 2001! In any case, it indicates that 50 sheet packages of 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 are the only sheet sizes (except for 20 sheet Readyloads) of TMX available. No longer any 11x14. TMY sheets show up only in 50 sheet boxes of 4x5 and 8x10.