Yes, if the TMY-2 will be available in 8x10 at somewhere close to the price of $4 a sheet, I'll be good for a couple of boxes. I'm waiting to see if I got 60 sheets on an order thru a vendor that's supposed to be coming from directly from the distribution center. I'll find out in a week or two. Either way, I would be willing to cough up another $400 for a couple of 50 sheet boxes.
Jim Cole
Flagstaff, AZ
count me in for at least 2-3 50sht boxes Jim
-Dan
I do use TMY but with the purchase last week i am pretty well stocked.I'm good for 4 or 5. Aren't there 14 more LF photographers out there like me who use TMY2?
If it is a matter of a couple of boxes (50 Sheets) i will of course step in.
No disrespect to those that have expectations of 50 sheet boxes, but that is not going to happen unless we are willing to take a hit with the price of the film. IMHO it is already a premium product and I do not want to take the hit in the costs department as I assume you do not as well. While it is inconvenient, I will continue to empty the 10 sheet packets and put them in my old 50 sheet boxes. It is what it is and I feel it is about film not boxes. At least the boxes are the right size.Originally Posted by Jan Pedersen
I covered this earlier but from Kodak's perspective it is about the boxes. Kodak earlier ordered a boat load of 10 sheet boxes that were made to their specs to get the price down and that is what they are going to use until they are all gone.
It would be a shame to lose this battle not on the product itself, but how many sheets are delivered in a single packet.
Box sizes are unimportant so let me say 100 sheets or so instead of two boxes.
keep me tuned up for 50-100sheets as of right now, maybe more after the holidays, and getting some things sold. This is as long as the price is the same as when the 8x10 product # for TMY2 was discontinued.
wish I could do more, but thats my limit right now
-Dan
Thanks Jan.
I learned my lesson about sheet film boxes.
The Efke/Adox boxes are absolutely worthless relative to their light tightness unless you use the black plastic liners that come with them. The Kodak boxes are better, but still not really light tight by themselves.
I have gotten to the point where I bring ALL of my LF and ULF holders back into my darkroom exposed. At these film prices it is simply not worth the risk of unintended fogging.
I'll go in for 100 sheets.
-Paul
As I stated earlier, I just purchsed LF film for the 1st time since 2007. Not because I stopped shooting LF film, but because I had sooo much on hand I didn't need to purchase any.
Let me say those 10 sheet boxes were a godsend. When the 8x10 film arrived, my 1st response was, "where the hell am I going to put this stuff. My film freezers are full." Well, I found those little 10 sheet boxes fit in all sorts of nooks and crannies that were too small for 50 sheet 8x10 boxes. I actually found room for 45 of those little boxes. Since the order was greater than 45 boxes, I also found that I could repackage them to put 20 sheets in a box and now have room for more film in my freezers.
On another note, Canham has revised their 5x7 offer. The film will be shipped in 25 sheet boxes and priced at $75/box. Canham also is offering a 10% off coupon if you order directly through Canham vs one of their dealers. If I read it correctly, checks and coupons must be postmarked by January 21, to take advantage of this. I see a couple hundred sheets of 5x7 TMY in my future.
With 5x7 film priced at $3/sheet (or $2.70 with coupon), 8x10 film will likely be priced at $6/sheet. Hopefully, we can still get ~ $5/sheet pricing.
Happy Holidays,
Of course it's a niche market.
I suspect Kodak's problem is that their business model (and therefore production lines and equipment) is built around volume. Without the volume, they either have to retool for lower production volumes or discontinue the product. This, of course, applies to emulsions in general, not so much formats, because the film is coated in large sheets and then cut down.
In any niche market, some players drop out, leaving more for the other players even in a declining market. As the market declines, players drop out until those prepared to operate as a specialty business remain--with prices consistent with that model, of course. It's an expensive hobby.
At all steps, though, a manufacturer has to be able to sell a product for a price larger than their costs. If the market will not bear such a price, the manufacturer cannot sustain production.
Kodak may well continue to supply special orders of certain niche emulsions, because they can work in batches. They may continue to stock sizes of niche emulsions that turn over fast enough to keep them from having to eat a large portion of their production in unused inventory. Special orders solves that problem for them, too.
And maybe it is about the boxes, but I bet not so much. People would buy sheet film in envelopes, like enlarging paper, if that's what was available, especially if Kodak could put them in reusable, light-tight plastic bags the way Ilford does.
Arnold Jacobs, revered tuba player of the Chicago Symphony from the 40's to the late 80's, played a York tuba that has become legendary. But in the decade after he bought, both he and the instrument were not legendary, and nobody else wanted it. York only made two of them as prototypes. York, which was a volume manufacturer of band instruments, eventually failed, as most companies do. But copies of those original Yorks are now made by several manufacturers around the world. They are hand-made in small batches and expensive--$25,000-$30,000 is typical for an instrument Jacobs bought in 1931 for $175. As products that were sustained by a mass market lose that market, the dedicated few can sustain smaller production models at higher prices.
So, yes, we might have to get used to buying film not in yellow boxes, but I suspect large-format photography will muddle through somehow.
Rick "thinking large-format photography is working its way down to the dedicated few" Denney
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