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View Full Version : Kodak announces discontinuation of some chemicals



William McEwen
27-Nov-2009, 08:57
(Forgive me if this has been posted before.)

Kodak is no longer manufacturing some of its E-6 and black and white chemicals. Some of the discontinuation is only of certain package sizes; other products (like Microdol-X) are going away completely.

Here is a link to Kodak's two-page chart:
http://www.dr5.com/B_W%20and%20E_6%20Chemical%20Discontinuances%20PCN110209_AO.pdf

A warning -- the document is marked "For Direct Dealer Use Only." I won't tell anyone if you won't.

Mark Sawyer
27-Nov-2009, 10:03
Yow.

Thanks for posting. It won't hit me, at least this time around, but I can see some people being unhappy about it...

bob carnie
27-Nov-2009, 10:15
This is a big one as far as I am concerned..
We have been replacing to mix our own for the last couple of years,
We have switched to Harmon where we can , now we have to intensify the switch.

Harmon just announced a new photographic paper *wet* that I can use in my Lambda. It is a warmtone version of the only paper I can use with my digital printer.
Best news I have had this year.
Waiting for beta samples to test.. I love Ilford Warmtone.

ic-racer
27-Nov-2009, 10:25
Kodak has not been doing anything to get my business. I guess they want me to use Ilford :)

Paul Kierstead
27-Nov-2009, 10:36
Have you people even looked at the list? The huge majority is just a removal of some sizes, very likely unpopular sizes. Kodak has an insanely broad variety of sizes and varieties of chems and trimming the line is a sensible thing to do. It'll still be a lot broader then most other manufacturers.

bob carnie
27-Nov-2009, 11:04
Paul

In the Black and White section, a lot of what is being discontinued is what I use on a daily basis.
so I am still concerned

Renato Tonelli
27-Nov-2009, 11:04
I do use Microdol-X from time to time; I may have to look into alternatives when my (ample) supply runs out. If Im not mistaken, Ilford's Perceptol is similar to Microdol-X.

William McEwen
27-Nov-2009, 11:14
Have you people even looked at the list? The huge majority is just a removal of some sizes, very likely unpopular sizes. Kodak has an insanely broad variety of sizes and varieties of chems and trimming the line is a sensible thing to do. It'll still be a lot broader than most other manufacturers.

Absolutely. Most of everything is still there; only less popular package sizes are going away. Nothing, absolutely nothing that I use is gone.

The left side of the chart shows what is going away. The right side has a suggested alternative that is NOT going away.

Eric Brody
27-Nov-2009, 18:31
Like some others, I initially misread the list, not realizing that those on the right side are alternatives. Personally, since all I do in the darkroom now is develop film, there are no items whose discontinuation will affect me. All I use is these days are Xtol, stop and fixer, all of which are available. None of the E-6 chemistry is really gone, just size changes. Who makes 10 gallons of D-76 anyway? I've never wanted to make 50 L of Xtol. Those who use sepia toner, microdol-x and selectol-soft seem to be out of luck, but I assume these products are low volume and are no longer in sufficient demand.

The announcement could have been worded better but, I'm not a "direct dealer."

ic-racer
27-Nov-2009, 19:08
Have you people even looked at the list? The huge majority is just a removal of some sizes, very likely unpopular sizes. Kodak has an insanely broad variety of sizes and varieties of chems and trimming the line is a sensible thing to do. It'll still be a lot broader then most other manufacturers.

That is what I thought at first (then deleted my post) but on careful look, there is stuff on that list with no substitute. In fact, on the way home from work I remembered seeing a gallon of Glacial Acetic acid at the local shop. I stopped and bought it because that is on the list and two years ago I could not find any company that packages Glacial Acetic acid for consumer sales locally besides Kodak.

eddie
27-Nov-2009, 19:49
a gallon of Glacial Acetic acid at the local shop. I stopped and bought it because .....

me too. that is about he only stuff on the list i needed. all else i do not use or can make up myself. my local shop has 3 gallons left and several more at the warehouse. i am looking into how many they have. i ma sure 2 (and the half i have) gallons will last me a lifetime.....

BUT photo. formulary and bostick and sullivan still carry it. and ship it..... i believe.

e

neil poulsen
27-Nov-2009, 20:11
As opposed to Glacial Acetic Acid, one can always use Citric Acid for a stop. Doesn't have the odor of GAA, and it's not as caustic.

jp
27-Nov-2009, 20:45
I haven't been able to mail-order Glacial Acetic Acid anyways, so it's discontinuance is no big deal. It's also something with a variety of substitutes from different companies and changing will have no affect on my photos at all.

Some of the products I do use are affected, but not in the sizes I use, so no big deal. Lets hope this repackaging makes their business more efficient and worthwhile.

Gene McCluney
27-Nov-2009, 21:00
I think you can get smaller quantites of Glacial Acetic Acid from vendors such as Photographers Formulary.

William McEwen
28-Nov-2009, 09:21
I think you can get smaller quantites of Glacial Acetic Acid from vendors such as Photographers Formulary.

Yes, I get mine from them.

venchka
28-Nov-2009, 19:32
One more time.........

5 liter bags of Xtol have NOT been discontinued.

eddie
28-Nov-2009, 19:36
As opposed to Glacial Acetic Acid, one can always use Citric for a stop. Doesn't have the odor of GAA, and it's not as caustic.

good point. iu se the GAA for my wet plate collodion developer. i am sure i could use some other similar product but WP is so finicky that i try not to introduce any extra variables......i figure my supply will last some time.

eddie

John Kasaian
29-Nov-2009, 08:23
Very strange! It would seem that discontinuing Indicator Stop bathin the 1 gal, and Hypo Clear in the 1.25 gallon quantities would diss the hobby-consumer (such as I) since the 8 gallons of Indicator Stop and 5 gallons of hypoclear quantities which are being kept would be a ridiculous amount of chemicals for me to mix and keep on hand.
OTOH it would seem as through discontinuing the 10 gallon quantity of D-76 would diss the school/pro lab markets.

Fortunately for me, Stop and Hypo Clear are easy to find substitutes for (though I'll admit missing the happy Kodak yellow and red packaging,) but the logic of why some available quantities of B&W chemicals will be substantially larger and others substantially smaller escapes me.

Which markets does Kodak see it's self catering to?

Jack Dahlgren
29-Nov-2009, 10:15
Very strange! ...

...the logic of why some available quantities of B&W chemicals will be substantially larger and others substantially smaller escapes me.

Which markets does Kodak see it's self catering to?

Kodak probably knows which quantities sell best and which ones are most profitable for them. I'd be amazed if they didn't, and I'd not be amazed if the results are not exactly what one would predict using "logic".

I don't think Kodak is trying to "diss" any customer. They are just trying to remain profitable and remain standing... That benefits everyone.

tgtaylor
29-Nov-2009, 11:15
Interestingly I just bought the Kodak Direct Positive Kit and 10 rolls of T-Max to try it out. I had shot some 6x7 Scala in the past and really enjoyed B&W projected on a large screen in a dark room. Looks like I'll have to stock-up on the Kodak kit or find the formula's to make it myself.

Drew Wiley
29-Nov-2009, 17:27
Well, I just picked up another gallon of glacial acetic acid. I don't generally use much
until I potentially get a break to print dye transfer - then you need a lot of it. Even though this is a common industrial chemical, it's more expensive if you to pay hazmat to ship it. The Kodak packaging and distribution is (was) convenient.

Ed Pierce
29-Nov-2009, 18:43
Digitaltruth will ship glacial acetic acid.

William McEwen
30-Nov-2009, 16:25
I get mine from Photographer's Formulary. I haven't heard of Digitaltruth -- I'll check them out.