Downloaded the following press release from the Kodak website. Thought those of you still preferring to go with the Great Yellow One would be interested: Kodak will significantly increase production of sheet film in a variety of size s, company spokesman Buddy Herschel announced today. The move will include intr oduction of color negative and transparency film in sizes previously unavailable , as well as a marked increase in the selection of black and white emulsions for large format users. ?This decision was driven purely by economics,? Herschel a nnounced: ?Kodak sees sheet film as a major growth area for us over the next fi ve years, as an increasing number of hobbyists and advanced amateurs are turning to the use of large format cameras. ? Specifically, Kodak will re-introduce its popular TMAX 100 and TMAX 400 emulsio ns in the 5X7 format, as well as its Portra line of color negative films. Re-in troduction of a variety of transparency films in 5X7 is also under consideration . Tri-X and TMAX 100 will now be available with no minimum order in 11X14, 12X2 0, 20X24, 14X17, 7X17, 8X20, full-plate, half-plate and quarter-plate. Mammoth plate sheets will be available with a minimum order of three boxes of 25 sheets in Tri-X only. In a related move, Herschel also announced that Kodak would steeply reduce its production of 35 mm film stock: ?We simply do not see this as an area of contin ued profitability for the company. However, in an effort to accommodate our sma ll camera customers, a limited selection of our more popular emulsions will rema in available as ?Trim ?n? Shoot? kits.? The Trim ?n? Shoot kits, to be availabl e in Tri-X and Portra emulsions only, consist of a sheet of 12X20 film supplied with a pair of yellow scissors and a ?Film Guide? measuring 24 X 36 mm. ?We tho ught this compromise move made sense both for our customers and for the company. The 12X20 format is projected to be our biggest growth area in the next few ye ars,? explained Herschel. Minimum order size for the Trim ?n? Shoot kits will b e 700 units. Herschel further suggested that Kodak is strongly considering the re-introducti on of machine-coated Platinum and Palladium papers, discontinued by the company in 1914. ?Alternative process is another area where we see tremendous growth po tential. It?s really very exciting,? he noted. For those of you interested in following the link yourselves, they have a compl ete list of the new emulsions to be introduced at http://www.kodak.com/April/Foo l?s/lfusersneedtolightenupalready. Enjoy!
Nathan Congdon
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