[PRCo] Kodak slides under?

[Fred Schneider]

My first note that triggered everything that follows:
-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Schneider [mailto:fschnei at supernet.com]
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 1:21 PM
To: Ed Lybarger; Peter Johansson
Subject: Intelligence, or lack thereof

Just learned that, within the last month or two, Kodak merged their
amateur and professional photographic departments.  This allegedly
resulted in the furlough of all the brains.  The Fourth Floor at State
St., Rochester (the old Professional technical and sales group) is
apparently totally empty.

Again, the Great Yellow Father shoots self in foot.  I think he is
running out of toes.


And then Ed Lybarger's reply:

And I learned this morning from reading the Wall Street Journal that
they
have announced that they will not build projectors after next spring.

The commentary above is being shared with a large number of you
(including the Pittsburgh-Ralways mailing list) by blind carbon, so as
not to disclose everybody's e-mail address.  It simply provides
information on what is going on at Kodak so that you are aware and can
take steps that you may feel are necessary to keep from being backed
into a corner.  I've tried to select those people in my address book
whom I know still take color slides.

I can add one more thing to this to the issues discussed below:   I
provided Jack May, last fall, with a duplicate slide.    At the time I
had complained to Kodak that the color balance and sharpness was
atrocious and asked for a remake.  They sent it back with the curt
comment implying "what you see is what you get.  And don't bother us."
Today I found out why the color balance was so bad.   Kodak had (past
tense) two different Ektachrome duplicating films, one balanced for
original Ektachromes and the other balanced for original Kodachromes.
The film for duping Kodachromes had been dropped from production.
(Now, Jack, you know.)   And I would not be surprised that the other
duping film goes too.

The don't bother us is more than an implication.  Dealers can no longer
reach the laboratories that do the work.  Kodak has a central complaint
center, the better to ignore the problems.  Processing lab phone numbers
are now unlisted.

Kodak has dropped production of a whole host of specialty films.  Ed
Lybarger and I had to repatriate from England some of the last stocks of
Professional Copy Film in 4x5 sheets.   Our freezers are loaded.  But I
wouldn't suggest that for Kodachrome, when it disappears, because they
will sure as hell drop K-14 processing six months after the film
expires, if not sooner.   The Ektachrome process is similar enough to
Fuji and Agfa that they can be used interchangeably.   I didn't check
stock house catalogs, but I think they also dropped sheets of Super XX
(yes, it was still made for pro users because it was almost perfect for
making black and white internegs from color slides).  I've been told
Kodak has dropped a host of professional films.

I wouldn't worry a whole lot about Kodacolor or any other films using
the C41 process because that is about 98 percent of the film market.
And even the different contrast grade papers for printing color
negatives still have a good deal of use ... a local wholesaler here in
Lancaster has plenty in stock implying he is selling it.