"Kodak Bankruptcy: Photographers Mourn"
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 5:54 pm
It was inevitable, I suppose, and it's not necessarily terrible news, but Kodak isn't doing too well (again):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/art ... _blog.html
"According to a Wall Street Journal report, Kodak, the 131-year-old photography company, is preparing for a Chapter 11 filing. If the company cannot sell its cache of 1,100 digital-imaging patents — which could fetch from $2 million to $3 billion —Kodak will go bankrupt.
...
The company was felled by the adaptation of digital photography, despite having invented the first digital camera in 1975. Rather than staying on top of the digital revolution, the company seemed mired in nostalgia, better known for its old “brownie” cameras, the quality of its now-defunct Kodachrome film and for the phrase “Kodak Moment,” which entered the lexicon as a description of a photo-worthy scene."
The report is notable for not actually having and quotes from photographers, mourning (there's a representative from a "brand strategy and marketing company", e.g. one man with a website).
It's doubly sad for me, because I recently bought a Yashica Mat 124 TLR and a bunch of Kodak Ektar to go with it - there's still a certain fetishistic appeal to medium format film. Opening up the box, tearing open the silver foil, loading the film, sticking down the tab at the end etc. And taking pictures, of course. I wonder if people will start panic-buying Ektachrome etc?
The irony is that in lieu of a proper lightmeter I was using a Fuji S3 as a kind of Polaroid preview back, so really I should have bought some Fujifilm instead.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/art ... _blog.html
"According to a Wall Street Journal report, Kodak, the 131-year-old photography company, is preparing for a Chapter 11 filing. If the company cannot sell its cache of 1,100 digital-imaging patents — which could fetch from $2 million to $3 billion —Kodak will go bankrupt.
...
The company was felled by the adaptation of digital photography, despite having invented the first digital camera in 1975. Rather than staying on top of the digital revolution, the company seemed mired in nostalgia, better known for its old “brownie” cameras, the quality of its now-defunct Kodachrome film and for the phrase “Kodak Moment,” which entered the lexicon as a description of a photo-worthy scene."
The report is notable for not actually having and quotes from photographers, mourning (there's a representative from a "brand strategy and marketing company", e.g. one man with a website).
It's doubly sad for me, because I recently bought a Yashica Mat 124 TLR and a bunch of Kodak Ektar to go with it - there's still a certain fetishistic appeal to medium format film. Opening up the box, tearing open the silver foil, loading the film, sticking down the tab at the end etc. And taking pictures, of course. I wonder if people will start panic-buying Ektachrome etc?
The irony is that in lieu of a proper lightmeter I was using a Fuji S3 as a kind of Polaroid preview back, so really I should have bought some Fujifilm instead.