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Kodak

How Fujifilm survived while Kodak didn’t

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Kodak may still be around today, but it’s a shell of its former self. Founded in 1892, it was once the biggest name in the photography industry. These days, though, it’s mostly propped up by the Hollywood film industry and licensing its name to random products (not always for the better). Popping up slightly later, in 1934, Fujifilm came onto the scene.

While it might not be quite as old as Kodak, both survived similar upheavals in the industry and the onslaught of digital. How did Fujifilm survive when Kodak didn’t? Well, in simple terms, Fujifilm adapted with the times. Kodak, not so much. But here’s Asianometry with an interesting 25-minute documentary that explains it in more detail.

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This is how Kodak film gets from the factory to camera store shelves

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It’s been a while since we last saw an update on Destin Sandlin’s visit to the Kodak factory in Rochester, New York. Part One was posted way back in March of last year. It looked into how Kodak produces the actual film onto which the chemicals are placed. Part Two arrived a few months later in July, going over the chemical processes involved in making it light-sensitive and how they’re applied to that film base.

Now, we’ve finally got Part Three, where Kodak takes us from those big drums of sensitised film to cutting it up, adding the sprocket holes, making and filling the canisters, popping those into film cases and finally, retail packaging. Let the adventure continue!

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Sorry film shooters, Kodak film is set to price jump by up to 40%

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Buckle up film shooters because things are about to get a whole lot more expensive. Or at least, they will if you insist on using Kodak film. And you live in Japan. According to National Photo in Japan, both 35mm and 120 films will see a price increase by as much as 40% in some instances.

The price increase is set for January 16th, and as Digital Camera World puts it, even though the increases are happening in Japan, it’s highly likely they will roll out similarly in the rest of the world.

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Kodak proclaimed a National Historic Chemical Landmark

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There is no doubt that Kodak has brought a revolution into the world of photography. So, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has proclaimed Eastman Kodak the National Historic Chemical Landmark. This title honors George Eastman and Kodak, and their role in making photography available to everyone.

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This is how they apply light-sensitive chemicals to film inside the Kodak Factory

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We’re back in the Kodak factory in Rochester, New York today with Destin from Smarter Every Day. It’s the second part of a three-part series looking into exactly how Kodak makes its film stock for photographers. In part one, we saw a general overview of the mechanical processes involved in making the blank film base and in part two we find out how they actually make it light sensitive.

As with the first video, part two is almost an hour long and goes into a lot of depth into not only how the process is done but why certain choices are made during manufacture, depending on the needs of the final product.

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Take a tour around Kodak factory to learn how they make film

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Kodak recently made film photographers happy by announcing the Kodak Professional Gold 200 in 120mm format. And if you’ve ever wondered how they make it, Destin Sandlin of SmarterEveryDay will make you even happier. He recently visited the Kodak plant in Rochester, New York, and in his latest video, he’s taking you on a tour around the factory.

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Kodak Gold 200 comes back in 120 format after 25 years

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Film shooters rejoice, Kodak has some good news for you. Kodak Moments (the division of Kodak Alaris) has resurrected Kodak Professional Gold 200 in 120mm. If you’re looking into upgrading to medium format, this will be a great place to start. But also, it’s great if you’re looking to cut back on the film cost as it will be a more affordable option than other 120mm color film rolls from Kodak.

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This fascinating documentary takes you on a journey through the Kodak factory to see how film is made

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Film’s popularity has been on the rise for a few years now, gaining more and more ground each day. And as Destin Sandlin at Smarter Every Day points out at the beginning of this video, it’s not just us photo geeks that are getting back into it, either. I wouldn’t say it’s becoming “mainstream” again, but it’s regular normal everyday people who are experimenting with film again now.

The 56-minute video is the first of a three-part series in which Dustin takes us on a tour of the Kodak Factory in Rochester, New York where they still have production lines making new rolls of film to keep the growing market happy. Kodak isn’t the only manufacturer of film that’s still around today, but they’re one of the oldest and most legendary.

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Kodak Reelz lets you digitise all your old 8mm and Super 8 home movies with the push of a button

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Kodak has announced Kodak Reelz, their new film digitiser. It allows you to capture 8mm and Super 8 film straight to 1080p high definition video with the push of a button. It accepts 3″, 5″ and 7″ rolls of film onto a universal reel and on-screen directions allow you to capture it in 1080p resolution using the mp4 codec straight to an SD card up to 128GB in capacity.

No computer or software is needed, as everything is done internally in Reelz itself. It has a large 5″ display on the front for navigation and to let you watch movies while they’re being captured as well as play your previous recordings back to you. Interestingly, despite only capturing 1080p footage, they say it offers frame-by-frame digitizing with an 8.08-megapixel sensor, suggesting that it might offer some 4K abilities in a future firmware update.

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