Kodak announced two new types of film that it will sell directly to photography stores, sidestepping a bizarre distribution agreement that has been in place since its bankruptcy.#Photography #FilmCameras #film
Kodak Is Selling Its Own Film Again for the First Time in a Decade
Kodak announced two new stocks of color film on Wednesday, in a move that has excited the photography world and which indicates that the photography giant is directly distributing still photography film again.“To help meet the growing demand for film, Kodak is excited to announce the launch of two color-negative films, KODACOLOR 100 and KODACOLOR 200, in 135 format rolls,” Kodak said in an Instagram post. “For the first time in over a decade, Kodak will sell these films directly to distributors, in an effort to increase supply and help create greater stability in a market where prices have fluctuated. These films are sub-brands of existing Kodak films and offer the same high quality you’ve come to expect from Kodak.”
That quote is key—there are various types of Kodak film on the market right now. Those films are all made by Eastman Kodak (the legendary 133-year-old photography company) but they are sold through a totally separate company called Kodak Alaris, which is a UK-based company spun off from Eastman Kodak in 2012 as part of its bankruptcy. Since then, Kodak Alaris has had the sole right to distribute the still film stocks that Eastman Kodak manufactures. The sense in the photography community is that this arrangement is, at best, annoying and that it has perhaps led Kodak to not focus as much on making new film stocks as it should; there was further concern last year after Kodak Alaris was sold to a private equity firm.
What remains unclear is what KODACOLOR actually is; in the photography world, many “new” films are rebranded versions of other films that are on the market, are rereleased versions of film that had been previously discontinued, or are respooled versions of movie film that have been altered for still photography.
The Wednesday announcement of KODACOLOR makes clear that Eastman Kodak will be selling KODACOLOR directly to photography stores itself, which suggests that the company has wrested at least some control over the distribution of its films from Kodak Alaris, and raises all sorts of exciting possibilities about the future of Kodak film. The details of how or why it did this are not yet available and Kodak did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But it is notable that while Kodak manufactures about a dozen different types of film including Kodak Gold, Ektar, Portra, and Colorplus, the only “still film” listed on the Kodak website is now the new KODACOLOR film stocks.
Regardless of the reasoning or specifics behind the news, the announcement of new film stocks from the most important film company in the world is the latest sign of the enduring and resurgent popularity of analog film photography. And it at least shows that Kodak is interested in creating new types of film for the hobby; as Petapixel points out, it is Kodak’s “first new film in a very long time.” In recent years, there has been a handful of new film stocks announced and released, most notably a type of film called Phoenix from a company called Harman, which is made in a new factory in England and, according to the company, has been “hugely successful.”
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