Gast
True story or internet hoax? : http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?93463-Fotokemika-shuts-down-film-and-paper-manufacture
Gast
However, this apparently only affects Efke photographic paper, not the films: http://www.freestylephoto.biz/industry-updates/august-2012/snapshot.html
gurkensaft
Oh dear, let’s hope it’s only the paperwork.
That would be (yet another) loss.
MirkoBoeddecker
They’re currently closed for the holidays.
I’m aware of the issues, but I wouldn’t put it quite like that. I’ll be flying down in two weeks and we’ll see how things go then.
Best regards,
Mirko
MirkoBoeddecker
Unfortunately, I don’t have any good news to report. The situation seems clear-cut and, in my view, affects both film and paper in equal measure.
I have already pointed out on several occasions just how tight things are for us manufacturers of analogue photographic materials given the current market prices.
The highly efficient manufacturers (Kodak, Ilford) manage, thanks to their batch sizes and purchasing advantages, to realise a small net profit at current market prices.
Smaller manufacturers, on the other hand, are hanging by a thread, and their cost calculations do not allow for depreciation or repair costs.
At Fotokemika, something is currently broken that needs repairing. Nothing major – worth less than a small car – but it is enough to call into question the commercial viability of the entire site, even though this is a manufacturer that is pulling out despite still having a turnover of several million.
Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a solution to this strategic dilemma, as we cannot assume that competitive pressure will ease in the short or medium term.
Not good at all :-(
Mirko
TiMo
What a load of rubbish!
But you seem to have already suspected as much, if I’m interpreting your comment from May correctly:
At the moment, our research is focused on infrared, PAN 25 or CHS 50.
I’m now interested to know what the future holds for CHS films (you make CMS yourselves, if I’m not mistaken) and other ADOX products that were manufactured by Fotokemika.
gurkensaft
Hi Mirko,
That really is bad news.
Is it likely that products will start running out or become unavailable in the near future?
Or, from a consumer’s perspective: is the situation so tight that we should start stocking up already?
Regards, Torsten
thomas_l
So, if it really is less than the cost of a small car, then we could perhaps think about organising a small fundraising campaign...
MirkoBoeddecker
So if it really is less than the cost of a small car, then we could also consider a small fundraising campaign...
But that wouldn’t help, because it isn’t sustainable. It isn’t a financing problem.
What would help would be firm orders for the current volume of materials at double the price.
If it were really realistic to expect a market of the same size as now to be maintained at double the price level, production would be profitable again and the necessary investments could be financed.
However, none of the parties involved realistically expects that to happen.
MirkoBoeddecker
Is it likely that certain products will run out or become unavailable in the near future?
Or, as consumers might ask: Is the situation so tight that we should start stockpiling already?
Definitely for the paper products; for the films, there is still a glimmer of hope for a final production run.
Rotti
Mirko, give the versatile Polywarmtone a go. No other paper is quite so versatile (lith, developed for warm or cool tones – both work well, as do toning options). If, on top of that, high-quality versions of the CHS 50, APX 100 and 400 films, as well as an IR Efke replacement, were soon to become available, I’d have everything I need. And then, if it were ‘Made in Germany’, that would be something. Then the decline of the others would be much easier to cope with.
Best regards, Markus
thomas_l
I agree; so if a certain selection of film rolls ends up being left over, that’s fine by us analogue photographers.
MirkoBoeddecker
But you seem to have already suspected as much, if I’m interpreting your comment from May correctly
No, not really. There is a market that efke didn’t serve and didn’t want to serve, and that is high-end specialist products of outstanding quality.
That’s where we see our niche as a small manufacturer, and that’s where we want to go. We have no interest in producing the volumes that efke produced and then having to keep lowering the price until sales volumes match and profit is zero.
Best regards,
Mirko
AchimBauer
Film paste,
When I finally got back into it at the end of last year, the question arose: which film should I use?
So I bought one roll each of APX 100, ADOX CHS 100, Fomapan 100, Fujipan 100, Ilford FP4, Ilford Delta 100, Kodak T.max 100, Kodak X-pan and Lucky 100, gathered together cameras from my display cabinet that still worked, and bought the rest on eBay. Then, using 9 cameras and 9 rolls of film, I photographed the same subject with each one. What was planned to take 8 weeks ended up taking 9 months.
The film I liked best was the CHS 100, followed by the APX 100, and of all things, these two no longer have a future. I’d be willing to pay Ilford and Kodak prices just to get my hands on them.
Mirko, what’s the situation? At some point you said that the main focus was on Poywarmtone and development trials for CHS films. Is anything planned? And is the APX successor coming now, or is there still a chance that Efke will change its strategy to produce smaller quantities with higher profit margins, or are they closing the shop down completely? Then there was also the production of X-ray and technical films. It would be nice if that continued.
Regards, Achim
MirkoBoeddecker
Mirko, do give the versatile Polywarmtone a go. No other paper is quite so versatile (lith, developed for warm or cool tones – both work well, as do toning options). If, on top of that, high-quality versions of the CHS 50, APX 100 and 400 films, as well as an IR Efke replacement, were all soon to become available, I’d have everything I need. And then ‘Made in Germany’ on top of that – that would be something. Then the decline of the others would be much easier to cope with.
Best regards, Markus
That’s pretty much how we envisage it too, although at the start we’ll probably only manage to manufacture two of these products entirely in-house; otherwise you can’t really put your foot down because you’re constantly having to change lanes ;-)
gurkensaft
Thanks, Mirko.
Is a CHS xy production technically feasible for you, and is it something you’d like to do or have plans for?
If so, we can make arrangements (albeit with a longer wait).
I can’t think of any other proper alternative to the film.
Regards, Torsten
AchimBauer
Hi Mirko,
Does that mean there’s a chance that Adox CHS will continue to be produced, even if perhaps only at 100 ISO?
How likely is that?
And what kind of support do you need?
Best regards, Achim
MirkoBoeddecker
We wouldn’t want to produce the original CHS. The old formula has many drawbacks; Efke often got a telling-off from you lot because this or that wasn’t quite right. I still remember the heated discussions about variations in sensitivity. It’s actually a miracle that the film regularly had a deviation of just half a stop.
Hats off to the people in Samobor. We’d never manage that with the equipment they have at their disposal.
Our approach is to incorporate the characteristics of the CHS series into a more modern 25 or 50 ASA emulsion. Anyone who wants the CHS look can then use this film. We’d also add an extra pinch of silver to make it forgiving and flexible. Even then, we’d still be well below the current formula. If that isn’t economically viable, we can leave it out.
But ‘more modern’ doesn’t mean flat-crystal. In this case, ‘more modern’ means based on a classic emulsion that’s already manufactured under controlled conditions and runs consistently.
The old CHS ADOX emulsions are still batch emulsions, and the digestion process is monitored on a case-by-case basis for each production run, as the spontaneous filling always causes a huge mess and the adjustment is essentially determined by the digestion process.
Best regards,
Mirko
TiMo
That’s going to be quite a few projects on the go:
The successor to the APX 400 has been in the pipeline for a few years now, but there’s apparently still too much stock of the previous model left over.
The Polywarmton is a major project and will likely take a long time to complete.
It now looks as though there is a gap in the market for CHS-type films, and particularly for IR, which needs to be filled quickly.
The development process essentially depends on digestion.
A film like a wine.
Thanks for your commitment, Mirko!
thomas_l
It’s a shame about Fotokemika, of course, because it does mean we’re losing a bit of choice. But it seems perfectly logical to me that there won’t be too many film manufacturers left in the future. If a replacement for the CHS 50 were to come along in the medium term, that would certainly be brilliant; I’ve actually quite enjoyed using it at times. That said, I reckon we should take things one step at a time – there’s still plenty of choice when it comes to film.
