Current FOTOIMPEX projects - how are things looking?

Patrick · 2011-11-30T08:53:41+00:00

Hallo, ich wage es, noch einmal nachzuhaken - wie steht es mit den beiden Projekten - die Herstellung in Großmengen des APX-Nachfolgers und die Herstellung...

Patrick

Hello, I’m going to take the liberty of following up once more – what’s the latest on the two projects – the mass production of the APX successor and the production of the Polywarmton paper? According to the latest information, something might happen by the end of 2011, and since we’re now at that point... I realise that in both cases it is no easy task to bring the products to market profitably, but I very much hope that FOTOIMPEX manages to offer an alternative to the disappearing Tri-X/Neopan 400 and the ever-more-expensive HP5 – and I still miss the Polywarmton too! Kind regards, Patrick.

sputnik

(...) an alternative to the disappearing Tri-X (...)

Dear all, it may well be that one can never complain enough, but I find it truly inappropriate to talk lively patients out of life in a pre-emptive act of obedience. Kodak shares or not. If I remember correctly, Tri-X is still the best-selling black-and-white film on the market, and I personally like it so much that I’d gladly swap all competing products for it. Tri-X, I love you! Siegfried

MirkoBoeddecker

Hello Patrick, Both projects are continuing as best we can under the circumstances. The "circumstances" are the completion of the factory, which is tying up most of my resources. That’s why I haven’t always reposted everything here that’s on our ADOX Facebook page. Social media takes up a lot of time. I’ll have more of it again soon. Until the end of February, however, I have to pull all the strings here. So here’s the latest: from tomorrow, the drywall work around the Polywarmton emulsion cooker will begin. The refrigeration unit has been delayed and won’t arrive until the first week of January. The other utilities are already in place. Today I sorted out the safety lighting plan. We’re still missing a floc washing tank: we might convert the ultrafiltration system. The sample casting moulds for three-emulsion casting still need to be finished. In the meantime, we’ll have to cut some photographic paper to earn some money again.... See you later. Mirko

Tandemfahren

Hi Impex! Even though ‘ultrafiltration plant’ and ‘Kätesatz’ just sound exciting to me, without triggering any cognitive associations in my brain, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for you all and wish you every success! Best regards, Frank

AchimBauer

Hi Mirko, I know exactly what it’s like when you’ve got lots of plans but time and money aren’t unlimited. I see that in myself too (I’d imagined my project to get back into the darkroom would be easier, and often ran into trouble with such trivial things as how high to mount the lights without having to knock down the whole wall), yet I think it’s a shame that we hear so little about Polywarmton and the APX 400 successor. Polywarmton might be of interest to me, even though I tend to prefer neutral papers, and APX 400 isn’t the film I’d want to use on a large scale, but I’ve still read all about the projects several times, because from what’s been reported so far, you can see the thought and effort that’s gone into them. I have a lot of photography literature, books and magazines, but they mostly focus on cameras and sometimes on subjects. When it comes to film, it’s usually just about sharpness and how the colours or greys look. It was only when T-Max came along that we learnt more about the technology, and even then, just that the crystals are different. It was only through the reports on APX 400 and Polywarmton that I first realised just how complex and in-depth the production of a film is, and this isn’t about a new development, but a necessary further development. I think what you’re doing is very brave, and I wish you every success, but I’d like to see more information, because the story of APX 400 and Polywarmton reads as grippingly as a crime thriller. Regards, Achim