On Black Friday, Kodak Alaris announced it would be raising the prices for its films in the new year.
The prices would take effect on 1 January and, the company warned in its release to retailers, would be “significant”.
But Kodak Alaris – the company which markets the film Eastman Kodak produces – also explained why it was doing this (which may help soften the blow a little if you’re frustrated your favourite emulsions are rising in price).
It wasn’t the usual story that vital ingredients are getting more expensive or harder to find. It was that the recent upsurge in film sales is so high that the company is struggling to meet demand. (You can read the release here.)
To film photographers in Europe, this will come as no surprise. To many, the last year has felt like a film-themed treasure hunt – everything from Colorplus 200 to the Portra suite of films and trusty Tri-X has been increasingly hard to find.
Kodak Alaris has tried to meet the demand, but there is simply too much of it. It isn’t going to be able to meet demand unless it ramps up production. So that’s what it is going to do.
The more you make of something, the less it should cost per unit because your production equipment costs are spread further. But conversely, the film that Eastman Kodak will be making more and more of is likely to cost us more to buy.
But the decision to raise prices isn’t necessarily a bad thing, for a few reasons.
First up, a little flashback; since the digital revolution in the early 2000s, the remaining film producers – including Kodak – had to suddenly contend with a massive drop in film consumption, beginning around 2003.
The giant film facilities built for their early 2000s peak – hundreds of millions of rolls a year – weren’t fit for a market which suddenly dropped to a fraction of this size (in 2011, it was probably 10% of what it had been just a decade before). Fujifilm and Kodak have had to scale back their film production to a fraction of their peak. Other consumer film giants – like Agfa – went to the wall before they had a chance to do similar.
In order to keep going, Kodak laid off workers and shuttered film production facilities outside of its Rochester, New York base. Emulsions that were no longer ringing the tills were ruthlessly pruned. Enough people kept shooting film that it was still worth Kodak making it, but that was partly because big name directors still wedded to the idea of shooting on celluloid continued to shoot productions on film. You have Hollywood to partly thank for the fact that you can still shoot your Portra 400.
After Kodak survived bankruptcy proceedings in 2013, Kodak Alaris was created to market Kodak’s film. It is owned by the former UK Kodak employee’s Kodak Pension Plan (KPP2).
It’s since the creation of Alaris that the renaissance of film really took hold. It seemed to start around 2015, but gathered pace when Kodak Alaris announced Ektachrome slide film back in 2017, and brought back TMax P3200 in 2018. Even having written about this change in fortunes a lot in the past four years, I’m still amazed how film’s fortunes continue to rise. I had a recent conversation with someone at a leading London processing lab a few weeks back – their processing has gone up 60% in a year. Just down the road, one of London’s biggest film retailers – which stocks everything from Kodak to boutique brands – has seen sales increase by a third in just 12 months.
This new interest in film is to be welcomed, but it brings with it its own challenges. In Kodak Alaris’s case, that means spending money on increasing production. But they can’t do it on their own. A look at the most recent financial report shows that their financial prospects are hardly rosy – it has been a tough decade-and-a-half for those making film.
“Our market share has grown and levels of positivity towards shooting film not seen for many years has returned,” Kodak said in its statement last week. “These changes have also come with some problems, in recent years film supply has only just kept pace with market demand during the peak season but this year the increased demand has resulted in the highest level of Kodak Alaris film sales for some years leading to supply issues for most of our film lines.”
From Spain to Belarus, Kosmo Foto has heard tale of Kodak films being impossible to get hold off over the course of the year. Demand is far outstripping supply. Kodak Alaris has apparently decided time has come to do something about it, which is why it is now asking Eastman Kodak to ramp up production – and passing the cost of that on to the people who buy the film.
An upside of this is that it will also mean employing and training more people to produce film – which will be good for the continued survival of Kodak films in the longer term.
Film is not a cheap thing to produce – even before you make a physical emulsion, there is rigorous and expensive research and development (R&D) to undertake. Most film companies’ R&D teams are a fraction of the size they would have been back in the golden age. R&D needs staff with chemical engineering degrees – grown up jobs with expensive salaries. This is long-term, forward-thinking investment.
In the nearly two decades since film was king, it’s not only imaging technology which has changed. So have environmental regulations. Part of the delay in getting Ektachrome from announcement to the shop floors was that the recipe had to be reformulated to get rid of some now banned ingredients. This all adds to the expense. How much did Kodak spend in getting Ektachrome back on the market? Your guess is as good as Kosmo Foto’s, but I’d be willing to guess the bill would be in the millions of dollars.
The extra cash that Kodak Alaris generates from this price rise may indeed bolster the R&D budget. That means it could even look at releasing new films.
Kodak Alaris’s rivals could decide to cut their film prices and try and gain more market share at their expense, or decide to raise their prices aswell, making more profit per roll.
Paying more for film isn’t something I relish. I’m sure I’m not the only one. But extra money for film producers means extra investment. There won’t be a film renaissance in the long term without it.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
Regarding your closing statement, no, the reality is “there won’t be a film renaissance in the long term” if there are no affordable film stocks available on the market. I’m talking about both color and B&W. And I’d say we’re basically already at that point, right now, today. Further increasing film costs will do absolutely nothing good for the film industry or the community long-term. The current prices are already ridiculous; way beyond ridiculous in some cases.
Simply put, high costs will alienate (and already are alienating) huge numbers of recent newcomers and long-time diehard film shooters alike, and it will almost certainly dissuade the vast majority of those who were/are interested in trying film but never have from ever doing so in any serious manner, or even being able to do so.
The reality a small and vocal group of film shooters who are constantly defending the price-gouging and blatant exploitation going on of the film community either simply don’t understand or are outright ignoring is that if film isn’t affordable for the majority of people as a whole and not just a small subset, if there are no longer truly budget stocks available of both color and B&W, and likewise if film-related costs such as lab services are totally out of control (which they already are), then there are a lot of people who will find themselves exiting the hobby altogether, not by choice but because they simply can’t afford it any longer, regardless of how much they love it. People need to get this through their heads. Furthermore, film needs to be cheap enough that new generations of photographers and artists (i.e. very young people) can afford it and afford it in large quantities so that they are able to learn and master the medium. This is absolutely critical to the survival of film. Kodak and the other manufacturers had better start recognizing that if they continue down the path they’re on, only catering to pros who are able to offset the insanely high cost of film by increasing the price of their own services as well as a fairly small percentage of amateurs who are actually able to afford such extravagant prices, then their futures as film manufacturers and the future of film itself is likely very grim. The overwhelming majority of serious film shooters within the community (those that actually shoot a decent quantity of film, not just the occasional roll) are not pros, nor are they made of money. They’re “everyday Joes,” with typical jobs, they don’t work within the film industry or have ties to it in any way, and they have all sorts of other obligations in their lives besides funding a hobby that are way higher priority. And while these people love film with a passion, they can still only afford so much before they can no longer afford it at all (for many, I’m sure this breaking point has already come). These are the people Kodak and the others need to be catering to. They are the ones who can ensure the long-term profitability of film and its survival. They are the ones who would be buying a lot of film on a consistent basis if it was actually affordable. They are the ones who have the potential to be the film manufacturers’ best and most reliable customers, if only the manufacturers would allow them to be. They are the ones that can make the community grow, and thus in turn grow the industry also. Sure, the price-gouging is almost guaranteed to create very large short-term profits, but it won’t last. It never does. When greed takes over those who control an industry — and as far as I’m concerned that’s exactly what’s happened in the film world — the economy of that industry will ultimately fail. It may be a ways down the line before it happens, but it will happen. So if certain corporations don’t change their business practices, and soon, that day will come for the film industry also, and all of us can kiss the hobby and artistic medium we love so much goodbye. For many of us, we’ll have to kiss it goodbye long before that day actually comes simply due to not being able to afford the ludicrous prices. And I’m sure there are countless numbers that has already become a sad reality for. But that day doesn’t have to come at all if the film manufacturers get real about things and those other businesses that claim to exist to support the community (e.g. labs) also put an end to their absurd levels of greed. All of it is out of hand. Furthermore, people within the community need to stop spouting and regurgitating the nonsense that any of these huge costs are justified. They’re not, and if you’re on this side of the fence (that is, a film shooter who doesn’t work for a film manufacturer) then all you’re doing by regurgitating such stuff is messing yourself, and the rest of us, around. Unfortunately, since most people no longer seem to be able to think logically or for themselves and just run with whatever they’re told, this is a major problem.
Look, I’m not trying to be rude and I really hope I don’t come across that way, but there are a few things people need to understand, actually think about, and take into consideration. When Kodak releases a statement, or an employee makes a comment to the public, they’re quite literally trying to sell you on the idea that the price they’re asking for their products is justified and acceptable so that you keep padding their pockets. That is their job. Kodak, it would seem, is trying to redefine basic economic principles and convince everyone that film becoming more expensive is always justified, 100% of the time, under every circumstance, period. When film sales were in a slump, film costs went up, and Kodak said it was because their facilities were designed for much larger production so they had to raise prices to account for the fact they weren’t using the full potential of their plant. They were having difficulty downscaling their manufacturing operation. Well, that was due to poor outlook and shortsightedness on their part, but okay, whatever… Today, we have increasing sales and have for some time (many years), and yet film costs keep steadily going up. Not once have they gone down or even remained stable very long. Now, Kodak comes out, says they are selling so much film that they can’t even keep up, and claim costs are going to increase substantially at the beginning of next year because they’re going to have to expand their manufacturing effort. They claim they need to upscale their operation. Seriously, Kodak? What happened to your manufacturing facilities being designed for much larger production? You know, the primary previous reason you claimed you had to hike up prices since you weren’t utilizing it efficiently? So, it very obviously appears to me that Kodak is trying to convince all of us to continually pay more and more for film, and possibly very substantially more come next year, no matter what, regardless of whether film sales are poor, steady, or strong, and regardless of whether they’re utilizing the full potential of their manufacturing plant or not. This isn’t logical, people. This is marketing propaganda. Please start thinking about these things. The reality is that film costs should be going down right now, not up. Period. And while I seriously doubt there is one, if there is truthfully a legitimate expense required on Kodak’s end to ramp up production, well, they should bear that themselves and be thankful their industry is doing so well, not put the burden on us by further hiking up already ridiculous film prices. Instead, they reward us for our loyalty to them by ripping us off even worse and having the audacity to tell us it’s okay. It’s not okay, and it’s extremely poor business.
As an amateur film photographer with a limited budget to spend on the hobby, Kodak has steadily been losing my business as their price-gouging has continued. In fact, over the past year, Kodak has received very little of my business at all. The number of products of theirs I’ve purchased can probably be counted on my two hands. Ilford has received a little bit more of my business, but not much. Fujifilm, due to how ridiculous they’ve gotten, received none. And I’m sure I’m not the only one buying less and less from these guys. For these companies this is just losses and more losses. They’re alienating and forcing out their true and loyal customers, instead selling to a tiny population of pros who shoot film, a small number of amateurs who have money to burn and in no way represent the community as a whole, and to those who just shoot the seldom and occasional roll here and there (probably mostly hipsters and millennials with nothing but a passing interest) but are not buying film in any real quantity (i.e. not the type of customers manufacturers should be targeting). Instead, most of my business these days is going to Foma, because despite recent price hikes they’re still substantially cheaper than anything Kodak sells, even in the U.S., when Kodak is sitting in our own backyard (if you live here). People should think about that for a second. Foma manufactures film on the other side of the world from the U.S., they have to deal with extensive shipping costs, importation, and distribution here in the States, and yet it’s still cheaper than anything Kodak has to offer, even if you live in Rochester, New York just down the street from where Kodak is. This is just one of a great many blatantly obvious pieces of evidence that something pretty clearly doesn’t add up with what Kodak is charging for film — or Ilford, or Fujifilm, for that matter. While it’s still by no means truly budget in my opinion, Harman (parent company of Ilford) does at least sell Kentmere at a semi-reasonable price and I do buy a decent chunk of it. I also buy a fair amount of Ultrafine, which is also made by Harman. But Kodak, Ilford (at least their products actually labeled as such), and Fujifilm, well, they’ve all three effectively lost my business entirely because they’re already too expensive for me to purchase anything in any quantity. So I practically just don’t waste my time or money buying anything from them at all. And if this is true for me, I’m sure it is for countless others also who just don’t have the time or energy to write it out. So again, that’s a tremendous amount of business lost for all three of these companies. About the only type of film I still buy from Kodak is the occasional roll of consumer-grade C-41 (ColorPlus, Gold, or Ultramax), but I shoot very little color these days because I don’t process it myself and lab costs have become entirely unaffordable for me also. So if Kodak raises the prices on their consumer-grade C-41 stocks, even a little, I’ll be done with them too, and Kodak will have lost me as a customer for good, unless they radically change their business approach.
Finally, with regards to R&D costs, you do realize that the science behind most of the film stocks Kodak (and the other manufacturers) is making is decades old, right? Yes, slight modifications have been made over the years, but nothing groundbreaking. It’s not like Kodak is engineering color negative, B&W, or slide film for the first time. Sure, sometimes it’s necessary due to environmental or other reasons to tweak a formula, but the science is still the same science they’ve had on paper for many, many decades. All legitimate R&D has long been completed. Now, if Kodak wants to engineer a brand new and totally unique emulsion from the ground up, great, that’s awesome. But before they even consider that, they need to get the rest of their ducks in a row, starting with putting truly affordable and budget film offerings back on the market and keeping them there, growing the film community to a healthy level so it’s stable, and fixing their volume production issues (if they actually even exist). Then, if they decide internally they want to and as long as they don’t put the financial burden on us to do so (which is absurd), yeah, sure, make something new. Although I’d personally rather they just brought back some old stuff, for cheap, like Panatomic-X or Plus-X.
Take care.
I still question if it was worth to bring back Etkachrome as slide film is rather a “niche” product. Instead, focus on Portra 160, 400 and the luxury item Portra800.
The return of investment on a slide film re issue is quite questionable to me.
However, I do support slight price increases because in this world everything is getting more expensive almost every day. why should film prices stay the same?
Let´s see what “signifficant” means in Kodak terms…
I am a retailer of Kodak products in the UK and the price increases are geninely quite significant – almost a 50% increase for Colour Plus (going from £1.92 per roll wholesale to £2.96 per roll wholesale) and a 25% increase for Portra (going from £24.00 per box (160) wholesale to £30.00 per box wholesale).
Retailers will of course pass the increase on to customers as the profit margins for fill are already quite slim, so the retail prices in the UK will look something like this.
Colour Plus 36 exp – £4.50 per roll (up from around £2.50 – £3.00)
Portra 160 (120) – £38.50 per box (up from around £31.50)
Portra 400 (120) – £44.00 per box (up from around £34.50)
Portra 800 (120) – £76.00 per box (up from around £58.00)
I feel like if Kodak really wanted investors but were having issues getting investors or a loan because of their past credit history they should have just reached out to the community and done a kickstart type of crowd fund to pay for the equipment and then give back to us on the back end through some kind of discount or promise of dibs on the next new emulsion or reboot of a classic. It’s hard for me to believe that in this day and age they would lower the prices after they see customers are willing to fork over the cash anyway. I guess we can hope for good things but really I feel the people at fuji must be excited about this right now. think about it, Fujichrome transparency has always been a bit more expensive but now it’s actually going to be cheaper if Kodak really raises prices 20-30% as they said. I guess we can only hope Fuji doesn’t get wise and start raising their prices even more as well. I’m game to pay a little more while they get on their feet and if it leads to new emulsions but it will be disappointing if they just charge more indefinitely.
The main problem here is that while some people (probably mostly current pros able to offset their costs, retired individuals who aren’t hurting for money in any way, and people who barely shoot any quantity of film to begin with) will indeed “fork over” the money for film at a higher cost, there are probably a lot more individuals within the film community who simply won’t be able to afford it at all, and they may have to abandon the hobby they love altogether if the present trends continue. I’m sure many already have had to, and not by choice, but rather because film as a hobby has just gotten way, way too expensive. At the very least, this move by Kodak is almost certain to alienate new, would-be customers and drive previous long-time customers away. They may make large short-term profits by exploiting those that are able and willing to “fork over” the cash over the next few years, but long-term it isn’t going to serve them well. It’s not going to serve any of us well.
A lot of people are acting like this “significant” price increase from Kodak (or similar hikes by other manufacturers) isn’t that big of a deal and some are actually even defending and promoting significant price increases as something that’s good for us when it’s clearly anything but. If people would just logically think things through for themselves, I’m pretty sure they’d realize just how nonsensical the arguments in favor of price hikes are. Frankly, film is already too expensive as it is and making it more expensive isn’t going to help anyone.
I’m pretty sure I’m done with Kodak. Over the past several years they’ve already lost most of my business due to being overpriced and now, if they keep going down this path, they’re likely going to lose all of it, permanently, just like Fujifilm has. Clearly that’s not good for them. Instead, Foma gets most of my business today because they seem to be substantially less greedy than the other manufacturers. And in my opinion that’s exactly what we’re witnessing within the film industry: pure greed, plain and simple. Surely people are able to realize that the marketing propaganda Kodak or any of the other manufacturers preach to the public to try to convince everyone that these outrageous prices are justified, is just that … propaganda. It’s quite literally their job to convince people to pay whatever they want them to so that they can pad their own pockets.
I see no rational basis for the cost of film to go up. Actually, I don’t even see that the current prices are justified. In fact, logic would dictate that film costs should be going down right now. But as you stated, once a corporation sees that people are willing to fork over a certain amount of cash, it’s highly unlikely they’ll ever offer their products at a lower price. Because again, it’s greed. I strongly urge people to vote with their dollars and to not support the price-gouging.
Take care.