Chinese film brand Reflx Lab has warned that the recent crackdown of respooling of Kodak-branded cinema film mean its films made from Kodak emulsions could soon be discontinued.
In a blog post on their website titled ‘The Case for Respooled Film“, Reflx Lab said “Kodak’s decision to crack down on respooled film sales runs counter to the spirit of innovation, accessibility, and community that has driven the revival of film photography”.
It added: “We are doing our best to maintain our film inventory and avoid price increases. However, if the current situation continues, we only have enough stock of 500T and 250D 35mm film to last a few months (other film stocks will last slightly longer).”
Reflex Lab said it would not mean the end of its film business, however, saying “we can still respool film from other manufacturers, such as Foma, Lucky, and ORWO”.
Currently, Reflx Lab appears to offer 11 different films in their online shop that have been spooled from Eastman Kodak cinema films. The Aerocolor IV aviation film produced by Eastman Kodak that Reflx Lab uses to make their Pro100 film is not among the affected films, it says.
Eastman Kodak – the makers of Kodak films in Rochester, New York – has recently asked prospective customers of cinema film pancakes to list the film production the emulsion will be used for. If a production isn’t listed, the film cannot be sold.
Eastman Kodak sells enormous amounts of cinema films – like as 250D, 500T and Ektachrome E100D – to the movie industry, and produces separate stills products which are marketed by Kodak Alaris.
The cottage industry of film respoolers which grew much bigger over the Covid pandemic – when colour film was more difficult to get hold of – became a prominent part of the film ecosystem.
After Kodak Alaris, which has the sole rights to distribute Kodak photographic film, was sold to a venture capital firm later last year, reports began to emerge of respoolers finding it more difficult to buy the film to produce their own stocks.
Eastman Kodak has not released an official statement on this policy. (Kosmo Foto contacted them for a statement for this story.)
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.
Ah, Kodak cutting off it’s nose to spite it’s face.
I am pleased that it doesn’t affect the Aerocolor. I don’t shoot much cinema film but these guys seem to be a decent show and would be good if Kodak would do a deal with them along with Cinestill to keep some competition and access in the market.
I can’t imagine how it’s a smart move in the long run to dtop selling a product that you make a profit on. Maybe it’s time for filmmakers to seek alternative suppliers if you have to supply production information before they sell you film stock. I don’t care how beloved Kodak gilm is yhey have made hige blunders in their businesses over the years and this is one of them.
If the photo side of the business thinks they sre losing sales to respools, maybe it’s time to rethink emulsions and how to leverage cine film better than the traditional respoolers. Money is money and this is another marketing blunder/money grab that Kodak is known for.