UK photo retailer Silverprint reports in their newsletter that Kodak are discontinuing both of their infrared emulsions, the black and white HIE and the false-colour Ektachrome Infrared. Kodak will stop accepting orders from stockists for the films in May 2007, so start hoarding now. (Kodak’s web site doesn’t note the discontinuation, but that isn’t unusual, [...]

Kodak are giving away a roll of each of their updated Portra emulsions: 160 VC, 160 NC, 400 VC and 400 NC [details in a previous post] to the first 20,000 people to ask for it! Your choice of 120 or 35mm. Unfortunately, this is only available to people in the US. Go get some! [...]

Kodak UK Press Release: Kodak Introduces Enhanced PORTRA Colour Negative Films with Finer Grain, Spectacular Skin Tones, Vivid Colour and Ideal Scanning Performance – Continued Innovation Gives Pro Photographers High Quality Films to Achieve Impactful Images London, September 11 – In a move that underscores its ongoing support of the professional photography market, Eastman Kodak [...]

In May, I re-posted Oran Grad’s post from The Online Photographer about a high-speed, ISO 24,000 black and white reversal (slide) film that Kodak’s research department came up with and was quite excited about its implications for pinhole and zone plate photography. Unfortunately, it appears that there wasn’t enough interest and they will not be offering the film commercially.

Flickr member Luke H tested Kodak Tri-X 400 film (400TX) in Diafine developer at high speed. He shot the frames above at ISOs 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, and 6400 with a yellow filter. Check it out in Luke’s photostream at Flickr If you’re not familiar with Diafine developer, it’s got several magical properties: it’s [...]

Yesterday, I posted (well, lifted Oren Grad’s post from The Online Photographer) about an ultra high-speed ISO 24,000 B&W reversal film emulsion that Kodak have developed, but one implication didn’t hit me until today: if released commercially, it would allow handheld pinhole photography at normal shutter speeds.

Oren Grad’s entire post from The Online Photographer: No, that’s not a typo. This week at the International Congress of Imaging Science in Rochester, NY, Kodak researchers presented a new silver halide emulsion that is thermally developed to produce a positive image at speeds of up to ISO 24,000. You can read the conference abstract [...]

According to this blurb in BusinessWeek, Kodak, citing increased energy and material costs, will be increasing prices prices from 3 to 17% on still photography films and 3 to 5% on motion picture films. A date for the rate hike was not announced.

From Kodak’s press release: "Kodak has significantly reduced the static attraction of its processed professional and consumer 35mm capture films worldwide. Recent photofinishing tests indicate that the humidity-independent static protection of this new 35mm film support yields frames with nearly 65 percent less printing dirt or white spots – a common frustration among lab owners. [...]

Kodak has updated the Portra 800 color print film emulsion. It "…now reproduces skin tones and colors with more accuracy under a variety of light sources. This high-speed film also features finer grain, improved sharpness and exceptional under-exposure latitude." I hope this last bit is true, I’ve found that the existing version of the emulsion [...]