Kodak films falling off the radar

This reminds me of the time when I worked at Sam's and could recite the Kodak line of films based on the three letter designation. EPP, EPN, EPT, EPW, etc. Sounds like it's a WAY easier list to memorize, and getting easier all the time.

Hello, Kodak?

I noticed lately that a few films I was playing with were hard to find -- most specifically EPT (Ektachrome 160T) and EPJ (Ektachrome 320T) -- and dealers were mentioning that they thought it was discontinued. However, there wasn't an announcement on Kodak's site.

Finally, I called Kodak and asked them.Apparently EPJ has been out of production for over a year. And EPT has been out of production for some months now. I asked the guy on the phone why there wasn't an announcement about the film being discontinued. He told me to go to a URL on the kodak website and that there should be a notice there... and then confirmed that the website didn't contain a discontinuation notice, even though the film was out of production.

Then, I found out something I didn't even realize I needed to ask about.UltraColor 400, one of my favorite films, is only available from now on in 35mm format. I really love shooting UC400 in medium format and now I can't.We have reached a new stage with Kodak, and I'm not pleased about it. With prior film discontinuations, Kodak gave advanced warning that a film was going to be discontinued, perhaps with a suggested replacement film.
Now, we're faced with films being discontinued without the courtesy of advance warning so we can calibrate our process for a new film or alternatively stock up to complete a project while there's still film to be purchased.
With EPT and EPJ, there isn't any stock left in the warehouse to purchase.I am very disappointed in Kodak. Even accepting that film is no longer the cash-cow for Kodak, this is bad business.

Blogged with Flock