bobatkins Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Look like Ilford may be on the way out.<p><a href="http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/business/general/s/128/128120_fears_for_700_jobs_as_ilford_faces_closure.html">Ilford faces closure</a><p><em>MORE than 700 jobs in Cheshire were today at risk after photographic products maker Ilford Imaging was put into administration. The 740 staff at Ilford's factory in Mobberley, near Knutsford, were told the shock news today. No job losses have been announced yet at the company, founded in 1879. Three partners from the Manchester office of accountancy firm Grant Thornton are conducting a review of the business, which they will try to sell as a going concern. Should they fail, the company will be put into receivership and finally into liquidation.</em><p>Who said film was dead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm. alec Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Uhggg. Sad, sad, news. Time to buy a freezer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobatkins Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 Well, there's still the possibility someone might buy it, but it's not a good sign for film users. It's obvious that sales and profits are dropping fast. If HP5 dies, can Tri-X be far behind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobias_hough Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Let's make an offer! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary_watson Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I don't recall seeing any notice hereabouts that Agfa spun-off its entire photo film division from the main company last week. It's still afloat but the separation from the main industrial and medical imaging group doesn't exactly strengthen Agfa's commitment to film, either. I'd look for Fuji to be interested in buying up all or part of the Ilford "family silver." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary evans Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Damn it man! How am I supposed to learn a film if they keep yanking them away from me as I try to learn them? I just started developing my own film and was planning on taking a 10-week darkroom workshop in the fall. I did a few rolls of Tri-X, but some news from Kodak made me worry about its longevity (I know it's been around forever, but does anyone feel Kodak's actions are indicative of an ongoing commitment to film?), so I decided to try Ilford. I just shot a roll of PanF50+ and Delta 3200 this weekend and I loved them both! What's left? Is Neopan any good for 35mm? This is getting really annoying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaburdette Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I agree it is annoying. I have been been slowly moving to Ilford and away from Kodak. I know that Kodak's days in the B&W market are numbered. I was counting on Ilford being the sole manufacturer left standing after the dust had cleared from the plunging sales of B&W products. Maybe I need to revisit Fuji's line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_eaton Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Ouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phule Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I really hope they can find a buyer that won't just turn around and liquidate everything... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G. Dainis Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Madness! Madness! All real photographers know this "color" thing is merely a passing fad. B&W is where it's at. James G. Dainis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkka_nissila Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I think most people will finally come to realize that Kodak is actually very good at retaining a broad range of products. I don't expect Kodak to stop producing C-41 B&W film for a long time. I'll be a happy user until then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_bedell Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Wow, that sucks. I hope they're able to continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_levine Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I can hear a sucking sound,its the last boxes of 4x5 & 120 HP5 & FP4 flying off the shelves.I was just looking to replace Portra BW400 with their XP2,damn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary_watson Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I mentioned it, Lynn, because the Agfa story apparently slipped under PN's radar, also because it's sadly resonant with Bob's Ilford link. Agfa's situation isn't nearly as dire as Ilford's but the decision by Agfa management to demote its film division to third string status ain't exactly good news.Ilford can still pull its corporate socks up. Still, the partnership with Fuji on a chromogenic product probably means that Fuji might pick up Ilford cheap long before the receivers arrive--if indeed they ever do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmc Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Wonder who the German firm would be in the speculated buy out? Very last part of the article... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_clark Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Honestly I too expected Ilford to be one of the survivors. At the moment they seem to produce some of the better balck&white materials. Who knows, maybe it's some marginal color film part of the business pulling them down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary_woodard Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Its like loosing a good woman, and being left with the digital whore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecarter Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 AIIIIEEEE!!! Say it ain't so, Joe!!! You just made me choke on my soda when I read this - right after I wrote a post about how film isn't gonna die! I'm going to have to watch this very closely - I've never been a big shooter of Ilford B/W films, but I use their B/W papers a LOT and I'll be very peeved if I have to switch over now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_johnson15 Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 The news about AGFA has been on PN since last Thursday in the Photography News forum. What I thought was interesting is that the Corporation financed the Top Management's buyout of the imaging division. I don't guess they had a choice with no apparent buying emerging in the search. If anyone needs a large supply of 4x5 or 8x10 inch sheet film and Kodak, Ilford or Agfa still makes it, I would BUY, BUY, BUY while it was still available. I wouldn't worry too much about 35mm Tri-X at the moment, but it'll be sheet film first, 220, then 120 and then ??? I understand that Fuji has lost more of a market share than Kodak. Ilford has apparently held their own, but as we just found out, not making a profit. From talking with some people in the know, Kodak has apparently cut enough losses with the closing down of the Fair Lawn Kodachrome processor that some people feel K-14 is safe for another few years. Apparently the hemorrhaging has been stopped, but the patient is still in "serious" condition. You don't go bankrupt in England, the government just closes you down if you are insolvent with no chance for a recovery. It appears all film companies are in serious condition, but aren't quite dead and buried! Robert Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photon_man Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I was born and bred on 35mm and I would use it until the day I cannot find any film on Earth no matter how much I'm willing to spend. But seriously, obviously there are quite a few people who prefer to use film in this digital age. Isn't it enough to form a niche market? Maybe the half dead film companies can just merge into one and just provide for the niche market, by mail order most likely. I'm sure they can still make a lot of money. What about those of us who prefer to use all manual cameras? Do they have a digital all manual SLR? If not, I hope they can make some digital chips for the all manual cameras in the future, when the technology is more matures. After all, it's pretty easy to make them for all manual cameras without all the complex features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jose_chang Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Will that affect the color division such as ilfochrome, printing from slide? or this is the B&W department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25asa Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I seriously hope for all photographers they save the business. I use Ilford and learned on it in my photo classes in high school. It will feel very weird not being able to buy it anymore. They have some great products. I wonder if Fuji would get involved or not. My question is whether Ilford will retain its name and current products as is if someone does buy them out. If Efke can survive, I can't see why Ilford can't. But this is scaring me because its really starting to sound like film will be very hard to get in the future, especially for the larger format cameras. If Agfa and Ilford did merge, I wonder who's black and white film recipes would be sold as they both have great products. But I doubt this. It would be a great way to bring APX 25 back out again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everitt Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Thank god I don't have a darkroom anymore..... It's too bad.. HP5, FP4 and Delta 3200 were among the tops for me in the B&W film world (along w. Tri-X and APX 100). Although.. I'm glad I'm not in that filthy, smelly, toxic darkroom anymore... thank god for Photoshop... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan_mcintosh Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Im in what is supposed to be a "Advanced Black And White" Photography class, well its funny now nearly 2/3rds of the class ALL DOES DAMN DIGITAL! I MEAN! CMON PEOPLE! All you photographer that I have changed from working hard in the darkroom to create a hand crafted print...to now sitting your butt down in a chair and moving a little mouse around... MAKES ME UPSET! Its REALLY hurting is photographer that use film! and I use Ilford Delta 100 in 8x10 size...that is something that is getting hard to find! NO WAY am I changing film eaither, if it comes down to it I will buy 10000 boxes of it and deep freeze it. Maybe I should buy those boxes anyways just to show Ilford that people still NEED there product! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger krueger Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 <i>...but it'll be sheet film first, 220, then 120 and then ???</i> <br><br>No, it'll be 220 first--it'll be gone before Kodachrome. And it wouldn't surprise me that much if 120 disappeared before 4x5, but both those events are well over a decade from now. But 220 and Kodachrome? 5 years max. <br><br>The question is whether someone will have the guts to slash Ilford down to a size that can survive in the current market. I believe it can be done, but I'm far from certain it WILL be done. Sometimes so much effort is spent avoiding bloody surgery that the whole patient is lost.<br><br> Kodak, for their endless litany of faults, suddenly seem like they might have a decent vision of how to keep the patient alive as long possible after all. No point in being heroic about saving each and every emulsion only to lose everything. (That's spoken as a Tech Pan addict currently getting freezer space ready.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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