Requiem For Kodak

Eastman Kodak has filed for bankruptcy protection,surprising no one really,given the fact that the photographic world today is ruled by the megapixel. Yes,we all ditched that yellow box in favor of memory cards faster than people escaping a burning building. In someways,Kodak is that burning building,clinging to the hope that it can rise from the ashes like a Phoenix to rule the world of imaging as it once did.

Ironically,Kodak was at the forefront of digital technology, it had,over 20 years ago partnered with Nikon to create one of the first digital cameras. At a cost approaching 30,000 dollars that camera was more of a curiosity than anything, a small dot on the photographic horizon. But as the years passed,that dot began to transform itself into a small hill,the hill into a mountain,and the mountain into an avalanche. That avalanche buried Kodak.


Did Kodak not see it coming? Back around 2002-2003 they released a study that found that to approach the quality of a 200 speed color negative film, a digital sensor would need to have around 22MP. At that time the absolute best sensors were approaching 6MP, almost 1/4 of the quality of film. So perhaps Kodak felt safe, believing technology could not produce such a large chip. Digital cameras,though expensive, were used mainly by well-heeled consumers and by pros who saw them as a kind of "scouting" camera....they would go to a promising location and shoot various angles and compositions,returning during the period of good light to record the final image on film.


Kodak themselves produced and marketed a line of point and shoot digital cameras,and continued to work with Nikon on high end pro level cameras,but their profitability still depended upon the sale of millions upon millions of those little yellow boxes together with supplying the worlds' darkrooms with chemicals and papers. They also ruled the AV world,their slide projectors were used in homes, businesses,and theaters world-wide. Sales from digital cameras were probably less than 1% of their business. Then it happened.


Almost overnight, technology improved to the point where photo journalists were able to capture usable images using a new breed of Digital SLR cameras from Canon and Nikon which used a different type of sensor that was less costly than the CCD chip used in the Kodak/Nikon camera. These journalists could shoot images and send them via phone line to their offices, where editing could be performed on the spot, eliminating the need to process film and prints. Darkrooms at newspapers disappeared quickly, as did Kodak's sales of the necessary supplies needed for those darkrooms.

As digital became more and more commonplace, film sales dropped as well. The old stand-by of pros worldwide, Kodachrome,was eventually discontinued. Paul Simon sang a love song about that film, but the verdict was in.....film was dying. The company that told us "You push the button, we do the rest" was now pushing buttons to stay afloat. I myself gave up film in 2009, later than others but still.....


Today, film cameras sit on closet shelves gathering dust. A few people shoot it for nostalgic reasons, to be "avant garde", or just because they like film. Film does have it's charm, much like driving an antique car. Fun,but not practical. Lots of things change, history is littered with products and fads (photography was once considered a fad!) that blossomed and died. Film will go on until it is just not practical to manufacture it any longer,and one day kids will see an old ad and ask "What was film,Daddy?"


I can only guess what will happen to Kodak. Will they, like Schwinn, sell their name to any company to put on inferior products in the hope that "Name sells"? Or will they give up film and chemical products completely,concentrating on cameras only? Perhaps they will market digital processors for high volume labs, I don't know. What I do know is that I miss the smell of a new roll of film, and the anticipation of seeing if what I shot was any good. The days of standing at a light box looking at slides and then projecting them are gone,and the smell of darkroom chemicals are a distant memory. I might of gone "digital", but I will not forget those memories, ever. And in a way,that was what Kodak was (and still is,I guess) all about....preserving memories, and in that respect they have succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. God speed, Kodak.