Film Friday: ‘A simple solution to the colour film crisis?’: Digital Photography Review

Film photography has made a resurgence, particularly with the younger generations. It’s not cheap though and options are relatively scarce compared to just twenty years ago, particularly if you want to shoot color film photography. To help both diversify the color film photography market and bring down the prices of film stock, Stephen Dowling, founder of KosmoFoto, has posited an interesting solution to bringing back more color film stocks at reasonable prices.

In an article titled A simple solution to the colour film crisis, Dowling breaks down the current state of the color film market before explaining how he believes Kodak could help make color film photography more diverse and affordable.

KosmoFoto: A simple solution to the colour film crisis

Dowling contacted a London film retailer to see just how much prices have risen over the past few years and even he, who runs a small black and white film company, was shocked to find out how little color film cost (relatively) just five years ago compared to what it costs today. According to the retailer, it was selling ‘Kodak Portra 400 35mm for £8 a roll, Kodak Ektar 100 for £7.50 a roll and a roll of 36-frame Kodak ColorPlus 200 for £4.’

A screenshot from price tracking website CamelCamelCamel showing the increase in price of Kodak’s Portra 400 Pro Pack (5-pack) from Amazon and third-party sellers. If you throw out the outliers (some of which might’ve been accidental price drops), you can see prices roughly tripled from 2018 with prices going from around $35 to $100 for five rolls of Portra 400.

Compared to today, Kodak Portra 400 is going for nearly £20 a roll, Kodak Ektar 100 is hovering around £13 a roll and even the once reasonably priced Kodak ColorPlus will run you about £12 a roll. And that’s if you can even find these film stocks available anywhere.

‘For the first time in years, I am seeing diehard film photographers turn their backs on colour film,’ says Dowling. ‘Some of these photographers will stick with black-and-white, where there are still affordable options. Others seem to be walking away from film altogether.’

Dowling goes into more detail in his post, but a large part of the reason we’re seeing high prices and struggle to keep up with demand is due to Kodak’s effective exit of the film photography market, highlighted by the closure of its film production plant in Guadalajara, Mexico, which had been producing film for over five decades. Now, only a fraction of the production capacity remains and while the resurgence of film photography is significant, it’s not enough to justify new companies getting into the film production game with original emulsions considering the complexity involved.

A 1988 ad for Kodak’s Kodacolor VR-G 200 film stock. Kodacolor VR-G film ad, 1988, scanned by Tom Simpson, used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

His solution? For Kodak Alaris, who has the exclusive right to market Kodak-branded film, to release Kodak’s old Kodacolor range as a new entry-level film lineup for budding and casual film photographers. ‘They are cheap and cheerful and grainier and less exacting than the Ektar and Portra and, yes, even ColorPlus,’ says Dowling. ‘But they’re also cheaper.’

It seems Lomography has at least some kind of exclusivity for some of these emulsions, considering many of their color film stocks appear visually similar to some of Eastman Kodak’s original emulsions. But ‘Demand has outstripped supply,’ in the words of Dowling, and it’s time Eastman Kodak work with Kodak Alaris to once again put the Kodak name on these emulsions.

Dowling concludes:

‘Because Eastman Kodak won’t have to spend a king’s ransom on R&D, these films can come in at a much cheaper price point. The professionals and those with deeper pockets can still stump for the superior pro-level films, but those on a budget will suddenly have a cheaper outlet. Perfect films for taking on a summer holiday, loading in a cheap compact for a festival or a night out with friends, and enjoying the trial, error and happy accidents that come with learning to shoot on film.’

It may be wishful thinking, but it’s a solution that could bring at least some reprieve to a film photography market that is thriving with demand and suffering from a lack of supply. You can read the full article and keep up with other great film photography content on KosmoFoto.