@analog_cafe I feel justified in stocking up on Portra just in case.

@analog_cafe Kodak's coating tracks have always had shutdowns for maintenance and upgrades. Inventory will be built before a shutdown. Their coating machine could meet a year's worldwide demand within a month. Film is still a profitable product.

@analog_cafe Kodak upgrading that production line has to be good news.
I watched the Smarter Everyday Kodak videos and in there it really felt like they were one expensive part breaking away from having to just give up.
That production line is incredible, but engineered for a market 50x the current size (all paid for when that market existed), and that has huge risks alongside huge benefits.

@tmcfarlane 💯! Those videos are so good btw. That place is enormous! Oh and the film market is actually still fairly sizable: I estimated 7B+ for just still photographers (Kodak says cinema is growing too)

@analog_cafe true, but still a shadow of what Rochester was built for. I think they mention in there the portion of the capacity they currently use. I don't remember the number,, but I think it was less than 10%.
That said, I remember Nico speculating that they may be somewhat holding back on production to manage the Kodak Alaris relationship into the ground (in the hope to reacquire it)

@tmcfarlane I’m sure you’re right. That place is just enormous! I think it would be great if Kodak could manage its own distribution but I’m not sure the capital firm would be ready to sell Alaris without a huge premium. But then again, Polaroid did it, so maybe Kodak can too

@PinewoodPete indeed! Looks like this time it’s a bit more than maintenance which feels like good news. Hopefully this translates to some sort of improvement for us