Silicon Valley PAF User's Group

This was in the latest Silicon Valley PAF User's Group paper
Donnette Smith

Kodak Drops Black-and-White Photo Paper

As digital camera and color printer sales growth causes erosion of the sales of traditional cameras, film, enlargers, and chemical developers, it is no surprise to learn that Eastman Kodak Company will stop making black-and-white photographic paper. This product has been a major part of Eastman sales for more than a century. Demand for black-and white paper is declining about 25 per cent annually contributing to a first-quarter loss of $142 million for Eastman. Other companies, such as Ilford Imaging of Britain, still make black-and-white photographic paper. However, Ilford went into bankruptcy last year, and emerged this year after a management-led buyout, and AgfaPhoto GmbH filed for bankruptcy last month in Germany.

We should be aware that film is disappearing and will be more expensive and harder to find. Librarians and archivists should note that all the major manufacturers of microfilm cameras have discontinued microfilm camera products. The number of firms that process microfilm is dropping each year. If you have some old black & white negatives that you plan use some day, you may not able to make prints in a few years. Fortunately, negative can be scanned and reverse the computer.