One of the recurrent themes in headlines across the world is the rising cost of goods and services from food to fuel to gadgets.
Of course, hand-in-hand with this phenomenon is the consistent demand for products with a constrained supply whether due to high demand, manufacturing issues, or some combination of the two.
Naturally, our little corner of the world is not immune to this phenomenon but we’ll bet that today’s story doesn’t impact as many of us as it probably would have some twenty years ago.
Reports collated by PetaPixel indicate that Kodak intends to raise prices on its traditional film by approximately 40% with an average price increase of 17% across product lines.
Aside from the current zeitgeist, there’s another reason why Kodak is raising prices: Film’s recent resurgence in popularity. It is so popular, in fact, that the company can’t keep up with production. That’s quite the reversal of fortune for a firm that’s had one of the rougher roads over the past decade.
Some of you might recall our story about Kodak producing pharmaceutical chemicals at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to a massive rally for the associated stock which itself precipitated an investigation into the company. It was one of our more interesting stories that year, and one that clearly illustrates just how wild these times are.
While these price increases are global in nature, when exactly prices will rise is still up in the air. PetaPixel reports that the website attempted to contact Kodak for confirmation but was unable to obtain that prior to publication.
Do you still use film? Have you noticed price increases over the past couple of years? Let us know about your experience in the comments.
Be sure to read some of our other photography news on Light Stalking at this link.
2 Comments
Unlike many other things though, Kodak seems keen to tank their products…
40% … greed
Yes, Kodak Alaris has raised prices to absurdly high levels for both 24 and 36 exposure rolls of film. E100 Ektachrome is now more than $22/roll in most places and no longer worth shooting. The photo processing labs that still exist have also raised prices dramatically. That said, I grew up with film and still love shooting it, but the cost of doing so forces me to be much more judicious with each shutter click.
I am doing most of my film photography with B & W stock from Ilford, but especially their XP-2 Super which is processed in C-41 chemistry.