quote:

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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24 -- Eastman Kodak Company introduced today two new films within its VISION2 family of color negative film technology, reinforcing the company's commitment to making the world's finest films for the benefit of cinematographers and moviegoers.

Kodak the world's No. 1 maker of motion-picture film first brought VISION2 to market in November 2002, with the introduction of KODAK VISION2 500T film. Since that time, cinematographers have made VISION2 their film of choice on movie sets: VISION2 now accounts for about 70% of color negative film shot on Hollywood-produced motion pictures.

The extension of the VISION2 family reflects the company's determination to make continued investments in those film markets where demand remains strong and where film technology provides unique benefits. This strategy complements Kodak's effort to accelerate investments in digital technologies for the benefit of its customers.

The company is adding to the KODAK VISION2 product line 100- and 200-speed, ultra-fine grain color negative films with specialized imaging characteristics. The company expects to introduce additional VISION2 products later in 2004.

"Nobody loves film like Kodak," says Kodak Chairman and CEO Daniel Carp. "These exciting new products reinforce our strong commitment to film technology. Kodak is dedicated to developing a full range of products and services both digital and traditional to help bring the visions of filmmakers to the screen so that the viewing audience enjoys the richest experience that technology can provide."

The new generation of KODAK VISION2 films leverages a leap forward in photochemical science and technology.

"The new films provide extraordinary creative latitude for cinematographers, coupled with efficiencies designed to retain the integrity of the original images during postproduction," said Robert Mayson, general manager of image capture and vice president of Kodak's Entertainment Imaging Division. "Cinematographers who have tested the new films are finding they can probe deeper into both highlight and shadow areas and record nuances in details that are important to the stories they are telling."

Both new films offer significant advances in under- and over-exposure latitude; extremely fine grain and enhanced capacities for recording subtle details in highlights and shadows. They are available in 16 mm, 35 mm and 65 mm formats.

"Filmmaking is an interpretive form of artistic expression," Mayson said. "These developments are a response to customers who have been telling us they want more flexibility and more creative latitude. They also want the ability to retain the subtlest details recorded on the negative during both optical and digital postproduction with the goal of putting them on cinema and television screens."

The KODAK VISION2 family of films incorporates new sensitizing layers that provide important advantages during postproduction. Kodak designed the exposed negatives to retain the fidelity of the original images when they are converted to digital and optical formats for postproduction.

Dean Semler, ASC, (The Alamo, Bruce Almighty, XXX, We Were Soldiers, Dances With Wolves) is among the cinematographers who have tested the new VISION2 stocks.

"Just as we are entering the digital revolution, Kodak comes out of left field with a magnificent new film stock (KODAK VISION2 200T Color Negative Film 5217) that truly surpasses all others."

Kodak is still in the relatively early stages of bringing recent advancements in emulsion technology to the marketplace, Mayson said. He anticipates additional developments before the end of the year.

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Kodak continues to "Raise the Bar" with ever-improving image quality, and continues to invest in FILM.
 

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Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 11-04-2004, 05:11 PM:
 
I got an email today from Kodak announcing another new VISION2 film with a presentation next Tuesday in New York:

quote: Kodak Entertainment Imaging

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INTRODUCING
KODAK VISION2 250D Color Negative Film

The First daylight-balanced film
in the KODAK VISION2 Film family
VISION2 250D Color Negative Film 5205/7205
Please join us for a presentation
and demonstration of this new
VISION2 Daylight Film

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...but I don't see any information on www.kodak.com/go/motion.
Has it not yet been officially announced?

Edit: There's a note about a similar event in LA.

--jhawk
 

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-04-2004, 08:29 PM:
 
The "official" launch is next week, with demos and presentations in major production centers. Actually, the film has been on the market and in the catalog for about a month already:

Kodak Motion Picture Catalog, October 2004

The new KODAK VISION2 250D Color Negative Film 5205/7205 is a really nice looking film, and a significant improvement for cinematographers shooting in daylight or with HMI lighting.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-04-2004, 08:43 PM:
 
Free samples pleeze?????

Mark
 

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-04-2004, 09:05 PM:
 
Sometimes cinematographers attending the demo presentations get lucky, when free sample rolls are available.

Quite a few shot "trade test" film under an NDA -- lots of nice comments about the image quality.

BTW, I will be at the launch event in NYC on Tuesday, November 9.
 

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Posted by Ian Joseph Parfrey (Member # 2682) on 11-05-2004, 04:29 AM:
 
I don't know what all the raving is about regards Kodak film stock.
Kodak is good, but don't Agfa and Fuji both make good stocks too?
Maybe it's a personal preference thing but I reckon the Agfa's got the goods.
Now Orwo film, THERE'S a good stock.
 

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-05-2004, 05:56 AM:
 
Although Agfa still makes color print film and sound negative film, they do not make motion-picture camera films, nor the dozens of other film types necessary for motion picture post production:

Kodak Color Negative Films

Kodak Reversal Films

Kodak B&W Films

Kodak Intermediate Films

Kodak Print Films

Kodak Post-Production Films

The Image Chain

quote:

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Motion Picture Imaging Chain
Follow the steps and decisions involved in bringing a motion picture from the camera to the screen.

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quote: Ian Joseph Parfrey

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Now Orwo film, THERE'S a good stock.

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Yes, it could be if handled properly.
Their B/W NP22 film was nearly as good as FP4 if care was given in processing. Developed correctly in ID11 at a dilution of 1/1, agitation for 10 secs every minute, it gave beautiful negatives, with a tight grain structure and sharpness, that printed easily on grade 2 or 3 Multigrade paper, but you had to make certain that the temperature did not exceed 70F otherwise the grain just exploded. Very good for certain types of subject. The film seemed to have a built in yellow filter as it reproduced white clouds in a blue sky better than any other B/W film that I used. Mind you, their colour film was not so good. I believe that they were using an old Agfacolor colour process.
Do ORWO still exist. I have not seen any of their film since 1990.
 

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Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 11-05-2004, 07:57 AM:
 
I agree Hugh; Orwo was good for black and white. I never liked their colour films.

I think Orwo became part of Agfa, but I'm not absolutely sure.

Efke also make some good black and white films; they are basically the old Adox emulsions. Not widely stocked over here, even Silverprint don't seem to keep them, but you can order them from Fotoimpex, in Germany. They even do an ISO 25 film in 5x4.

For colour negative I think Kodak is the best.
 

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Posted by Ian Joseph Parfrey (Member # 2682) on 11-05-2004, 04:05 PM:
 
Agfa ST8 ( or updated equivalent ) seems to be the film of choice for soundtrack recording here in Oz. Can't comment on the Kodak s/t neg stock. But for B&W release printing, the Ilford still stands head and shoulders against all others. That stuff looked beautiful, and still does.
 

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Posted by David M. Dorn (Member # 2298) on 11-09-2004, 08:15 AM:
 
Efke films are available here in the US from J and C Photo. They don't list abt Efke movie film but do carry FOMA in dbl 8 and 16mm. Their web site is www.jancphoto.com

J and C seems to have a tie Fotoimpex.

They also carry Calbe developers including RO9 which is basically the pre WWII version of Agfa Rodinal and make Atomal which is no longer available from Agfa.

Their service has been very reliable.
 

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Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 11-10-2004, 02:37 PM:
 

quote:

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Now Orwo film, THERE'S a good stock. [puke]

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