[Leica] A Sobering Story from the Photo Expo

[jshulman at judgecrater.com (Jim Shulman)]

It's quite simple: the market is vanishing, and they're treating it as a
dying profit center.  Considering that, for all intents, there really
hasn't been any significant new-camera demand for film in more than a
decade, that's understandable.  I've also heard from more than one place
that they are getting out of b/w altogether, which is a shame but then I'm
not the one buying silver and other materials that will go unsold.

As for pushing products that lack market demand, I've been there.  It's
not pretty, and usually a huge waste of time and resources. Short of deep
discounting (which is essentially what happened with the private label
Freestyle Legacy Pro products), there's not much you can do if the
public's interests lie elsewhere.

Yes, I still love Neopan and will shoot it while I can.  Unlike the
lamented Kodachrome, I can processes the stuff in my basement.

Jim Shulman
Wynnewood, PA
Who shed a tear when he found an unopened carton of K64 last week.

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+jshulman=judgecrater.com at leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+jshulman=judgecrater.com at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Ken
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2011 8:08 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] A Sobering Story from the Photo Expo

They might be able to sell more than $3 of film if they were ever clear
about what products were still available. I'm only certain a fuji film is
no longer available when I just don't see it at the store anymore. Nobody
at Fuji ever has any clue as to what's going on. So yeah, with how they
run things, it's amazing they can sell anything at all in the first place.

Yes, kodak discontinues films too, but they at least have a formal
annoucement and suggest a replacement.

If you go to fujifilm.com they don't even list black and white films at
all. Are they stupid? Yes, they really are.

Maybe they should be pushing their products intead of telling sob stories
to the public at a trade show. It's not professional and indicates some
serious problems with how they operate.

I kind of like neopan 400 and the 3000b instant films, so I have no issue
with the products themselves. I take photos at parties using a 1958 Crown
Graphic and high speed B&W 4x5 instant film from fuji. The "ooh and aah"
factor of this camera is pretty amazing and the production factor of
taking the photo and everybody crowding around to see it being peeled
apart simply doesn't happen with a digital camera, ever.


On Thu, 27 Oct 2011, Jim Shulman wrote:

> At the Fuji booth, I suggested they stop calling it Fujifilm if they
keep
> insisting on discontinuing Fuji films.
>
> One rep said he sympathized with me, but noted, ?When I started with
Fuji in
> the 1990s I had a territory of four states, with annual film sales of
> $18Million.  Today my territory is ten states, and my total film sales
last
> year were $5800.?  He then went on to note that Fuji had to throw out a
ton
> of film recently that simply wasn?t finding a market.
>
>
>
> Can?t fight that logic!
>
>
>
> Jim Shulman
>
> Wynnewood, PA
>
> Who still caged a comp roll of Neopan Acros 100 from the kind Fuji
folks.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>

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