First, I'm absolutely stunned to think that a city the size of San Diego has no
E6 proccessing. I simply can't believe it.
I certainly don't think that Kodak is THAT stupid to discontinue E6 films. As a
business decision, it would be appalling. There is certainly enough market to
allow for continued production, even at a limited rate, that would be
profitable. Squeezing the last dollar out of a product line can prove to be
quite profitable.
If the E6 market were dead, then why would Fuji continue production? It was
only last year that the new versions of their E6 films were introduced(and the
discontinuance of Velvia 50 was a part of that), and are very successful.
As for Qualex processing slides, I don't know about E6, but I'm surprised they
ever had any business for their third rate processing. Qualex is a high volume
processor for amateur film from drugstores, supermarkets, and a few camera
stores. The last slide show in a home in America must have been at least 10
years ago. The only pros that sent film there were those shooting Kodachrome,
and as we all know, that has been outsourced to here in Kansas, and apparently
has improved.
The bottom line? There is still a market for E6 film. Our local lab does a
thriving business in it. For example, artists still need slides of their work,
and this lab shoots a number of paintings a day. There are still commercial
clients that want film, note the recent SI swimsuit edition, where at least one
photo shows a photographer using a film camera. A good portion of National
Geographic is still film.
I'm suspicious of the lab guy's comments. I'd bet a weeks pay that there is
still enough E6 work in San Diego to support a good lab.
In other words, don't panic, the world hasn't ended yet!
Bill Pearce
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