Kodak's Kodachrome Film Retires at 74

Kodachrome fades away

Kodachrome was the world’s first commercially successful color film, hitting the market in 1935. Kodak announced today that it will stop making Kodachrome this year.

The Los Angeles Times says:

Revenue from Kodachrome represents “a fraction of one percent” of Kodak’s total sales of still-picture films, the company said today in a statement. … The Rochester, New York-based company has seen its profitable film business “evaporate” as digital cameras gained dominance, Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez said earlier this year. The company lost $4.53 billion in market value in 2008 as it struggled to show investors it had a place in the new technology.

Digital age claims another technological victim

Besides the minuscule profits Kodachrome now brings in, the product also has become obsolete to the point that many film labs don’t even process Kodachrome anymore.

Digital photography has taken over as the preferred from of producing still pictures, and Kodachrome just isn’t a relevant or useful product anymore. Just as online payday loans will likely take over as the preferred way of getting a short-term loan, digital photography has proven to be preferred over film.

“The majority of today’s photographers have voiced their preference to capture images with newer technology — both film and digital,” said Mary Jane Hellyar, Kodak’s outgoing president of the film, photofinishing and entertainment group. Kodak derives 70 percent of its revenue from commercial and consumer digital businesses, the company said in the statement, says the L.A. Times. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Kodak's Kodachrome Film Retires at 74 "