Since Kodak announced its plans to discontinue HIE-135 film . . .
KODAK is preannouncing the discontinuance of several smaller running families of Professional film – EPR, EPN and High Speed Infrared (HIE) effective end of December 2007. Demand for these products has been declining significantly in recent years, and it is no longer practical to continue to manufacture given the low volume, the age of the product formulations and the complexity of the processes involved.
We will continue to ship product through the end of this year. (Kodak.com)
. . . James C. Williams has started a jihad to save it.
Important to this cause is the fact that Kodak is listening:
Below I have copied an email I just sent to Patrick Hamilton, Public Relations Director, Kodak CDG EAMER: patrick.hamilton@kodak.com
Mr. Hamilton has encouraged me to write Kodak and is aware that I am attempting to start an email campaign to save HIE-135. He has assured me that he will get the messages to the appropriate people.
You can see James’ email to Kodak, along with emails from others, on this thread over at Photo.net.
If you shoot film or have been thinking about shooting film, consider picking up a roll of HIE-135 from B&H Photo or Calumet, a couple of the few places that I’ve been able to find it online. Thirteen bucks isn’t much for a good deed this time of year (I’ve ordered a roll from B&H for myself). Also, send an email to Patrick Hamilton at Kodak if you like the stuff.
UPDATE: Kodak has heard the voices of many and still refuses to keep HIE-135 alive. Amatuer Photographer published a portion of Kodak’s statement on the matter:
While we very much appreciate the correspondence we’ve received from some photographers – who use our infrared film and would like to be able to purchase it in 2008 and beyond – the fact is the decline in the use of infrared film has been so substantial over the years that it is no longer practical for Kodak to continue to manufacture the film given the extremely low demand and volume, the age of the product formulations and the complexity of the processes involved.