Kodak to Stop Making Black-and-White Paper

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Ending a century-old tradition, Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) will soon stop making black-and-white photographic paper, a niche product for fine-art photographers and hobbyists that is rapidly being supplanted by digital-imaging systems.

Kodak said Wednesday it will discontinue production of the paper, specially designed for black-and-white film, at the end of this year. But the world's biggest film manufacturer will continue to make black-and-white film and chemicals for processing.

"It's a shame to see it go," said Bill Schiffner, editor of Imaging Business magazine in Melville, N.Y. "Digital has done a lot of good things for the industry but it's done some bad things too. It's making a lot of these processes obsolete."

*snip*

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159782,00.html

no suprise here.

I have about eighty 8x10 sheets left to play with. It's getting hard to find Tri-X film around here anyway, I either have to go out of town to get it or I have to order it.

And use a colorhead to control the contrast. It was very convenient.

I haven't used any of it for a long time, but it feels a little sad to see it go.

The obsolescence part is obscene, however. Digital still has problems that only the higher end D-SLR cameras with their larger sensors can properly compensate.

Velox and Medalist and Polycontrast -- and Dektol.

I guess D-76 and Panatomic X and Tri X will go next.

Oh well - you can't get dermatitis from Photoshop -- and AF digitals let you "concentrate on the subject." I liked matching needles and seeing the top half and bottom half of the image coincide in the viewfinder - but I am a 64 year old dinosaur.