Talk:Kodak

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Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

Does anyone have recent information on the relationship between Kodak and KKR? The most recent articles I could find were about the resignation of KKR-appointed members of Kodak's board in 2011. I don't see any information in news archives on what happened during and after the bankruptcy proceedings. Rocfan275 (talk) 21:43, 18 January 2023 (UTC)

I don't see KKR listed as a major holder of Kodak stock. Rocfan275 (talk) 19:32, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

Is Kodak selling film?

My impression is that Kodak, the corporation, sold its film manufacturing operation to a separate independent entity, Alaris, with a deal to use the Kodak brand and trademark.

The article text makes it sound like Kodak is selling film through a division called Alaris, but I have seen no source for that. Anyone know which is correct? SPECIFICO talk 19:59, 22 January 2023 (UTC)

Kodak film brands have been one of the more confusing topics to follow since the bankruptcy proceedings. Kodak Alaris is an independent company which was spun off from Eastman Kodak in 2012. Kodak Alaris was given control over Kodak's consumer film and paper distribution (as shown on their website) as well as most overseas manufacturing facilities, while Eastman Kodak retained the distribution rights for motion picture film (as shown on their website) and Eastman Business Park, where most film is manufactured. Kodak Alaris has since sold most (if not all) of its own film manufacturing facilities to other companies. At least some of their consumer film is manufactured by Eastman Kodak in Rochester, as seen in this press release for the announcement of Ektachrome's return. Eastman Kodak and Kodak Alaris both sell film under the Kodak brand.

TL;DR Kodak-brand motion picture film stock is solely manufactured and distributed by Eastman Kodak. Kodak-brand consumer film is partially manufactured by Eastman Kodak and solely distributed by Kodak Alaris. Any ambiguities should be corrected in the article. Rocfan275 (talk) 01:08, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

From what I have seen, Kodak manufactures motion picture film, but all of the still film is produced and distributed by the independent Alaris entity. Is that your understanding, or if not do you have a secondary source that states that the still film is actually manufactured by the Kodak corporation? Thanks. SPECIFICO talk 01:37, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

There are an abundance of secondary sources that Eastman Kodak still manufactures still film, such as this article from WXXI last year, but otherwise yes. Rocfan275 (talk) 01:49, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

Thanks. If you are so inclined, I think it would be helpful to clarify this in the article text. My impression is still that Alaris is manufacturing still film elsewhere. I'm surprised that the mothballed US factory can be brought back after a hiatus. SPECIFICO talk 02:07, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

To clarify this: Kodak Alaris has never manufactured film and does not do so. All Film sold by Kodak Alaris is manufactured by Eastman Kodak in the US. Movie film and still film are very similar and there is no separate manufacturing, the film is basically sold in different forms. Film is never manufactured in the size it is sold, it is always manufactured with a width of a meter or more on "endless" substrate and cut into the desired format. In many cases, the same film is delivered as still and movie film, just in different formats. You can read "Made in USA" on all Kodak Alaris films sold. Kodak Alaris did manufacture photographic paper and chemicals, but they have sold that business, including the distribution and sales operations, to a company called Sino Promise. They still distribute the still films. I am sure there are sources for all of this, but I am too lazy to look them up. I can assure you that everybody involved in the industry can list those companies worldwide still making photographic film (not necessarily for photography), Kodak Alaris is not one of them.2001:BB8:2002:2400:58EF:E58D:4182:2042 (talk) 17:06, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

Komstar and Optistar Systems

There is no mention here of the Kodak Komstar Microfilm/Microfiche system, and the later Optistar system, which was a document storage system based on the Komstar system, but stored the information on large, glass laserdiscs. The system contributed to the bankruptcy and downfall of Kodak, as they invested heavily into the project, but most companies were not buying the system. The Optistar system sold during the mid-to-late 1990's, and was meant for legal and financial document storage. It could format to any form type, and had a complete software package based on the Komstar indexing system that allowed also for retrieval and print by marked values on the page. Kodak stopped support and production on the Optistar system sometime around 2005, and all service was outsourced. The media also became hard to obtain, as Kodak had retained the rights to the Optistar disk design, so no third-party producers of the medium ever developed.

I worked with both systems back in the 1990's, and although the retrieval time on the Optistar was much faster than searching microfiche, any time that a disk had to be exchanged for one in the current storage in order to retrieve an older file, there had to be an operator present to remove and replace the laser disk manually, as there was a limited storage on the device, and there was no auto-loading feature outside of the actual device cabinet. The Kodak website only makes brief mention of these, but Optistar was a bit ahead of its time, although it could have been designed to be a bit better, especially when it came to the footprint of the device itself. The Optistar was smaller than a full microfiche printer and duplicator, but not by much. The storage cabinets only stored up to 50 disks, which were all in their own aluminum cases, and the disks could not be loaded into the Optistar without the aluminum casing. Some flaws in the cases caused the media to get scratched during storage and retrieval, and even removing the disk in the case from the Optistar system had to be done gingerly, or the disks would crack or even shatter. 2001:1998:3500:4A:0:0:0:544 (talk) 21:19, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

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• Kodak battery.jpg

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Kodak stills film direct sales without Alaris

Over the last few months, Kodak appears to have gotten at least some of the rights back to sell stills film without the involvment of Kodak Alaris, as shown here in a post on there official Instagram. They say that for the first time in decades they will be selling film direct to distributors, as opposed to just selling it to Kodak Alaris and then having them do the distribution. Since that Instagram post it seems like most of the other stills film stocks are now for sale from Eastman Kodak direct to retail, with the only major exception being the Portra line. The new version of the films that are distributed by Eastman Kodak directly are called Kodak Eastman on the B&H listings, different from the alaris version, which uses just Kodak. In light of this it feels like the section on Post-bankruptcy and Current products and services is out of date. It says in both sections that they only manufacture the films for alaris and this is now out of date. I fear that to make this change clear would need a fairly major update to those sections so I wanted to see what others thought and call some attention to this. Intelquackcore (talk) 02:39, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

This is interesting news. Yeah, the sections need an update. So does the Kodak Alaris page. Wonder what sort of deal was made to allow this, since Kodak Alaris getting the still film line was a big part of the assets transferred to them to settle the Eastman Kodak bankruptcy issues in the first place. Perhaps it's because Kodak Alaris has been sold to new private ownership who don't see the need to maintain that business. oknazevad (talk) 22:27, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

@Oknazevad

Something related to the Alaris sale was my guess as well. part of my wants to wait till more comes out about what happened to allow this but also we might never know and the section needs an update sooner rather than later. Good point about the Alaris article as well, it definitely needs to be overhauled to include this. Intelquackcore (talk) 01:10, 5 April 2026 (UTC)

Former products (sections)

• smartphones The company entered smartphone business in late 2014. In 2013 unveiled a concept smartphone named the “Instamatic 2014″ that was an Android device with a real viewfinder. IM5, Ektra
• pocket video cameras - zi8,zx1,zi6,z18,zxd, PIXPRO C1 ...Charmera Keychain Digital Camera,Charmera Keychain Digital Camera - Millenium news about exiting this business - it seems big enough product category (a lot of models, news about shuting it down means it was internally significant) to be deserving of a section
• rugged cameras (waterproof, shockproof, dustproof) / action cameras - PIXPRO WPZ2, Pixpro SP1... - market for this category is huge so it'd be good to have a section (other historical competitors also entered the market such as Olympus (Tough TG-7, Tough 3000, TM6)) ~2026-39396-77 (talk) 00:35, 14 July 2026 (UTC)
• Kodak Xray film KODAK INDUSTRIAL X-RAY FILM KODAK INDUSTRIAL X-RAY FILM 7400 Kodak Medical X-Ray Film General Purpose Green (MXG)... big player - them and FujiFilm
• Kodak X-ray machines dental and medical (machines for taking images and machines for diagnostics) since 1896 Kodak to Sell Health-Group Imaging Unit for Up to $2.55 Billion (2007); dental: KODAK 2200 Intraoral X-Ray System, Kodak Carestream RVG 6100 Digital X-ray..., medical: Kodak Medical X-ray Processor 102... ~2026-39396-77 (talk) 20:22, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Uranium and Nuclear reactor

I think this would be good to add.

• "Kodak produced refined uranium for the Manhattan Project" - that's a bit different, more sinister, more involved than is described in the section Manhattan Project

• 3.5 pounds nuclear reactor No One Ever Talked About The Nuclear Reactor Kodak Kept In Its Headquarters For 30 Years, Kodak had a 'Secret' Nuclear Reactor, Did you know? Kodak Park had a nuclear reactor, Kodak Had Weapons Grade Uranium In Their Basement - might seem like trivia, but it shows how big and important the company was, when military grade uranium is a geopolitical and national security question

• uranium toner Kodak T-9 and Uranium photography or Uranotype photography - Today, uranium photography is virtually nonexistent, but Kodak still makes a uranium toner(?), Kodak Uranium Toner K-9, between the 1930s through the 1950s Kodak Books still described a uranium toner (Kodak T-9) using uranium nitrate hexahydrate. Kodak had actually manufactured a uranium toner but that it had been discontinued (for obvious reasons) in the 1960s. - same argument as for nuclear reactor ~2026-39396-77 (talk) 13:50, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Pollution (there is a lot more)

• Kodak confirms it dumped radioactive wastes, "dumped low-level radioactive wastes in a former Rochester landfill in the late 1940s and 1950s, ...The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a report on the old Emerson Street dump that says thorium-232, ...Records from the city, which closed the dump in 1971,"
• Fined $2.15 Million for illegally disposing of hazardous waste and failing to report the spill of a toxic solvent until five days after it was discovered - incidents occurred in 1986 and 1987 (the article suggests it was in 1990)
• illegally discharged solvents into the city’s sewer system (fined)
• flouted air pollution regulations (fined)
• $8 million settlement to repair leaking sewers that had carried industrial waste beneath the city for decades
• Environmental Working Group report during the first half of the 1990s, the company released more recognized carcinogens into the water than any other polluter in New York
• Kodak officials say there is no scientific evidence of a link between film manufacturing and cancer ""People living near the factory getting rare diseases, leukemia, blue angels, lymphoma, rare cancers of the brain and central nervous system" - circumstancial evidence I believe is enough in such cases (why would suddenly in the exact location of polluted air and water and earth with radioactive and other toxic materials multiple rare diseases occur and not, Idk, in Greenland) so I believe it should be in the article
• book Tales of Militant Chemistry by film historian Alice Lovejoy chronicles dark environmental impact of Kodak and other companies in the business (KOdak refused to comment on the book) - believe it should be mentioned ~2026-39396-77 (talk) 14:25, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Kodak Books (list) ?

Books by Eastman Kodak Company (colloquially Kodak Books). It seems there is at least 213 books. Might be good to make a simple list (as illustrated below) and add it at the end of the article. Occasionally I stumble upon the references on the books, it seems they were influential given the Kodak's status in photography and videography.

• Kodak Pocket Guide to 35mm Photography (year, publication)
• Creative darkroom techniques (?, Kodak publication)
• Advanced Black-And-White Photography (the Kodak Workshop series) (,)
• Black-And-White Darkroom Techniques (the Kodak Workshop seriesp) (,)
• ... ~2026-39396-77 (talk) 14:37, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

corporate flight department

since 1945, all the way to 2000s; quite a big fleet with their own pilots; no matter how big a company is, it's extremely rare as far as I could find, even today - one plane yes, but a fleet no. It's shows the size of the company, huge cashflow. I think it'd benefit the article, the whole narration about Kodak. ~2026-39396-77 (talk) 19:21, 14 July 2026 (UTC)