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RE: [OM] Gold 100? [OT Rant]

Subject: RE: [OM] Gold 100? [OT Rant]
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2001 22:33:30 +0000
At 20:35 12/9/01, you wrote:
Stopped in the local 30 minute photo store today just to see what they
stock.  Mostly the Kodak Gold, with the 400, 800, and even 1600 speeds.  In
fact, the 800 speed was labelled "Best for zoom cameras", perfectly in line
with your logic.

It's the latest and greatest "snake oil" Big Yellow is pushing to cure all photography ills:
  
http://www.kodak.com/cgi-bin/webCatalog.pl?section=&cc=US&lc=en&product=KODAK+MAX+Films
[you may have to paste the URL back together if your mail reader breaks it in two]

See the cute "MAX versus lower speed film" link:
  http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/films/maxWhy.shtml

I thought one of the photographs was marginally improved with selective DOF. Fill flash would fix at least one of the others; something most P&S's *can* do. It parallels their mid-summer television advertising campaign showing an A/B comparison. One series of hideous photographs were made by a person using some other manufacturer's "slower" film. The matching series of *perfect* ones were made by another person traveling with her using Kodak MAX. All the flaws were blamed on "slower film," not the "camera holder" errors they really were, but who am I to question the infinite wisdom of Big Yellow who *knows* what's best!

No more need for bandwidth consumption with the OT film threads. Buy Kodak MAX; it replaces everything else. Our pix will be perfect, everyone happy, and we can all quit studying photographic art and science! Big Yellow's technological wizardry has created one size that fits all. Why stop there? Take the next logical step: dump the dumb antiquated 35mm gear and use Zoom MAX in one of Kodak's state-of-the-art, totally automated, smart APS cameras with a 5X zoom lens. You'll be able to shoot anything, any time, anywhere, from macro to pano! The entire camera is almost as small and light as the 40/2 pancake lens.

My thoughts (pick one or more):
(a) huge batches of MAX are wasting away aging toward expiration (stockholders don't like large inventory gathering dust) (b) under-utilized capital equipment for making MAX is creating a low return on investment (stockholders don't like this either) (c) cut the consumer film line down to one or two "one size fits all" films by influencing market demand for a "lowest common denominator" and run higher volumes of fewer products
(d)  try to reduce claims for processing errors by their subsidiary, Qualex

BTW, consumer processing labs in the U.S. shudder during two holidays each year: July 4th and Christmas. It's not the overload of processing dumped on them. It's everyone and their brother, sister and pet dog trying to photograph fireworks and outdoor Christmas decorations at night, and indoor Christmas pageants at school auditoria . . . using P&S's . . . with the integral flash turned on. The one-hour labs take more of a beating than Qualex. Upset customers are right there, in their face, wanting the lab techs to explain why they ruined their pictures. After all, that auto-everything P&S is supposed to create a perfect picture, anywhere, any time, from macro to pano (read the camera maker ads, *including* Kodak's).

Hmmmm, one last analysis before I quit thinking about films, put all my OM gear on eB*y, and buy an APS with mondo 5X zoom lens so I can quit thinking about composition, focus and exposure too: ISO 800 in broad daylight gives me 1/1000th @ f/16. Hmmmm, leaf shutter max is 1/500th so that's 1/500th @ f/22 (many P&S's top out at 1/400th). Oooooh, better hope I'm not shooting a snowscape, or bright beach shot with light sand, or highly reflective lake/ocean shot. I'm out of shutter speeds and f-stops except with 1/2000th on the OM-4. Lens apertures are up against diffraction limiting! Print grain index for a 4x6 is "48" and nearly twice that for the "25" grain visibility threshold. [Gold: 100=45, 200=47; Royal Gold: 100=28, 200=41, 400=39, 1000=57; Portra: 100T=33, 160NC=30, 160VC=33, 400NC=41, 400VC=43, 800=50; Supra: 100=27, 400=36, 800=50] I knew there was a reason I was supposed to stop thinking and blindly obey their advertising. Ignorance was bliss; now I'm disappointed and disillusioned. :-(

On second thought, I'm *keeping* the OM gear. Film? I'll keep ordering the *medium* speed ISO 64/100 chrome films and Portra 160NC from B&H (in bulk to amortize shipping cost).

-- John


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