News: TTArtisan to release an Instax camera

TTArtisan is known to produce more budget friendly lenses for a variety of camera, including Fujifilm XF mount and Leica M rangefinder.

Now they are entering the market of the Instax cameras. Since the announcement is blocked by the Instagram wall, I’ll link to Kosmophoto: TTArtisan announces Folding Instant Camera which shoots Instax film:

Lens maker TTArtisan has launched a new folding camera which shoots Instax film.

It’s shooting Instax mini, it seems to be based on the Chinese Seagull 203 folding camera, and the shutter is mechanical.

Price is not available at the time.

News: Canon PowerShot V1

Well…

The PowerShot G7X Mk3 has been unobtainium for a while (over a year) as my G7X MkII has been malfunctioning/breaking down, and I couldn’t replace it unless I got a Sony.

There was rumors, and they are true. Canon unveiled the PowerShot V1. This video-first camera is their answer to the Sony ZV-1, the “vlogging” camera. One big caveat: you can only get it in major Asian markets, in April 2025.

A few bits: the sensor is roughly the size of a m4/3 sensor, but in 3:2 aspect ratio, which is larger than on the G7X, it has IS, audio jack for input and output, articulated screen, 4K, and a 16-50mm equivalent.

From the picture it looks more bulky, with a bigger grip than the G7X.

To be determined is the price, and the availability in Canada (and the rest of the world).

For reference the G7X MkIII has a MSRP of CA$1,069.00, and the MarkII was about CA$100 less, the Fujfilm X-M5 with the kit lens is CA$1,199.00, and the Sony Z-V1 II is CA$999.00

To be continued.

Update: The price would be ¥148,500 which is about CA$1,400 (incl. 10% VAT)

New Harman Red

Harman Technologies announced the Harman Red 125.

It’s a 35mm “redscale” negative film in the standard C-41 process. It’s a new emulsion based of the Phoenix colour film. Rated at 125 ISO it can be shot between 50 and 400 ISO for different effect. It comes in a 36 exposure roll.

DPReview has some more info.

Glad to see Harman investing in new films.

Kodak to clamp down on bulk loading

Apparently Kodak Alaris decided to restrict the sale of colour film in bulk, unless you are a movie production.

No more respooling to save on costs, which is what a lot of reseller were doing. Paying US$8-9 for a roll of Ektachrome instead of US$22 from Kodak was a significant saving.

As Kosmofoto reports, Reflx Lab says that its respooled colour film might not last long including the Cine film.

All of this coincide with them being sold to a private equity. Correlation is not causation, but coincidences are rare.

Previously: Kodak price updates and Kodak pauses film production for factory upgrades.

News: Kodak price updates

Kosmophoto tells us Kodak Alaris announces price rises for January 2025 – but Tri-X is getting cheaper:

In contrast to previous price increases, the majority of price increases will under 10%, with most falling between 5% and 8%.

It’s a mixed bag, some film raising in prices and some falling, with 120 rolls rising more than 135.

To be continued…

Previously: Kodak pauses film production for factory upgrades, Fujifilm film price increase, Price hike on Kodak film

News: Kodak pauses film production for factory upgrades

The Verge signals us that Kodak pauses film production for factory upgrades to help meet demand:

Eastman Kodak has temporarily paused all film production. The news comes as part of a shutdown in November allowing the company to upgrade and modernize its Rochester, New York factory,

I tried to not make the headline click-bait, like the bits I saw earlier this week.
This is actually a good news in which Kodak need to pause production to better produce, due to increased demand. Increased demand is good, as it means film is alive.

From Kosmo Photo:

In 2020, Eastman Kodak said demand for film had doubled between 2015 and 2019, after a decade-long period of decline following the start of consumer digital photography.

Let’s hope this is a positive signal from the previous news of Kodak photo businesses being sold to private equity.

25 years of DPReview: The rise and fall of the compact camera

DPReview is 25 and and goes down the memory lane with The rise and fall of the compact camera.

Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, and, along with some help from Samsung and other manufacturers, it would change photography forever. However, iPhone sales didn’t really take off until around 2012, and, what do you know, that’s when the compact camera crash began.

The author isn’t enthusiastic on point and shoot cameras making a comeback. Charts show the very steep decline in the number of models released and the steep rise (and mostly plateau-ed) number of smartphones sold.

As I previously linked manufacturers were unprepared for the point and shoot camera revival when some demand for advanced compact camera came following some influencers, and it might be that we’ll only get these more costly compact camera. The Fujifilm X100VI is basically unobtainium and the already few years old Canon G7X MkIII is even worse. The Ricoh GR III availability is trending that way too, while Leica has the D-Lux 8, a rebadged Panasonic that cost as much as the Fujifilm. As for Sony, it seems that their focus seems to be on the ZV series that are geared towards video, this being stripped down version of the RX100 that hasn’t an update for a while. The only not too pricey segment that seems to exist is the rugged cameras, combination of tough and underwater resistance for which both Ricoh and Olympus have updated model.