At 05:43 PM 06/06/2001, you wrote:
> Yes. Not very. I bought some Kodak Gold from B&H that turned out to
>be manufactured in the UK, probably for the Middle Eastern market -
>the writing on the box was all in Arabic. It's the sole time that
>I've been disappointed with B&H's usually excellent service, as I
>wasn't notified upon ordering that the film wasn't your standard
>manufactured-in-Rochester film. (I've bought Fuji NPH/NPS film from
>B&H grey market before, and it was your usual high-quality
>Made-in-Japan film)
First, I am sorry you were dissatisfied. FWIW we have sold hundreds of
MILES of this stuff and yours is the only complaint I can recall during
this calendar year. It may also be of interest to note that much of the
stuff labelled "made in UK" is master rolls from the USA (emulsion & base
made in USA and coated here) shipped overseas to be cut and packaged. It's
also worth noting that Kodak's Gold film is their amateur stuff, and you
might find their Royal Gold more suitable.
Two other points -- all Fuji pro film is manufactured in Asia and the ONLY
difference between "USA" and "grey market" is WHO got it to the USA.
Finally, at my COO's urging yesterday I redistributed a memo to all sales
associates reminding them that B&H policy is to be as forthcoming with the
provenance of film as we have been with hard goods, i.e., tell the customer
and let the customer choose.
Last, Kodak is renaming their amateur line. This is from Herbert Keppler's
article in the trade paper, Photo Industry Reporter, and refers to the
annual PopPhoto film roundup.
(Thanks, Burt, for letting me paste it here).
We (PopPhoto) couldn’t understand just why Kodak’s consumer division seemed
to be dragging its feet in assembling the Gold and Royal Gold listings for
us. But a startling announcement made just at our copy deadline cleared up
the foot-dragging. While specialty stores’ Royal Gold would continue in
200, 400 and 1000 speeds, all mass consumer Gold films will be renamed to
simplify choice for the snapshooter. Film speed and technology will be
played down and film use played up. Gold 100, 200 Max 400 and Max zoom 800
will henceforth be named Kodak 100, Kodak 200, Max Versatility 400 and Max
Versatility Plus 800.
Each box will have a picture of a typical subject suitable for the film
use—for instance a flower on the 100 and a flash photo of two young women
on the 200 film. Film packages will have icons indicating their possible
use. The 100 film will have one icon indicating bright sun, 200 two icons,
bright sun and flash, while Max 800 Versatility Plus will have six icons—
for bright sun, flash, action, still low light and less blur. The present
graphic cross-indexed chart showing which films can be used for what
subjects is being replaced. Since research has indicated that blur is a
most common snapshooter picture complaint, Kodak is concentrating on a
single line, four-picture chart illustrating blur. The 100 film picture of
an athlete in action much blur, 200 slightly less blur with the same
subject, 400 a small amount of blur and 800 a sharp picture.
Results from focus groups have apparently indicated that Kodak’s on the
right tracks with even the two most controversial aspects of the new
marketing strategy—the use of the words "versatility" and "versatility
plus" in the film names and the multiple pictures of blurred action
subjects on each 100, 200 and 400 and 800 film package. Presumably would-be
film purchasers will be spurred on to buy the more expensive
top-of-the-line Max 800 Versatility Plus.
Sales will tell. However, as a result of the ditching of the Gold name for
the snapshooter market, the Royal Gold specialty dealer films will no
longer face the confusion between Gold and Royal Gold. Royal Gold will
continue to stand for less gaudy, more accurate color and finer grain than
its mass-market counterparts. Evidently, Royal Gold 100 has gotten the boot
because knowledgeable specialty dealer customers realize they are better
off with the faster films.
--
regards,
Henry Posner
Director of Sales and Training
B&H Photo-Video, and Pro-Audio Inc.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com
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