SECRETARY' S NOTES
Not so long ago a member expressed disquiet over rumours that 35mm film was about to be replaced. The villain of the piece is known as APS. That is short for Advanced Photographic System.
The system due to be launched next year is supposed to be in response to demands for smaller cameras, and will be full of electronics. The cost is great, and those who choose this system will have to pay.
It will be no good to our members as the film will be in a cartridge. For processing the cartridge goes back to the processor and the customer will receive his prints numbered. To order reprints one states the number and gives back the cartridge of film. The processing machine then locates the negative and from information on the film produces the reprint.
Nothing has been said about slide film which I hope will be left as it is. For years the press has pushed the fact that the best slide comes from large format film. As you can imagine they are not pleased that the APS format will be 30 x 17 mm. That can only lead to loss of quality. There are no perforations on the film the remaining 19mm of the film width will contain striped information of exposures, degree of enlargement etc.
It will cost each Laboratory œ150,000 to change over to this new system. Kodak, Fuji, Canon, Nikon and Minolta are the firms who are promoting it. When a Kodak official was interviewed by the Editor of Amateur Photographer, he could name no positive advantage of the system at all, and admitted that there was no technical reason why APS could not have been fitted into 35mm format.
Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that the photographic industry is in recession. In 1985 there were over 3000 retailers of photographic goods in Britain - now there are only 1000 left. The slump is world wide. A new system with all the new equipment to be sold must look like a good boost to the industry.
It has been stated that the new system will not replace, but run alongside the present system for at least 20 years.
It is possible that it will fail as badly as other formats that have been tried ie 110, Disc, 127. It is unlikely that many folk will part with highly expensive 35mm outfits for a sales gimmick.
While all this is going on Kodak and Fuji are having a heated court battle in Japan over restrictive practice with film sales. Kodak sell less than 7% of the total. Fuji claim they ate treated the same in America where they sell little.
Ron.