Film Photography : Digital Photography

The problem in this case is concerned with Eastman Kodak losing its market share in film products to lower-priced economy brands. Over the last five years, in addition to being brand-aware, customers have also become price-conscious. This has resulted in the fast paced growth of lower priced segments in which Kodak has no presence.

George Eastman invented roll film and an easy to operate camera that made photography easier for anyone to experience photography. He founded the Eastman Kodak Company to manufacture cameras and photographic supplies, making the art of photography available to the masses. This talks about his life and how he came about the inventions that made photography easier for people to use and produce their own photographs.

It is a debate that has been going on for years and years, especially in the twenty first century, of which medium in photography is superior, Film or Digital, Personally I use both, I will be discussing the issue over the length of this paper. Going through positives and negatives around both the processes, and techniques associated with the forms of photography.

Kodak is known for providing the quality services, innovative products offering the best quality to customers. It developed competitive advantages and satisfied its customers during many years. Kodak has evolved different strategies in the field of traditional photography where it brought innovations and modification. Kodak has a successful history in the industry. According to the case study, the main reason behind the success of Kodak in the industry is its quality.

The problem in this case is Kodak's steadily eroding market share and shareholder value in the film rolls market. This is especially undesirable given the fact that the market has been growing at a tepid 2% annual rate and the steadily increasing threat from competition. Kodak needs to come up with a strategy for corrective action so as to arrest this decline, regain market share and increase share holder value. Kodak's strategy is to reposition itself by targeting a new segment of price sensitive customers and re-segmenting the super premium customers’ space by including a wider segment of special occasion customers.

Between the use of film or digital photography, film is the more effective method when looking for originality and creativity. With the adoption of digital photography, the younger generations, as well as the older and more current photographers are becoming lazy. These groups must recognize that the art of the photograph is being jeopardized by the digital camera and the camera phone. For the current photographers as well as amateur photographers, this essay will serve as testimony to film as well as other chemical methods, and how they shouldn’t be ignored, but preferred. The digital era has had a massive impact on the art world and all of its mediums, but for photography this impact has resulted in the removal of the human from the photograph making process. This intimate process is what makes it an art form. All of films imperfections and unique qualities, as well as its monetary value and scarcity are just a few factors that have made it so precious. To replace this entire process with a microchip is offensive and undermines the importance of the process that is needed to make a photograph. Anyone can take a picture but you must make a photograph, and this skill is being simplified to a digital camera. The impact of the digital era on photography has hindered the process of making a photograph; painting the art form obsolete in today’s society.

The Kodak Company was undisputed in the photo industry until Fujifilm, a Japanese company, was established in 1934.  Since its inception Fujifilm has become a leader in motion picture photography, audio and videotape and the floppy disc industries.   The company also boasts products such as still cameras, camcorders, photofinishing equipment, paper and chemicals, imaging and information products for the office and health care markets.

The image-maker may feel that by printing their film photographs using a gruelingly difficult process, their work is given a different level of credibility, which makes it feel closer to art, or printmaking, as it relies on skills beyond composing and taking the image. Since it has become so easy to take an image on a digital camera and print it out using an inkjet printer, many photographers are turning back to film photography and historical printing processes to provide a unique edge to their work, a more creative effort. Some photographers are combining both digital techniques with historical processes, hooting on film and scanning in the negatives to digitally alter and print, or printing digital images onto negatives or acetate to work with in the darkroom, creating a unique image. It is still expensive to process prints in the darkroom, not only because there are a limited number of darkrooms around the world, but also because the chemicals and apparatus needed are expensive. Kits are available for purchase and contain all the chemicals and other equipment needed to produce prints, with all sorts of different processing kits available. These may be easier to start up processing; however they are still expensive. Photographs printed using historic printing processes have a special allure, each is a unique image handmade with precise measurements and timings, no two images the same. This could be why they are an asset to any family heritage, as their permanence is amazing.

Taking pictures with the Kodak camera was simpler than the earlier camera because first, it did not require a darkroom or chemicals and glass plates. It did not require any of these things because it was not only one person’s job to develop and take the photo. The photographer could send their camera in, and the Eastman Kodak Company would develop the pictures for them. “In the first year, 13,000 people paid $25 for a Kodak; they each took 100 pictures, returned the camera and within ten days, Kodak sent back the prints and camera with film for another 100 pictures,” (Buckland and Lefer 250). This opened up a whole new door for inexperienced photographers. All they had to do was take pictures, and send the camera

When Kodak began making changes to its organizational architecture in 1984, its current architecture did not fit the business environment for the industry. The largest factor that motivated Kodak to make this change was increased competition and decreased market share. Until the early 1980’s, Kodak owned the film production market with very little competition. This suddenly changed when Fuji Corporation and many other generic store brands began producing high quality film as well (Brickley, 2009, p. 358). Another factor in this change was technology advancements. As technology rapidly expanded in the 1980’s, other

In my March 6 memo, I discussed the need for Kodak to revamp its core strategy and regain popularity. Eastman Kodak has been the leader of photography and printing products for nearly 130 years. Over the last few years Kodak has been in distress due to its poor fundamental shift into the digital age. Lack of strategic creativity led Kodak to misunderstand the industry in which it was operating. This lack of strategic creativity was costly for Kodak.

While Eastman Kodak has remained an industry leader in the sales of film for photo-imaging, over the past five years Kodak has underestimated the demand for digital cameras. Digital cameras require no film whatsoever and with Kodak’s main line of production being film Kodak has suffered great losses in net profit. Just in 2004 Camera film sales have been falling even than projected. The Photo Marketing Association predicted a six percent drop in film sales and Kodak projected an even more dismal 10-12 percent drop in film sales. The actual drop in sales reached an unforeseen 18%. In 2003 digital camera sales were greater than traditional film camera sales for the first time.

Company Eastman Kodak is currently the market leader in the photo film market. The company has continued its domination of the photo film market, but in the past 5 years its market share has eased from 76% to 70%. Reason mainly being the competitors like Fuji Photo Film Co. and Konica Corp. lured consumers with their lower-priced versions. In 1993, Kodak spent an estimated $50 million on camera and film supply advertising in the United States; this was about 4 times its

While Kodak continued its overwhelming domination of the photo film market, its market share in the United States had eased from about 76% to 70% over the past five years “as competitors like Fuji Photo Film Co. and Konica Corp. wooed consumers with lower-priced

Through the years, Canon has demonstrated several core competencies that have enabled them to propel themselves to the top of the market. First and foremost, Canon has employed a pool of extremely talented engineers who made up Canon’s Research and Development team. Through their research, Canon was able to uncover new and innovative products. This varied product line, which included cameras, calculators, and photocopiers, demonstrates Canon’s diversified product line. This diverse line of merchandise is integral to the company’s survival and has enabled Canon to take a multifaceted approach to technological competition. The more diverse type of products that are offered, the more chances there are