RIP HIE

Alpha · Apr 14, 2007

Kodak has apparently announced that they are discontinuing HIE. Buy it while you still can.

...there goes all the money I was gonna spend on a lighting setup.

blackdoglab · Apr 14, 2007

Oh boy Kodak, you've done it again. Granted that Kodak has great products, but their commitment to anything has been spotty (can anybody say disc film, 127, 828, 126, or 616?).

Alpha · Apr 14, 2007

how about Tech Pan and Pan X....both amazing films.

terri · Apr 15, 2007

Kodak is happiest with its customers who purchase their digicams or printers, or any non-analog product. Which I will never do. :sillysmi:

It's terrible news, but there have been rumors and discussions going on for the last several days over it. Kodak seems content to let everyone twist in uncertainty, of course.

I'll certainly get a stockpile in the freezer and use it while I can. Then it's just another memory of a fabulous analog product that's gone for good, like Agfa MCC118 paper.

I'm into supporting Ilford and Fuji, two major companies who publicly commit to their analog customers (and make dynamite products, as well).

I hate to say it, but....

Screw Kodak. :meh:

nealjpage · Apr 15, 2007

terri said:
I hate to say it, but....

Screw Kodak. :meh:

I'm not sure what HIE is.....but I still enjoy Tri-X, D76, and other Kodak chems. Maybe it's my nostalgia, but i think I'd be very sad to see Kodak give up on analog. Maybe I just spend too much time in the darkroom...

Alpha · Apr 15, 2007

HIE is, at the very least, the only IR film on the planet without an anti-halation backing. IIRC, it's also the only roll film, period, without one (that's still/was made).

bytch_mynickname · Apr 15, 2007

This may be a dumb question but...

Can Kodak HIE be developed like it is black and white film? Are there special chemicals that need to be used?

terri · Apr 15, 2007

bytch_mynickname said:
This may be a dumb question but...

Can Kodak HIE be developed like it is black and white film? Are there special chemicals that need to be used?

Sure. At its heart & soul it IS a B&W film.

I like TMax liquid developer, 1:4 using distilled water at room temp. Don't agitate but once a minute for 6 minutes (or thereabouts). Plain water stop, and I never presoak. I get perfectly good negs this way.

Remember to always handle the stuff (loading/unloading) in pitch dark.

While you can, anyway. :sigh:

clarinetJWD · Apr 15, 2007

NOOOOOO! and I just loaded my FIRST roll of it

clarinetJWD · Apr 15, 2007

WAIT!
Read more closely. THey're dicontinuing SHEET HIE FILM, "Note: KODAK High-Speed Infrared Film will continue to be available in 35 mm format."

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f13/f13.jhtml

terri · Apr 16, 2007

Ah, if it were only that.

See, they D/C the sheet film wayyy back, and Kodak has fallen into the unpleasant habit of failing to update their website - at least, as far as analog news is concerned. So, yes, they did indeed ditch the sheet film first.

They'll probably get around to announcing the demise of HIE when it's already long vanished from retailer's stock rooms. There has been no official announcement from them...just the "rumors have begun to trickle out" kind of deal. That's what I meant when I said they seem content to let everyone twist in uncertainty.

There is a reason a lot of analog lovers won't use Kodak products; they routinely show extremely cavalier attitudes to both the people and the products that made them rich.

I'd loooove for this to be just another "K-rumor", but it's not shaping up that way.

Go shoot it and enjoy your results, Joe. :thumbup: I know you'll do great with it...and then join us in the mourning section for what you can no longer have.

clarinetJWD · Apr 16, 2007

terri said:
Ah, if it were only that. See, they D/C the sheet film wayyy back, and Kodak has fallen into the unpleasant habit of failing to update their website - at least, as far as analog news is concerned. So, yes, they did indeed ditch the sheet film first.

They'll probably get around to announcing the demise of HIE when it's already long vanished from retailer's stock rooms. There has been no official announcement from them...just the "rumors have begun to trickle out" kind of deal. That's what I meant when I said they seem content to let everyone twist in uncertainty.

There is a reason a lot of analog lovers won't use Kodak products; they routinely show extremely cavalier attitudes to both the people and the products that made them rich.

I'd loooove for this to be just another "K-rumor", but it's not shaping up that way.

Go shoot it and enjoy your results, Joe. :thumbup: I know you'll do great with it...and then join us in the mourning section for what you can no longer have.

I'll have to check into it some more...and buy a bunch if I can afford it...soon. As it is, I just spent all I could buying 6 rolls of B&W film.

terri · Apr 16, 2007

I know.

Stuff was never cheap.

If you can find a way to afford it, stash a few rolls in the fridge. You'll then at least get the chance to shoot it occasionally for a couple more years, and then have several negatives to play with - and you'll have those forever, at any rate.

JamesD · Apr 16, 2007

I do recall reading in the HIE data sheet a year or more ago (seems like it was back in 2004) that HIE wasn't made in sheets. So that, at least, was known then. Perhaps there's hope. Always hope...