HSI discontinued

["Stan Patz" <skp113@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

To the group,

I just got a 'phone call from Dick Johnson at Kodak who sadly informed me 
that Kodak has announced the discontinuation of 4x5 HSI. He pointed out that 
there was enough stock to satisfy orders to the end of the year.

The fact that HSI was discontinued in England earlier has to do with 
separate manufacturing and marketing. But, the bottom line is that there is 
not enough demand for the film to warrant continued production. Johnson 
thought that the technical difficulties Kodak had with manufacturing - e.g. 
the pinhole problem - could be solved, but at great expense. So, with the 
low demand and the manufacturing problems, Kodak  decided to kill the 
product.

I pointed out that another manufacturer, Konica, produced film once a year 
to satisfy the demand for IR rollfilm. Johnson had to defer to the marketing 
division of Kodak, which felt even that was not feasible for HSI. I asked 
him about the Government's need for IR film and he said that was only for 
rollfilm stock.

On that note, the door may still be ajar. There is the possibility that 
sheetfilm could still be packaged, but on the rollfilm base - if there were 
a demand for the product.
[A few months ago, after testing a sample of this film I reported that the 
image quality was excellent - no fingerprinting, no pinholes - but the film 
was VERY HARD TO HANDLE on that flimsy, curly HIE base.]

>From my conversations with Dick Johnson, I have always felt he was a 
proponent of the film. When I asked if a letter writing campaign would do 
any good, he suggested sending comments to:

                               Eastman Kodak Company
                               Mr. Terry McArdle  Marketing Manager
                               343 State Street
                               Rochester, New York       14650

That is what I plan to do - write a letter. If anyone has a better idea, I 
would really like to hear it.

Stan Patz   NYC

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