Bad times for Kokak....

[Dr Mordrid]

My, how the mighty have fallen....but it's not like they didn't have a long warning.

Dow Jones Market Watch link...

More info in the streamed audio on the above page.

Laura Ries: Kodak Olympic withdrawal "sad tragedy"

Eastman Kodak says it will no longer sponsor the Olympics after next year's games in Beijing. And marketing strategist Laura Ries tells John Wordock this is "not a good sign." The president of Ries and Ries says the move indicates trouble is brewing as Kodak tries to move its brand into the digital age. She says the film giant right now is stuck in the Old World and consumers will eventually forget about the company if Kodak's marketing problems persist.

[Technoid]

They should have lobbied more, their customers have successfully done it against their customers

[az]

As if it were a marketing problem. They will go under just as steam locomotive makers went, because their product is bsolete. No amount of marketing can fix that.

[Elie]

They can start developing high end digital cameras or something.

Other than that, I see them going the way of the dodo very very soon TM

[Dr Mordrid]

They a professional digital line but discontinued it in 2005, IMO a huge mistake, and now all they sell are the EasyShare line of low and medium priced compacts and DSLR's.

As for their mid-line DSLR's: they're OK feature wise, but one thing I've noticed that is very annoying is the through-the-lens viewfinder jitters when you pan due to a slow refresh rate. Olympus, Canon and Nikon don't exhibit this. Ick.

A lot of their problems are structural. They are an old-style company with management rooted in the 50's and 60's; top heavy with no encouragement for innovation. I used to deal with their medical imaging sales people and it was sad compared to dealing with Fuji, Ilford, Siemens or even GE

One of their sales guys I socialized with got tired of the corporate culture and quit, moving on to 3M. After a few months I asked him how he liked the new job; he gushed on for almost an hour relating how at 3M they encourage new ideas or suggestions for product improvements from everyone down to the floor scrubbers and loading dock guys, and they pay bonuses and in some cases royalties for those that go into production.

If he has any say they'll have to drag him out of the place in an oblong pine box.

Business Week and R& D have had good articles on the 3M culture. Here are the links if anyone's interested;

BW 3M article.....

R&D article....

[Brian Ellis]

As for their mid-line DSLR's: they're OK feature wise, but one thing I've noticed that is very annoying is the through-the-lens viewfinder jitters when you pan due to a slow refresh rate. Olympus, Canon and Nikon don't exhibit this. Ick.

Sorry, don't understand. A single lens reflex is purely optical in my light, so what has refresh rate to do with it? I picked up a low-cost Nikon D-40 t'other day, in a shop, out of curiosity. It was unpowered but squinting through the viewfinder, I was able to see what the lens captured (very clearly, too!).

I understand what you're saying for non-reflex cams. I have a Fuji Finepix 4900Z. It's an excellent machine provided you're not trying to take moving objects. If it's like that thru' the viewfinder, it ain't reflex.

[Dr Mordrid]

I know what you mean, I was blurring the difference between 2 camera types. My bad.

The Kodaks I looked at are what's called a "bridge" digital camera, also known as a "live-preview digital camera" (LPD). Bridges use an electronic viewfinder (EVF); a small display akin to what a camcorder uses and they do not use a reflex mirror. No big moving mirror so no big mechanical parts involved in the light path, simplifying the design.

The Kodaks I've tried aren't the only bridge cameras, but they're about the most annoying I've run across because of their horridly slow viewfinder refresh rate.

Examples: Panasonic DMC-FZ50, Fujifilm FinePix S9500, Sony DSC-R1 etc.

Other downsides concern battery life, harder manual focusing and low light issues, but these are improving fast in most brands. In many the refresh issue is a non-issue.

On the other hand bridges have advantages including WYSIWYG, including not only framing but also white balance, grain and other camera settings.

I recently picked up an Olympus SP-550UZ (Ultra-Zoom) for the wife and she LOVES it. 7.1 mp, low-light vision, they call it "BRIGHT CAPTURE", plus it has image stabilization and an 18x optical zoom. In one mode it also starts taking pictures at 15fps as soon as focus is locked so it you're a bit slow on the trigger those early shots are available and likely have what you wanted.

Not perfect, no camera is, but for a bridge it's very, very good and the IQ at low ISO's is excellent.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1289

[Marshmallowman]

hmm the digital kodak cameras I have bough have done the job quite well, reliable and cheap for the features....but I am decidedly in the low end of camera town.

[Dr Mordrid]

My other cars are a Canon Digital Rebel and a Nikon D2X-S