Back in September Kodak introduced new optimized versions of its popular Portra color negative films. At that time they also ran a promotion giving four rolls of free film to anyone who signed up. So naturally I did. Fast forward to the last week of December 2006 and I find a battered and beaten mailing tube on my front porch. It had been so beaten, abused and wrapped with what seems to be half a roll of packing tape, I wasn’t quite sure what it was at first. After looking at the tag, that had been attached, explaining that it had been resealed by the post office due to damage during shipping, I was able to make out the full color packaging touting the new Portra emulsion improvements such as skin tone and finer grain.I had read online that many folks were having issues with this promotion, by either not receiving the film or open and damaged packages arriving. One photo.com poster received the same mailing tube from Kodak but no film inside. Kodak obviously felt that simply capping both ends of the tube with a simple black plastic stopper, the film would be safe from damage or sticky postal fingers. In all fairness to Kodak, the poster did contact them and they sent him out another batch of free film. I feel lucky to have received four rolls of film, although I was supposed to get two NC (Natural Color) and two VC (Vivid Color) 35mm rolls but was sent 1 roll of 160NC, 1 roll of 160VC but two rolls of 400VC. Free is free and I’ll just have to live with the fact that if I want to try the 400NC, I’ll have to buy it myself. So although it took almost four months to receive an incorrect order, I’ll take the high road and thank Kodak for these free samples. That’s the type of humanitarian I am.
Kodak boasts it’s new Micro-Structure Optimized T-Grain Emulsions (whew!) now provide higher color saturation, lower contrast, better skin tones and finer grain. I’m looking forward to loading my Minolta Maxxum 7 with both NC and VC ISO 160 rolls and plan to discover how well the 400VC performs in classic Russian-made workhorses like the FED 4 or Zenit-C, a challenge for any film. It worked out well, now I can start the new year with Kodak’s new films.
2 comments:
I had this same thing happen, but it only took about six weeks to get the film. The tube was crushed and open and I was missing one of the 120 rolls I ordered. I didn't bother contacting Kodak. 3 free rolls of film is better than zero. :)
I almost chose the 120 but opted for the 35mm instead. Cheaper to develop and print. Enjoy the three rolls you received.
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