With a professional background of more than 25 years in the world of analog film, from color grading and postproduction supervising of big budget feature films to being responsible for the R&D of the Lomochrome Purple and the return of the 110 film as the Head of Film at the Lomographic Society, the decision was made in 2014 to launch a small film company from scratch.
Today we can proudly announce that we are represented with more than 30 KONO! products on 5 continents in 28 countries.
Buckle up, join the ride and follow our journey so far:
OUR MILESTONES
In 2014
We had to develop and build our own machinery to remove the remjet layer of a legendary motion picture stock and so our first two films were born, the KONO! Rotwild and Kolorit 400T. Followed by the Kolorit 125 Tungsten. Even though it is deconstructed, the blue print for our remjet removal machine is archived securely.
In Autumn 2014
The first Prototype of KONOTYPE was born. A completely new way of analog photography located in the twilight zone between negative and positive, with pictures similar to ancient Ferrotype techniques but easy to use.
In 2015
We launched the super slow KONO! Donau, an ISO 6 film, the KONO! Rekorder 100-200 and the orthochromatic KONO! Schwarz Weiss 100 film.
Also in 2015
In this year the Reanimator (a device by KONO!) was invented and the production of the KONO! Originals (Sunstroke, Moonstruck, Monsoon, Galaxy,Candy and Mirage) and KONO! Effect films (Luft (Air) and Liebe (Love), Holiday feeling (Wintermärchen), Alien and Ufo, Katz starts.
In 2016
Our Cooperation with Svema begins. The outcome is our beloved KONO! MONOLIT Black & White Line. Produced with technical assistance by Svema for KONO Manufaktur.
It started with KONO MONOLIT ISO 64 & ISO 400 and expanded to the Monolit 100 and Monolit ISO 3 in summer of 2021.
In 2017/2018
One of our most challenging projects:
Finding a solution to keep Packfilm alive. The first ONE INSTANT Prototypes designed and built at the KONO HQ in 2017/2018 after an idea from our Co-Founder Uwe Mimoun.
After a successful Kickstarter Campaign One Instant is now being produced in Vienna by Supersense, using our license for crucial parts. We are proud to be Co-Inventor and Co-Founder and name giver of ONE INSTANT.
In 2019
We moved from a small town close to Vienna, Austria to a small town close to Cologne, Germany and launched in cooperation with NINM lab the limited Edition of the I´m fine Camera Sunstroke and Moonstruck.
In Fall 2019
BACK IN RED! Bringing back the red glowing intensity of the KONO! Rotwild with the KONO! ROTWILD No2.
2020
Was the year of KONO!RAMA - Effect Layers for Instant Photography - a registered Utility Model by KONO Manufaktur® - 9 amazing Effects in 3 sizes. Works with Fuji Instax®
In 2021
We made it! We designed and built the first 120 Reanimator resulting in our first 120 Medium Format film. The KONO! Delight ART Line became very successful in a very short time, which is now also represented on the international markets in 35mm and ISO 100 and 400.
At the same time in 2021
Launch of KONO! MONOLIT 3 an orthochromatic and ultra-slow film stock with a speed of ISO 3. The perfect film stock for architecture and landscape photography.
And KONO! MONOLIT 100 an panchromatic black & white film which receives an Editor´s Choice award and five out of five stars from the Phoblographer.
Later in 2021
The next step forward: After the big success of the 120 film we launched the Delight ART 100 in 35mm, which is an absolute bestseller.
In the first quarter 2022
We moved in a bigger HQ and office and launched the KONO! Delight ART 400 in 120 Medium Format and in 35mm
Spring 2022
It is all about sustainability, the first steps have been taken to generate our electricity consumption completely with our own solar power system. We also made the switch to an e-car.
September 2022
At the beginning of autumn we started our pre exposed 35mm film for Halloween: The KONO! Effect Film BOO!
Let the ghosts dance over your photos, bats or ufos hover through the picture and creepy pumpkin heads and aliens laugh mischievously as you run into a cobweb and shoot the best photos of your Halloween night.
Available as a single film and in the KONO! Halloween Collection together with our Effect Films ALIEN and UFO
October 2022
Back in 2015 we launched this unique Color Negative Film for the first time and it became an instant favorite for a lot of slow film friends. We are happy to announce the relaunch of the Ultra Slow Film KONO! Donau.
Spring 2023
The fifth product of the KONO! Delight line was launched in spring 2023 and produces saturated and at the same time bright colors. The look of the Delight ART II 400 film is a homage to the late 70s. Color Tinted Film, ISO 400.
Also in Spring 2023
we launch the KONO! DONAU II, THE FILM FOR ALL LONG TIME EXPOSURE AFICIONADOS The KONO! DONAU II is an ultra slow and ultra fine grain film with strong blue and purple shades. Compared to its predecessor the DONAU II has an increased speed of ISO 8 and is therefore the perfect film for long exposure photography in the daytime, extremely long exposures in the evening or at night.
For reasons of sustainability, we load the film into used & cleaned cartridges.
October 2023
New Release: The KONO! COLOR Film. Don´t you dare call it STANDARD!
Our KONO! Color film is the modern interpretation of a classic German color negative film with an excellent tonality and a wide exposure latitude up to ISO 400. If even more intense colors are desired, the KONO! Color 400 can also be used at ISO 200.
For reasons of sustainability, we load the film into refurbished metal cartridges and refurbished plastic containers whenever possible. Made and packaged in Germany.
In the course of conversion measures, we have expanded our production area by 30% and significantly increased our capacities.
Our values:
We are a small company, but we accept our responsibilities. It is all about sustainability, in the first year alone, we recycled thousands of film cartridges and canisters during the production of our Kolorit films. The new pack film cartridge system we invented, and which is used under license for One Instant by Supersense, is made from cardboard and not plastic, which was used in the original system. The KONO Manufaktur company car is electric and the first steps have been made to generate our own electricity to run our office and machines completely with our own solar power system. We had the honor to sponsor human right projects like “Queens of Eastern Europe” by Sebastian Franke and we are open to new ideas.