Ferrania
Encyclopedia
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
), Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
The original firm was started in 1923 as a maker of photographic films, papers, and equipment. The company was purchased in 1964 by the 3M
3M
3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....
company, who spun it off to their Imation
Imation
Imation is a US based multi-national technology corporation that designs, manufactures and sells recordable data storage media, consumer electronics products and accessories.The company is a 1996 spin off of 3M and is headquartered in Oakdale, Minnesota...
Division. The firm was acquired by Schroder Ventures in 1999 and then spun off as a separate company. Subsequently it was acquired by a Genoese shipping company, GRUPPO MESSINA
(Ignazio Messina & Co. S.p.A).
The firm manufactured photographic film and sold it under the Solaris brand, as well as private label products. Ferrania remained the only manufacturer of 126
126 film
126 is the number given to a cartridge-based film format used in still photography. It was introduced by Kodak in 1963, and is associated mainly with low-end point-and-shoot cameras, particularly Kodak's own Instamatic series of cameras....
“Instamatic” films after Kodak discontinued them in 1999, but 126 was discontinued by Ferrania in early 2007. In July, 2008, the company's President announced to its unions that manufacture of color film products would cease in December, 2008. As of March 2009, Ferrania customer service states that they are producing only 135 format color film in 200 and 400 ASA.
They also manufacture Ink Jet Media, X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
film and digital health imaging equipment, Graphic Arts materials, and specialty plastics. The company has struggled under the ownership of Messina to find business opportunities outside the imaging industry, and has made forays into heavy construction, steel processing, and business services.