Does film photography have a future?

[shutterfiend]

We live in an age when most digital SLRs and some serious digital P&S cameras rival the clarity and grain of medium format. Most professionals have switched to digital already and even film-loyal prosumers are taking the dive in droves. Startup cost, perhaps still the only deterrent, is plummeting fast. Does film (especially 35mm) stand a chance in the long run?

 

[Silva Lining]

Theres been a lot of debate on this one. IMHO Film will continue as a niche art product for enthusiast and hobbiests. Many people suggest the variety and choice will drop, but I think that it might actually increase in certain areas - with 'speciality' films commanding a premium price. I've been using digital for 5-6 years - but probably shoot more film now than I have ever done...... 😀

 

[Bill Liss]

I agree. I think it will become even more of an art form, rather than a tool. Digital, for the most part, seems more practical, but film is more like a classic art. Sort of like how I still like to write and take notes on a notepad, rather than a keyboard. Different strokes for differents folks, is what my dad used to tell me.

 

[KM-25]

I have been shooting for 31 years, the last 16 years as a full time living with 12 of those using digital.

I own 10 camera bodies, only two are digital. While I shoot at least 80,000 digital images a year, film use has seen a sharp increase in the past two years. I just like it.

In fact, I like it so much that I have over 5,000 feet of great black and white films in my freezer for future use. My clients are loving it, they have been missing looking at great chromes on the light table and many still have the budget to get high end drum scans.

So for pro use, digital versus film is split about 60/40 in favor of digital. But for personal use, it is 100% film. I think many people are tired as heck at chasing the latest and greatest not to mention spending far too much time in front of a computer looking through hundreds if not thousands of raw or jpeg files.

It will be around for some time, especially in the fine art markets.

 

[KoNickon]

I think 35mm will be around for the foreseeable future. Someone pointed out in another one of these threads that just as photography didn't mean the end of painting, so too will digital not mean the end of film. Casual picture takers will migrate overwhelmingly to digital, I expect.

I am concerned that medium format could get squeezed out, so I encourage folks to take a lot of MF (and since the equipment is so inexpensive these days relative to where it was, it's a great time to get into it).

 

[KM-25]

I think 35mm will be around for the foreseeable future. Someone pointed out in another one of these threads that just as photography didn't mean the end of painting, so too will digital not mean the end of film. Casual picture takers will migrate overwhelmingly to digital, I expect.

I am concerned that medium format could get squeezed out, so I encourage folks to take a lot of MF (and since the equipment is so inexpensive these days relative to where it was, it's a great time to get into it).

I have purchased about 400 rolls of Ilford 120 film in the last 6 months..😀

 

[ywenz]

There will be no need for film in the future. Digital will eventually surpass film in every way. Notice how I said "will". IMO, digital is not there yet. It is better than film in many respects, but also trails film in others.

 

[pmowen]

I don't post much but I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I would imagine that it may get harder to buy film locally (I went to Bromfield Camera, one of Boston's oldest camera shops, the other day and they had NO medium format film and very little 35mm) but I can't imagine that main stream 35mm films will be gone soon. Tri-X for example can't be that expensive to make. I'm not the only one who thinks so. Considering rangefinders alone, camera's like the Leica MP and the Ziess Ikon RF are examples that major manufacturers agree. It may be harder and more expensive to get chemicals, but, as people move towards digital, other darkroom stuff will get cheaper. Just look at the enlargers on ebay!

I sure hope I'm right 'cause I'm LOVING my new (to me at least) M6!

 

[Kent]

Hi!

Film will survive in a niche, I agree.

During the last months I have met many people who experienced a similar development I did.
In the 1990s I shot film (of course). Starting in 2000 I increasingly shot with digital cams, but about 1 year ago I've started to shoot on film again. It is a haptic thing, isn't it?

Now, I use either or even both.

 

[mw_uio]

April ´07 Dec ´06
E100G 135-36 (USA) 6.49 5.99
E100GX 135-36 (USA) 6.49 5.99
E100VS 135-36 (USA) 6.75 6.29
E200 135-36 (USA) 9.25 8.95
EPH P1600 135-36 (USA) 15.20 14.95
EPL 400X 135-36 (USA) 13.99 13.99
EPN 100 135-36 (USA) 11.70 10.95
EPP 100 Plus 135-36 (USA) 11.70 10.95
EPR 64 135-36 (USA) 12.49 11.95
EPY 64T 135-36 (USA) 10.99 10.59
KL 200 135-36 (USA) 7.25 7.19
KR 64 135-36 (USA) 6.59 6.49
PKR 64 135-36 (USA) 11.49 11.49
RAP Astia 100F 135-36 (USA) 4.99 5.49
RDP-III Provia 100F (USA) 4.59 4.49
RVP Velvia 100 (USA) 5.55 5.25



Sorry I did not make a pdf file.
First price is April 07, and second price is Dec 06 all from B&H.
I was just looking at my table that I created in Mid Dec ´06 of B&H prices and just looked at today´s prices from B&H. I did not go through every film, just looked at a few chromes.

Film will be a niche, but at what price? 😀

Cheers

MArk
Quito, EC

 

[Socke]

As a mass product for a mass market film is already dead. Here you get a very limited range of film at some electronics chains, it has almost vanished from super markets, safe Fuji Z200, and totaly vanished from gas stations.

If it weren't for rangefinders, I wouldn't use film anymore.

With rangefinders I buy B/W online and drive some 60 miles to get developer.

 

[Ash]

We have had cameras at our disposal for nearly two centuries, and computers for about half a century. And yet, people still pick up canvas, brushes and paints, and designers still pick up pencils and paper to illustrate.

 

[Socke]

We have had cameras at our disposal for nearly two centuries, and computers for about half a century. And yet, people still pick up canvas, brushes and paints, and designers still pick up pencils and paper to illustrate.

How many painters per computer?

How many guitars per MP3 player?

Agfa and Forte are history, Kodaks labs in germany were closed in 2005, CeWe Color is converting to digital and so on.


It's a niche market already and will become even more niche within this year.

I will find my films somewhere on the internet, but one day I may find it to expensive.

 

[Ash]

Socke. Things go full circle.

One day commercial film will become too expensive, so people will resort to DIY emulsions (which is used as a niche currently) and that means using old large format cameras.

 

[mikeh]

Maybe Europe is different, but I can find virtually any film, chemical, DR equipment etc at more than 3 locations within a 10 minute drive from home. Henry's has a wide selection of all of these, and so do the smaller mom&pop stores. And I'm not even in a major centre.....right now I have several rolls of Tmax, APX, Tri-X, Delta, HP5, PanF....and there's even more selection in colour.
I find it kind of weird that in the land of Leica where there must be a huge number of M's still being used there is difficulty getting film......

 

[notanothercamera]

Good Gawd, I hope film survives!! I have two digital compacts, a Canon A510 and a digital ELPH my wife uses. Neither one of us likes the prints rendered from a digital image, but we do tend to use them as "snap shot" cameras.

It could be the quality of the lens, or camera, or whatever; but I am not in a position to spend $6,000 plus for a digital SLR in order to get results that I would be happy with.

I guess I am just an old film burner at heart. I still use film for my "serious" photography 🙂

 

[darkkavenger]

The successive taming of horses, invention of wheelcarts, bicycles, cars, trains and planes didn't stop us from walking, and so it is with any other technique. You may spend your days on a car, but if you want, you can use a bike. You're free to do so. and if you want to build a drakkar (langskip) for your personal needs, you can also do it. It's not just a matter of bleeding-edge technology. It's a matter of will. You can use old chemical processes like those used in the beginning of photography. Film is going to die ? We've heard that one for years and years. Did the introduction of the CD killed the production of audiocassettes ? Or the introduction of DVD killed the VHS format ?

I second what Ash says, in a way. If people want, they can even do their own old-style homemade emulsions. We are not forced to dive into technology. Just my point of view. 🙂

But who knows what the future will bring ? Immediate developing film ? digitally stored data into a roll of film ? epson and other firms are already developing electronic paper. We just don't know. and in case, i can always buy 100 bulk rolls of fomapan 100/400 and freeze them for eternity 😉

 

[Socke]

yep, I just ordered Foma 100, 200 and 400.

 

[Pherdinand]

yeah vhs and audio tapes are pretty much dead.
The only thing that kept them alive for a while was that cd,dvd burning was expensive.
You can't compare this film thing to cars versus walking.
You can't go to the toilet by car. But you don't normally walk from prague to paris. These are two different things and both are necessary.
Same holds for painting vs photography. One does not replace the other, because it works differently and it results in a different thing.
A more fair comparison would be the replacement of some pigment materials, or,back to vehicles, replacement of steam engines with diesel or electric.

People can keep the film business alive. We, people. If we question its survival, that's one first nail into its coffin.

 

[Pherdinand]

by the way - surprisingly, while film did disappear in its full scale from most shops here, only a few c41's being still available in most photo shops, there still stands the hema, a general store of low price everything from cloths through kitchen utensils to food, and hema still sells the same iso125 and iso400 black and white film. Yes, traditional. People say it's ilford fp4+ and hp5+... Could be but it's considerably cheaper...

There are a few of these hema shops in at least every town in the Netherlands.