As for the little yellow boxes...

[back alley]

ok, this is MY theory...bill has been abducted by aliens and in his place they left a TROLL!!

Can we burn him at the steak like they used to do with heretics?

have you SEEN bill?

i'd rather take my chances with the running of the bulls!

 

[bmattock]

That's right, kill the bearer of bad news. That will fix the problem. But hey, guys. Sure, film will live forever. Whatever you say!

And Joe - I can't be a troll. Trolls hit and git. I stay around and offer insightful, intelligent, and rational argument. I'm something else. What else, who knows.

Bunch big meanies. POUT.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Here is what I think.

Film is going to die. It's inevitable. It is going to die because people are more interested now in the 'wow' of instant gratification than waiting a day for photos. We live in a 'I have to have this now' society and photography isn't any different than the rest of it anymore. No one gives a damn about the roots.

So, it'll die. So what? I'll use it until it does. I don't want to hear five times a day what I already know.

This is my last comment on the topic.

 

[ch1]

..... I stay around and offer insightful, intelligent, and rational argument. I'm something else. What else, who knows....

And he's modest and humble too!

 

[back alley]

we're all gonna die...someday.

and if/when film dies, if i'm still around and shooting, i just hope i can afford a digital rangefinder.

long live the rangefinder!!

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Here Here!

 

[dmr]

For a long time now it has all been turning green. You almost have to hunt to find yellow these days.

Over here on this side of the pond, at least where I've been shopping, it seems to be the opposite, more yellow and less green.

Maybe a year ago Walgreens signed some kind of a deal with Kodak, part of which was to dump Fuji, at least for film sales -- lots of their stores use Fuji Frontier mini-lab machines.

Then the other day I went to Sams Club (I get it through work, I probably would not belong if I had to pay real money for it) and briefly glanced at what they had. Seemed to be all yellow.

Target' and Wally World have quite a bit of green at decent prices. Supermarkets usually have both yellow and green, but at a price. The other day I noticed that Kroger house brand 200 was selling for more than what Target' was selling Fuji 200 for. Oh well ...

 

[FPjohn]

Vinyl

Vinyl

Hello:

I can still purchase new vinyl LPs for my AR turntable. At a cost, of course, and of a quality better than that of the LP era.

The dextrous will always be able to pour silver emulsion on glass, plates from 1"x1.5" and up, for one shot use!

yours
Frank

 

[bmattock]

And he's modest and humble too!

You forgot good looking and generous to a fault. Loved by all, and .... let me get back to you on the rest of it, the list is quite large.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[dmr]

we're all gonna die...someday.

Uh-huh, and I have maybe 30 years or so to go ... but film ...

and if/when film dies, if i'm still around and shooting,

I have a feeling that film will outlive most of us. Remember that we can still buy such things as buggy whips and lamp oil.

It will be the lack of demand for film that will eventually do it in.

 

[GeneW]

In HHGTTG, when the sperm whale and a bowl of petunias are falling to the surface of the planet Magrathea, the bowl of petunias was overheard to say "oh no, not again..."

I'm a pragmatist. I love B&W film and will shoot it as long as it's available and reasonably priced. If the day comes when it's no longer available or too expensive to shoot, I'll switch exclusively to digital. By that time the sensors will, I hope, have more dynamic range and that there will be film bodies like the RD-1 that allow manual shooting. It's rather binary with film: it will either be here or it won't

Gene

 

[ch1]

..... The other day I noticed that Kroger house brand 200 was selling for more than what Target' was selling Fuji 200 for. Oh well ...

House brand pricing can really be "odd". The other day in my local IGA supermarket they were charging $7.99 for K's disposable and $8.99 for their housebrand!

 

[BrianShaw]

Remember that we can still buy such things as buggy whips and lamp oil..

Wonder Whips: Buggy and Driving Whips
Part Numbers:
#720-152 5’ Buggy Whip
#720-168 5.5’ Buggy Whip
#720-183 6’ Buggy Whip
#730-152 5’ Driving Whip with Leather Handle

http://www.toklat.com/pw_whip.html

Lamp oil is even easier to find. Okay, now I feel much better about the probablility of getting film throughout the rest of my lifetime.

 

[wclavey]

My next prediction is as follows - Kodak will soon announce that they intend to spin off their film photography business - film and film-based cameras, papers, chemicals, etc - to sink or swim on their own.

This is interesting and not necessarily bad. There was an article in the NYT last spring about major international firms that spin-off product divisions that are in less-than-attractive markets, to sink or swim on their own - - only to have those new companies come back and significantly out perform themselves as compared to when they where part of the larger company. One of the leading theories is that once on their own, these spun-off companies no longer have the "fat" of the old parents to hide behind and are forced to find ways to be competitive in contracting markets... more efficient operations, more intriguing product mix that lengthens market life, etc. Perhaps this would work to our collective advantages.

 

[pesphoto]

so should we stop buying TriX just because the "leaders" of Kodak are bumbling around?
As long as its here, I'll buy it. Then move on to something else when and if there is no other choice. Ive tried ilford films and it just isnt the same as TriX in my opinion.

 

[Nick R.]

We are as if floating in the water after the Titanic has sunk beneath the waves waiting for a life raft to appear from out the black of night but it never comes. Instead, I see a lifeline descending as if from heaven reaching in a straight line to our out-stretched hands. As it reaches closer, like the maker to Adam, it doth appear, the digital M.

 

[jaapv]

ok, this is MY theory...bill has been abducted by aliens and in his place they left a TROLL!!

Only if you want to eat him. How about we drive a silver stake into his heart like they do with vampires!

You Americans! Always luxury over the top! Back in Ole Europe we can only afford to use wooden stakes!

 

[SteveM(PA)]

We are as if floating in the water after the Titanic has sunk beneath the waves waiting for a life raft to appear from out the black of night but it never comes. Instead, I see a lifeline descending as if from heaven reaching in a straight line to our out-stretched hands. As it reaches closer, like the maker to Adam, it doth appear, the digital M.

Wow!

Yes, at least some glass will live on. Even if on an old R-D1 held together with washing machine parts like a cuban Chevy.

 

[ch1]

This is interesting and not necessarily bad. There was an article in the NYT last spring about major international firms that spin-off product divisions that are in less-than-attractive markets, to sink or swim on their own - - only to have those new companies come back and significantly out perform themselves as compared to when they where part of the larger company. One of the leading theories is that once on their own, these spun-off companies no longer have the "fat" of the old parents to hide behind and are forced to find ways to be competitive in contracting markets... more efficient operations, more intriguing product mix that lengthens market life, etc. Perhaps this would work to our collective advantages.

Spinning off K's Film division would be a wonderful development!

After all why go down with the ship if you can grab a life raft?

 

[TEZillman]

Thanks Bill for another thought provoking article. The bottom line on film is purely a marketing equation. The big players in the market have been unable to accurately forecast the demand for film over the past decade. Sales have gone into a precipitous fall over the last 2-3 years. The real question is not only: Is there a plateau and can film be manufactured and distributed at a profit at that plateau? But it is also how many businesses (large and small) will run scared from film and accelerate the decline in sales? Profit in a business, large or small, that supplies a perishable commodity is heavily reliant on accurate forecasts of demand. It's very clear the distribution model where every retail business on every corner in the US carried a few rolls of film is not the business model for the future. The small business owner isn't going to stock the stuff if it isn't going to sell out before the expiration date.

I recall discussing digital imaging with a small camera shop owner a number of years ago. He complained that he couldn't buy digital cameras for the prices that the big box stores were selling them for and by the time he did get delivery on stock, the cameras were already out of date. The next evolution had come along and he ended up eating the cost of his stock. The guy (and other smaller players) couldn't deal very well with the concept of cameras having a shorter shelf life than film. He told me he wasn't going to carry digital cameras anymore. He's been out of business for about four years now.

It's rather ironic that the same inability to forecast demand of perishable product both hindered the growth of digital imaging and is accelerating the demise of film.

I don't have a crystal ball, but I do hope that the remaining fraction of a several hundred billion dollar per year industry can support continued participation by at least one large player (read Fuji).

I suspect there's a lot more behind the statements from Kodak than just an opinion about film. The stock market often moves off of these kinds of statements and Kodak wants to make it clear to the market that they are distancing themselves from film in order to boost their stock value.