Collapse of digital camera sales is accelerating

[BillBingham2]

Instax is cute, but that would be like counting battery kid's cars sold at Walmart as part of the automobile industry. Of course there is the argument that a 5 year old BMW owner, could become a 35 year old BMW buyer.

Varoom Varoom, Click Click

I still lust after a 1968 Jaguar XJ6 that I had pre-hotwheels. Medium brown, the reverse bonnet was just so cool (i was a nerd even back then!)

B2 (;->

 

[dee]

Maybe it's following on from the i-Pod = quantity/convenience over quality .
LP revival continues ,but as niche market , CD sales also falling .
Maybe film and digital cameras will be revived in a similar manner .
There may be a new interest in repairs and service of classic [ i.e old ] SLRs rather than new models arriving ...

 

[Ronald M]

I would like to know what people are going to do with film once they have it.

Without volume, processing labs are not profitable.

Quality was almost always poor when I used commercial. So now you need a darkroom. Few have space for one. There are no affordable & decent home scanners.

 

[jsrockit]

But for the vast majority it already has: by phones.

Uhm, phones are digital cameras.

 

[Mackinaw]

....Much as I'd like to see it, I don't think there's any way we'll see new film cameras being produced by the major manufacturers......

I suppose Canon or Nikon could produce a new 35mm film camera if they shared as many components as possible with an existing digital camera. If the new film camera was an SLR, and they carried-over the mirror box, prism, shutter and used the basic chassis of a digital camera, they could probably produce a film version with little investment.

But I’m not an engineer or a finance person, so what do I know.

Jim B.

 

[mpaniagua]

Nikon was building a beautiful film camera until very recently, the F6. It is quite doable, but there have to be buyers.

That's exactly why they stopped doing it. No enough customers. Problem is, there are millions of used film cameras on the second-hand market and those are tough competition for new film cameras.

 

[Mackinaw]

......Nikon was building a beautiful film camera until very recently, the F6. It is quite doable, but there have to be buyers.

I didn't know they finally pulled the plug on the F6.

But it was a premium-priced camera ($2,500 USD?). What if Nikon, Canon, whoever, made a quality 35mm SLR that would cost less than $1,000. Would it sell? Honestly, I don't know.

On a somewhat related note, yesterday I picked up a nice F2 with a 50/1.4 for $150.00.

Jim B.

 

[mani]

Uhm, phones are digital cameras.

When I no longer know whether these threads are a serious discussion, or when it's simply about scoring points, then I think there's no further reason to participate.

 

[flavio81]

1. For quite a lot of film cameras prices are rising: Look at Hasselblads, Nikon FM3A, Plaubel Makina, XPan, lots of Mamiya models etc.. The higher the prices, the lower the difference to new models, the bigger the willingness to buy new.

This is a very good observation. For example in my country, record aficionados switched from buying old (used) turntables to buying new turntables, exactly because of this.

 

[flavio81]

I suppose Canon or Nikon could produce a new 35mm film camera if they shared as many components as possible with an existing digital camera.

Full frame DSLR or RF digital cameras can share practically everything except the sensor and its associated circuitry.

 

[BillBingham2]

Uhm, phones are digital cameras.

Smart Phones are the electronic equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife.....

Mind you as a Scout never carried a Swiss Army Knife, had one, friends loved them. I carried a Cub Scout folding/pocket knife. It was smaller than the Boy Scout and kept a better edge.

B2 (;->

 

[Skiff]

I would like to know what people are going to do with film once they have it.

Without volume, processing labs are not profitable.

Quality was almost always poor when I used commercial. So now you need a darkroom. Few have space for one. There are no affordable & decent home scanners.

There is volume for the labs, often increasing volume. Demand for BW film is rising globally, demand for professional colour film in some markets, too. My labs are extremely busy. In several countries new labs have started successfully.
And there are enough labs which offer excellent quality, in every country. The bad labs almost all have lost in the competition and have closed some time ago.
And there are also affordable and decent home scanners from Pacific Image, Plustek, Reflecta. New models have been introduced in the last two years.

 

[Skiff]

I didn't know they finally pulled the plug on the F6.

...because the plug was not pulled on the F6.
It is still in production.
Buy it new, and be happy. I've done it 🙂.
Best SLR ever built!

 

[jonmanjiro]

...because the plug was not pulled on the F6. It is still in production. Buy it new, and be happy. I've done it 🙂. Best SLR ever built!

You beat me too it. I was just about to post the same thing. The Nikon F6 is still listed as a current model on the Nikon USA website (link below) and other Nikon websites. I doubt Nikon is making very many but they haven't killed it off yet. A matter of pride/saving face to keep it in the lineup I'd say.

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/filmcamera/slr/f6/

 

[Aristophanes]

You won't see new film cameras because end processing of the film product is declining much faster than old cameras already in the market.

Mini-lab manufacture has ceased.

Industrial grade film and film camera manufacture requires industrial capacity film processing for mass consumers. That's the only viable business model.

The mini-lab industry has become a cannibal industry. Instead of new parts most mini-labs are having to turn to refurbish or salvage pieces. Home processing, especially for colour films, can never make up the volume.

 

[css9450]

You beat me too it. I was just about to post the same thing. The Nikon F6 is still listed as a current model on the Nikon USA website (link below) and other Nikon websites. I doubt Nikon is making very many but they haven't killed it off yet. A matter of pride/saving face to keep it in the lineup I'd say.

I suspect they make it in small batches, sporadically, to keep supply in stock. If they run a batch and that's enough for a couple years, it might be that long again before they run another batch...

 

[jsrockit]

Smart Phones are the electronic equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife.....

True, but there is no doubt that marketing views these as cameras... just look at iPhone ads.

 

[brennanphotoguy]

I would like to know what people are going to do with film once they have it.

Without volume, processing labs are not profitable.

Quality was almost always poor when I used commercial. So now you need a darkroom. Few have space for one. There are no affordable & decent home scanners.

I don't know where you live but I can think of at least 5 pro labs off the top of my head right now in the US alone that does an amazing job and delivers high quality options.

The problem with building a new film camera right now for any big manufacturer that isn't Leica is the competiton of the past 40-50 years of their own equipment that's already out there. If you want to shoot an autofocus Canon or Nikon film camera that costs $2500 brand new when you can get second hand EOS 3s/1Ns/1Vs and their variants or F5/6/100 for anywhere between $200-$1000 that will do the same thing? It has to be cost effective for them to justify doing it and for manufacturers that have such large production lines I don't see it being feasible for them to make enough of them to help their business in a meaningful way.

 

[jsrockit]

When I no longer know whether these threads are a serious discussion, or when it's simply about scoring points, then I think there's no further reason to participate.

I think what I'm trying to say is that more people buy digital cameras than CD players. Digital cameras are not a forgotten tech like CD players are. While phones have taken over for mainstream social media purposes / simple friend and family photos, they have not taken over for serious amateur and/or pro photography. Serious digital cameras still have a place in our society.

 

[Jdi]

I agree with a few of you. This is not bad for the industry. It will force some consolidation, the fittest will survive as usual, hopefully gimmicks and "features" will refocus to lens quality and ergos as focus is shifted towards enthusiasts.

As far as the great unwashed, I don't agree. Smart phones have opened the world to gifted photographers. Certainly having composition skills beyond a whole lot I see expressed on enthusiast pages. Another benefit for photography.