Film Film Everywhere

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rpilottx

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I am not sure this belongs in the Leica thread but could not figure where else to put it.

I have been wandering around Istanbul for the last week and can not believe how readily available film is. Now I live in El Paso and finding anything exotic is almost impossible. Exotic being defined as 120 black and white. Here, there is almost any type, size, or manufacture. How is it that film is all over the place in Turkey but not in a city of 800000 in the US.

I have concluded that there is a place for digital and film both in my bag. Digital for travel and tourist pictures and film for my more serious endeavors.
 
rpilottx said:
How is it that film is all over the place in Turkey but not in a city of 800000 in the US.
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It could be that Istanbul is a five thousand year old city, that has been the capital of two major empires, the cross road between Asia and Europe, the home of millions and the subject of many photographic works, including Alex Webb and many others.
 
^^ I doubt it is more complex than that they still make money on selling film.... The history of Turkey has little to do with the film sales today (I believe)
 
It probably has to do mostly with economics and the degree of proliferation of computers... The upfront "cost of entry" of digital, necessity of a computer to view and/print, and the short life of digital cameras compared to film cameras. Also, the heat could play a factor, possibly. Film cameras are comparatively inexpensive, last for decades, and film and processing has a small out of pocket "pay as you go" expense. Some of the same things that kept me from being an early adapter apply to the culture at larger there.
 
History is photogenic. Historic places have been photographed endlessly so it naturally follows that film sales have been strong there and it remains so even today.
 
Once digital catches up in some countries, it will replace film even more than in the USA.
 
raid said:
Once digital catches up in some countries, it will replace film even more than in the USA.
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I agree, like with cell phones. Even the most remote locations in the tiniest of towns I travel to seem to have an over abundance of cell phones.
 
If you never had a phone, getting a cell phone makes land phones obsolete. Same with cameras. If you were too poor to own and use a film camera, a basic digital camera may be chosen by your offspring.
 
As always, take the film you need when going on a vacation. The pros (back in the day) would take bricks of film on a job.
 
Corporations only want to stock items that sell quickly for the maximum amount of profit. This is true even in Grocery/Super Markets. Not so long ago lamb chops were a common item in stock. Today, "French Cut" or "Eye Rounds" that were readily available only a few years ago are special order. Thirty years ago top of the line items were on the shelves in Camera stores. Today, any top of the line item is special order. Is there a store in your area that can sell you a Nikon D3x or top of the line Canon? Certainly no top of the line M9. Anyway, large corporations have learned to market low end disposable items that sell quickly and are replaced quickly. There is much more profit it those items. Another, story: I live in a major metropolitan area and it was difficult to find a high end Chinese cooking Wok. I had to go on line and special order one. Sure there were plenty of cheap ones that would last a few years!
Again, why sell you a roll of film for a camera that will last 50 years when they can sell you digital cameras that will last 3 years. And of course good cards are expensive...and you need all those back up cds...we are not talking professionally, just pictures of the family. Anyway, that's my rant. And, I still looking for lamp chops.
 
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