Film has made a comeback

When people wish to learn "true" photography they come to film. Those that are computer "geeks" stay with digital imaging. These are the one's that like to sit hours on end behind a computer and electronically manipulate an image through Photoshop to resemble photographs they could of got simply by loading their m-3, m-6, etc. with some Kodachrome or HP-5. Then while the film is out being processed "geek" coulda been spending some quality time with the miss or misses, but instead "geek" is sitting behind computer trying to get it just right. Besides the lady of the house probably isn't sharing any because she is too pissed off at "geek" maxing out the CC for digital imaging equipment..😀 In the words of the band Metallica...Sad but True!
 
Morca007 said:
I think you'll find that film has it's fair share of 'geeks' as well, wasting hours upon hours finding the perfect HC-110 dilution/time and looking online for that long-lost film they used once back in the day. :angel:
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Apparently you don't develope your own b&w film. Thats not waste, that's research.😉🙂
 
Seems like film is still preferred in the fine art world but I don't
go to art shows or galleries much.

Is anyone buying digitally produced art in galleries these days?

Personally, I wouldn't put much value on a print that came out
of an inkjet printer vs. one that was handmade in a darkroom.

"Limited edition" doesn't seem to have much meaning for digital
prints: "Duh -- I only entered '500' in my 'Print' dialog box for
this image, honest."

For me, a digital print is like a cubic zirconium. It looks just like
the real thing only it's practically worthless as an investment. 🙂
 
ruben said:
It is possible that MF films are manufactured in much smaller amounts than in the past. More than posssible.

But facts are facts: no manunfacturer has left the film production. And Fujifilm has declared its commintment to film in loud voice.

From the diverging points of view we have in this discussion, it is not upon me to explain it, but rather upon you to explain why it is so, despite your wedding digital photographers.

Cheers,
Ruben
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Along with discontinuing supply of 100ft rolls and pouring money into pharmaceuticals!
 
Even my 3 and 5 year old kids want to look at the back of my cameras to see the immediate results. It does not work with Contax....
 
Bob, because I'm active in that screwed up world.

This is a strange forum, where the response to observations is to demand a complete biography and list of bona fides. What are your bona fides to dispute my observation?
 
Ray Nalley said:
Bob, because I'm active in that screwed up world.

This is a strange forum, where the response to observations is to demand a complete biography and list of bona fides. What are your bona fides to dispute my observation?
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Chill out, Ray. Nobody "demanded a complete biography," etc.

I just wanted to know what your answer was based on. Without
stating a frame of reference, how is anyone to know your
answer isn't simply made up?

For example, if you had simply said, "I work in the art gallery
industry and ..." it would have clarified your post. That's all
I wanted to know. 🙂
 
I wish I had a crystal ball, or could otherwise see into the future and really see what will happen with film. It is hard make an educated guess because so much changes.

Digital will continue to get better; mostly in terms of pixel count and latitude I'm sure. What seems sure to me too, is there will continue to be upgrades and really cheap digital stuff on the used market.

For the heck of it I Ebayed "Nikon D200" last night. There are scads of the things for sale both used and new with prices dropping dramatically for even the new. Film cameras (all used of course) seem to be holding their own in terms of selling price.

Digital camera manufactures are not making heirlooms.

My feeling (a feeling, not a prediction) is, C41 color film will one day become very hard to get, perhaps unobtainable, E6 will hold a small but reliable market and B&W will stay in the niche market it is in right now.

I would not think a 35mm SLR will ever again be manufactured in the near future.

Being a Luddite and not a herd animal I will persist with film as long as I can.
 
Something interesting happened the other day. I was with some friends and we walked by a high end stereo equipment store, which had a turntable in their window display. We all tried to guess how much it was selling for. The guesses ranged from $200 to $8000. We went in and asked, and it was $2000.00. The sales rep was obviously an aficionado, and we spoke with him for about 20 minutes. He explained how there is now a resurgence in vinyl records, and that the records are being produced using a much thicker plastic which equates to much better quality. He explained how people were realizing the warmth of an instrument or performance simply is not present in a pure digital form. Something else he mentioned that I found interesting, to keep a look out for more and more CD's to be produced AAD.

So, is film like vinyl albums ? Film cameras like turntables ? Maybe film is/has made a come back (personally, it hasn't changed in any way for me).

I certainly have no worry whatsoever in BW film, and I was worried with color film for a while, but then if you look at the amount of digital images that are post processed to give a "vintage" film look, you can see there is a demand for that type of image, and what better to produce it than using the actual equipment and materials.
 
J J Kapsberger said:
Killed off means made defunct, no longer available, a thing of the past. That's not an accurate way to describe the state of MF photography. Even in my city, a God-forsaken trading post in the middle of nowhere, I can buy a wide enough variety of 120 film. And isn't Fuji bringing out a new MF folder? They seem to signal that MF has a future.
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Do you live in Edmonton as well?😀

Anyway, I bought some HP5 120 yesterday and the selection of 120 was as good as 35mm. Even the selection of sheet film was not bad. Of course, this was at 'pro' shop; but nonetheless shows a solid customer base.

Had the honour of trundling around a few photo exhibits in NYC in June- hitting the touristy hotspots: ICP, NY public library, MoMA, and the Met I can say that very few of the photos were digital (always colour) but the main thing for me was I couldn't tell when they were. They looked good to my admittedly naive eye.🙄

Generally, when I bust out my digital camera I amazed how well it works. But I am still smitten with the Yashica 124!
I could see 35mm c41 sales dropping to almost zero- any image you get from now it is basically digital anyway- with b&w and slide maintaining their popularity in all the formats...

...My crystal ball has a bit of fungus in it not to mention some cleaning marks... YMMV
 
There is absolutely a lifeless feeling to some digital images to me, coming from a film background.

AAD recording would require that someone start making tape again- isn't that hard to come by now? (In large width reel sizes anyway).
 
sepiareverb said:
There is absolutely a lifeless feeling to some digital images to me, coming from a film background.

AAD recording would require that someone start making tape again- isn't that hard to come by now? (In large width reel sizes anyway).
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Apparently, not at all (so my music friends tell me). And also interestingly, you can still buy affordable turntables new - from Sony.
 
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