Film Lives -- No, Really

[sooner]

I haven't posted here in a long while, as I've been shooting digital and my last roll of film earlier last year was Agfa Scala shot in a Canon T90. But with the news this week that Kodak will start making a new 8mm film camera, I recalled all the naysayers here a few years back about how film was dead and we were just a bunch of suckers for kidding ourselves. Many of us argued that it could continue as a niche market in a world of 7 billion people, and some laughed at us for that. Well, this Christmas we see LP's in the stores and now Kodak--Kodak!--making a new 8mm film movie camera! It's kind of incredible. Of course we would like to see our film hobby cost less, but so far the naysayers are/were simply dead wrong, and most us can enjoy film, digital, and hybrid devices. Now if I could just remember all my passwords....

 

[bmattock]

Pretty much everything I predicted came to pass. I said reversal film would be gone, color film would vanish from the consumer market, and B&W would be the niche or art market. That's so.

I said emerging markets would skip right over film and go straight to digital, and they have.

I said Ilford might survive and maybe the Eastern European manufacturers, but I said Kodak was a goner and Fuji would get out of film. I was half right on that.

It never meant I wanted it to happen, and I happily shot two rolls of B&W film today, first since about 2010. Film is indeed dead to the mass market.

This is pretty much what I expected to happen. A small niche market for film, mostly B&W. Here we are.

I think Kodak's new 8mm is neato. Hope it sells. Time will tell.

 

[Faintandfuzzy]

I dont think younwere half right at all. Ilford is doing well. Kodak is having its best results in years with a great list of films. Fuji still makes films. So no, I dont see where the half right is...unless I am missing something.

 

[bmattock]

I dont think younwere half right at all. Ilford is doing well. Kodak is having its best results in years with a great list of films. Fuji still makes films. So no, I dont see where the half right is...unless I am missing something.

Kodak went bankrupt. The new Kodak is but a shadow of its former self. Fuji no longer makes many of the films it did, including B&W and movie film. The Kodak consumer film business was shopped around in bankruptcy and found no potential buyers, so it was fobbed off on its U.K. pension plan to settle claims against it. Investors got pennies on the dollar. So, uh, no, Kodak is not having a great year. Did you read their quarterly returns? Compared to last year, they are having a bit of a rough go of it.

Consumer use of film has dropped well past the point of no return, convenience stores, drug stores, and department stores no longer stock or process it. One hour processing is a thing of the past. Ilford is doing fine, and I bloody well said that.

I predicted that film, as a mass market consumer item, was done for. And this has come to pass. I predicted that B&W would survive as a niche market for artists and enthusiasts, and so it has.

I also said, back in the day, that I love film and am unhappy to see it go. However, too many people seem utterly incapable of grasping that concept. If I said film was headed out, I was the enemy and I must be a film hater or something.

Bottom line, things are as they are, and I saw it coming and said so. Agreeing or not agreeing doesn't change anything. I seek no argument, so this will be my last statement in this thread. I wish all peace and lots of film.

 

[Addy101]

I seek no argument, so this will be my last statement in this thread. I wish all peace and lots of film.

Wise decision, somebody might proof you wrong :angel:

Anyway, back to the development at hand. The Youtube channel The Art of Photography has a video on this Kodak 8mm hybrid, he likes it. The problem I see is that you need an infrastructure to do this and I hope they still have a global presence to pull this off. The good thing is this takes care of the scanning thing, which is the most difficult bit of 8mm film.

It probably is a niche of a niche, but still, interesting. Here is Kodak Super8 page.

 

[Beemermark]

Color film processing lab just opened in Wilmington, NC. East Coast Laba

 

[humberland]

My home town used to have film, photographic paper and chemicals factory (once owned by state). It is out of business due to digital taking the market (or at least it's the official reason stated). On the other hand, Foma bought it and they still manufacture b&w film, papers and so on. Last year they came with Retropan - brand new film. New film in 2015!. Ilford seems to do well on market and now Kodak announcement of new 8mm camera. That's black and white.

Fuji is still making color and reversal films. I can still give my color negative rolls for c41 developing in more than two local labs. Is it enough to say famous 'Film is not dead' loudly and proudly? I hope yes.

 

[Ambro51]

Not going to work at these prices. "for around US$1,000 or higher, with a lower-priced version following in the $400 to $700 range. In a report in the Wall Street Journal, Kodak's chief executive Jeff Clarke estimates that the film cartridges should go for $50 to $75 a pop.". Uh huh. $75 for 3 minutes of video???? No

 

[humberland]

Not going to work at these prices. "for around US$1,000 or higher, with a lower-priced version following in the $400 to $700 range. In a report in the Wall Street Journal, Kodak's chief executive Jeff Clarke estimates that the film cartridges should go for $50 to $75 a pop.". Uh huh. $75 for 3 minutes of video???? No

I didn't have a clue that prices will be so silly. I considered 12$ for roll of double super 8 to be expensive...
But it's aimed for regular filmmakers, not hobbyists I guess.

 

[Capt. E]

I buy my film from a high-end photo lab (Holland Photo) in Austin. They stock a good line. I mainly use: T-Max-100 and Tri-X. They carry a good Fuji line and some odd brands as well. It costs $7+ a roll, twice the price of 10-15 years ago.

Of course I live in a town (Austin Texas) where photography students can take a large format - film class at the community college and film is "cool". Holland also stocks 4x5 color and b&w for both the student and professional customers. One sign of decline for me is that Holland has closed their rental wet-darkroom.