Film to die in June

[migtex]

My parents close their lab and studio last Aug. after 40 years in the business... no more film's (about 2 or 3 a day on the good days), no more weedings with film, studio too expensive for the market (forget about art, people measure it based on their P&S's) and they were to old to jump on digital "thing" too... sad see it go. 🙁

Couldn't stop the anger on the Old Man... he almost destroy everything he build with his own hands 😡 (yes he build his own lab equipments!! even sold some of them to other lab's before Fuji and Kodak show up with mini-lab's many years ago).
Some times life sucks I guess....:bang:

 

[MikeL]

I need to figure out a way to make a nickel off every prediction that film will be dead in the next 2-3 years that does not come true. If I could backdate it I'd be rich. I guess it's good entertainment though.....

 

[cfoto]

Most of the one hour labs have disappeared in my area. Some in store labs are still doing film, some not. All that are still around have added the digital kiosks. Four photography stores have closed there doors within the past 2 years. I think the prediction is true, perhaps not literally, but symbolically. Film is getting harder and harder to find. The paper I work for has switched to all digital, as have most (all?) have. If you dig up the bios on the old time RF and film National Geographic photographers, you find most have all switched to digital. It's really become a niche for hobbiests and enthusiasts. Perhaps their will be a resurgence for film down the road. Let's hope it does and does not completely die.

 

[Nikon Bob]

Where I live one hour film processing is still widely available and most do digital too. I have noticed that the amount and variety of film stocked by the larger chain stores in town has greatly decreased. To me it all points to a niche market for film in the future with attendant higher costs. Just when that happens is anyones guess and it will happen in some areas sooner than others as can be seen from previous replies. Will film die out totally? I don't think so.

Bob

 

[dazedgonebye]

The Sun will eventually implode too.

...and you will eventually use a useful analogy... 😀 :angel:

 

[mpt600]

When I was at school in the 1970's we were told oil would run out by the year 2000. I can still buy vinyl lp's. I worry about the cost rising too much far more than the ability to buy and d&p film.

 

[aad]

We still have many options, in fact we have a new 1 hour photo place in town-4 within 8 miles that I can think of, all busy, and I'm not in an urban area. The itty-bitty kiosks like Fotomat are gone, but I can still get 2 hour E6 in 35mm and 120.

January '08 is when a departed member of this forum predicted the end of C41-I have it marked in my calender to buy a roll, shoot and have it printed within 2 hours in early January. Results will be posted.

 

[Keith]

Thought this was a funny quote, made in June 2003 by a National Geographic photographer:
"I predict that four years from now, you're going to see one-hour photo shops closing."

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0306/q_n_a.html

As far as I can tell, one-hour labs are still going strong.

Anyone who believes that probably believes that man really did walk on the moon in 1969 ... c'mon, we all know it was a studio job ... don't we? 😀 😀 😀

quite an interesting article actually and it did point out something about digital that it took me a while to discover ... if you overexpose a shot you may as well delete it as there is very little flexibility! 🙄

And look on the bright side ... there may be some very cheap C41 machines on the market in the future for those who were 'born to repair!' 🙂

 

[ChrisPlatt]

There were once lots of one hour photo labs around here; most did a lousy job.
There are only a few left now. I presume/hope these are the better ones...

Chris

 

[Rhoyle]

There was a high-end consumer lab (oxymoron?) near me that closed not long ago. Their reason? Couldn't compete with Walmart!

 

[biomed]

Dust off the tanks and reels

Dust off the tanks and reels

I have my XP2 processed at a local Kit's Camera (Ritz) for $2.00 a roll. On Sunday I dropped off three rolls and was told that the cost was $4.50 a roll. When questioned about the big price increase, an employee told me it was due to the decrease in competition and demand for film processing and that the cost is probably to go even higher. The local Costco quoted a price of $2.09 per roll with one hour service for developing only. I am going to give them a test roll and see how they do. I am gearing up for home BW processing. I don't believe that film will be gone in my lifetime. Will it cost more and be harder to find? Probably. Will that stop us from enjoying photography? I think not!

Mike

 

[Dfin]

So what are all the digital players going to do when technology moves on and they can no longer read their cd/dvd`s and their hard drives crash and burn??? Anyone remember betamax,cassette tapes the list goes on and on, the only certainty is change! Will still photograghy survive? Look at the amount of amature video footage used in news broadcasts, then downloaded onto the Net!!! Youtube anyone?? Me, I`ve got a cupboard full of beautifull film cameras and lenses which I intend to use until the very end, me or film ,which ever comes first!!

 

[Pherdinand]

We see already some one-hour photo shops closing.
Ne did not say ALL of them will be closing in June 😀

I guess they were closing ten years ago already, based on the same logic.
But the reason had nothing to do with the well-being of film.

ANyway
minilabs were always sloppy. Who needs one-hour minilab services. One-hour minilab services are for the ones who already switched to gigital looong time ago - or never used filom - .

 

[Socke]

We have more minilabs than some four years ago, but my favourite one closed shop. The new labs use the same machine for digital and film, the one I miss did only film on an ancient Noritsu "printer", in this case a real wet enlarger, and had a JOBO CPE in a darkroom.

Film is harder to get, the big local photochain used to carry house brand B/W, probably Foma, and now it's hard to get anything but Tri-X or T-max100 there.
The grocery stores used to have two brands with two speeds each, usualy Agfa and Kodak, now they have a few rolls Fuji Z200, if at all.

Gas stations used to have Kodak Gold, now they have nothing.

A big consumer electronics chain used to have a 12 feet aisle with film ranging from Ektachrome 100 to Delta 3200, now they have T-Max 100 and Gold 200 with some Elitechrome 100 thrown in for good measure on a rack not wider than 2 feet.

A very big photo studio used to do E6 daily, now they do it once a week, not because they need it, it's for educational purposes. The apprentices have to do darkroom work, it is part of the education. They shoot film for education only, all comercial work is done with digital backs on Hassys and Linhofs.

Developer is something I have to drive some 60 miles for, none available localy save two bottles Tetenal Ultrafin plus which I might pick up in April.

I live in a town with some 600,000 inhabitants! With five photo stores and two pro photographers within a 20 minute walk!

 

[Pherdinand]

Now Socke, that's indeed pretty sad 🙁

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I used to have a photography shop a few seconds away. They sold cameras, and they developed a lot of film five years ago.

Then they morphed into a wedding studio, and still develop film, but some days I am their only film customer. They say when the machine needs a repair they will stop film processing.

The only film cameras in that shop now are a small collection of Hasselblads on display to look quaint. They use digital SLR's for their wedding work.