Have We Seen The Last Release of a Serious Film Camera?

Have We Seen The Last Release of a Serious Film Camera?

  • Yes

    Votes: 271 46.2%

  • No

    Votes: 316 53.8%
  • Total voters
    587
While the digital world seems to haven taken over, when there are few players [proding film cameras at the high end], it is more reasonable for some company to just do so.
 
Aside from Cosina, I wouldn't expect anything further from the Japanese makers. They're all about digital and have pretty much cast tied their fortunes to digital.

That pretty much leaves Leica and Carl Zeiss, as far as "serious" cameras go.

I'm not saying that Nikon, Canon and Olympus have abandoned film, but they're giving it lip service at most (they've abandoned film).
 
imo, it would be pointless to wait for a new SERIOUS film camera to wait, as I read in this forum, great cameras are already there, USE IT!!! any camera that would take photographs is a SERIOUS if you use it SERIOUSLY. instead for waiting for a new cameras to come and spend your bucks on it, why dont you spend it on printing equipment, either wet printing or digital, there are very few here are making ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHS where majority just fondle their cameras. cameras are cameras, if you want to fondle something, got fondle your girlfriends, wife or even your self and it will be more accomplishing believe me. then pick a camera put a roll of film and shoot.
 
how has Nikon not abandoned film? they no longer produce film camerasand they have disconitued their Coolscan film scanners. to my knowledge, they do nothing to support the purchase of new film products whatever. the money is in digital.
 
I have the Nikon F4 and the F5 and there's a big difference between them (if I were to buy another Nikon body it would be a second F5) I can only imagine what the F6 is all about...now an F7...NO WAY...is Nikon going to invest any money in another film body that could better the F6??? Maybe not in the Pro models but more towards the consumer shooter...
 
TomN said:
how has Nikon not abandoned film? they no longer produce film camerasand they have disconitued their Coolscan film scanners. to my knowledge, they do nothing to support the purchase of new film products whatever. the money is in digital.
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Nikon still list the F6 on their world site so I assume they are still manufacturing it ... Jonmanjiro or Stephen would know for sure!

What are the chances of them releasing a successor to the F6 ... and realistically how could you make that camera any better?
 
I cannot see a better film SLR come out from Nikon than the F6. If they want to still produce another film camera, I'd be wowed by a metered SP released with a 50/0.95 as a kit. No other manufacturer would come out with another film camera except maybe Fuji since they actually make film (wish they would re-release the Natura black with their 24mm/1.9).

But I feel there is a resurgence of MF film users that allowed the VC 667 to be produced. If they want to really shake things up a bit they would resurrect the Mamiya 6 and produce a 38/50/75 lens lineup to go along with it. The last Fuji GA645zi was nice but too automated for my taste 🙄
 
Keith said:
Nikon still list the F6 on their world site so I assume they are still manufacturing it ... Jonmanjiro or Stephen would know for sure!

What are the chances of them releasing a successor to the F6 ... and realistically how could you make that camera any better?
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Keith, the F6 is still available new and is a current model (i.e. has not been discontinued). It is manufactured in batches as required. The newest F6's I've seen have serial numbers in the high 3x,xxx range, so Nikon has manufactured almost 40,000 over the last five years. To put it another way, Nikon has manufactured more high end film cameras than Leica has manufactured high end digital cameras over the last few years 😉

As to whether we'll see a successor to the F6, in the current business environment digital camera R&D budgets have been squeezed pretty hard and film camera R&D budgets have gone the way of the dodo, so I doubt we ever will.

Edited to add: I don't know how it would be possible to improve on the F6 anyway, unless they could maintain the same functionality in a smaller package.
 
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Nikon offers two film SLRs -- the F6 (which it makes and went on sale in 2004) and the FM10 (which is made by Cosina and was introduced in 1995, making it old by film standards and prehistoric by the digital life cycle).

Olympus no longer makes film SLRs. Canon makes just one film SLR: EOS-1v, which was released in 2000.

I would like to see Carl Zeiss develop a high-quality compact camera with a fast lens -- or even interchangeable lenses. Production would be a problem, as P&S cameras aren't in Cosina's bag of tricks.
 
Is the Nikon F6 really a Nikon pro camera? I need a wlf (or chap and easy right angle finder) for copy stand work. Same for real mirror lockup, as well as on telescope work. The F6 does not provide these. So I got an f5 instead. An F7 would be smaller than the F6, and provide the functionality of the F5 and F6 combined, and stuff we haven't see yet.

However Nikon (and the other companies, that are not Cosina) are totally committed to their line of digital SLRs. So I doubt there will ever be an F7.

But products like that new filmy Fuji folder, the Leica MP and recent Bessa rangefinders give me hope that film cameras are still evolving. It would be a shame to abandon a medium just when it reaches true maturity.
 
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jonmanjiro said:
The F6 was specifically targeted at the "serious amateur" from the get-go (though some pro's do use it).

There's a two page writeup in Japanese about the thinking behind the design at the link below (sorry, no time to translate it these days so google translation etc. will have to suffice).

http://www.nikon-image.com/jpn/enjoy/interview/works/2005/0504/index.htm
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I don't read Japanese, but I'll believe you Jon. When I first encountered it (a co-worker bought one for several thousand bucks) I thought it should have been named the F100s.

The lack of a wlf blew it for me, but, if you must know, the F5 blew it too - it didn't have a regular cable release. Whatever Nikon. Nokon is becoming less imperative as the digital revolution leaves traditional SLR type cameras (digital included) in the dust.
 
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There are quite a few small companies successfully producing virtually hand built high quality items these days ... CNC technology has made this possible!

Cameras are extremely complex devices though and the best ones have notably been designed by geniuses like Maitani who's mission in life appeared to be rising to the challenge of showing the rest of the manufacturers how it could and should be done!

What are the stand out designs these days? Don't quote the M8/M9 to me because there's nothing new and clever inside one of those ... and the M7 is certainly nothing special on paper ... far more innovation in an R4A IMO!
 
I have voted "no" but it is rather a hope than an opinion. Yes - today there is an over abundance of nice used (and often cheap) film cameras (MF SLRs for example and all those 35 SLRs) - but I would love to shoot film in 20 or 30 years, and not all of my cameras must be ready for museum ...

When I come to think of it - the last serious camera must be the Bessa III (bew we all know it was supposed to come with 65mm lens instead ;-) ).

I do not really think that something very new (in the sense of technology) could be brought to the market (well, maybe a foldable AND multi lens MF camera - I have no idea whether that is feasible). But there are m any nice features and solutions that could appear in one single camera.

I can imagine things to be done in 120 film format. Mamiya could try with their future (only speculation) M8 to come back to collapsible mount, longer RF base, I could imagine an 645 rangefinder with exchangeable lenses - a'la RF645 with large lens selection (on the wide side) and longer rangefinder base. Or what about 6x9 RF with multiple lenses with light metering - remember the old Fuji GL690?

True - technically speaking digital SLRs have overtaken that market - solution that would do the same with 120 and 4x5 are slowly there, but extremely costly. What is not there yet is the look - the digital looks often too sterile (to me). So - as long as there are enough funs of film who are willing to take up the cost - we will get some cameras - even new - to play with - I hope ... I really do ...
 
Nikon have announced they will be abandoning film camera production in 2006, people.

And the above poster is right, they have also given up on film scanners.

Nikon is a digital company, and will not go back to film, since it will bringe them no money. All you can buy from them now is off-the-shelf stock, no new products. R&D for film has ended, no new Nikons.

I find the situation with regards to scanners much more troublesome. I shoot a 1955 Leica and it works fine, can get serviced, etc. But what about my scanners? Still in business and serviceable in ten years? Don't think so.

Who's gonna build me a 35mm/MF/LF film scanner?
 
CLE-RF said:
Nikon have announced they will be abandoning film camera production in 2006, people.
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The article is titled Nikon to end film camera production but then goes on to say "It will also continue to offer its F6 flagship pro-oriented film camera and lenses. Sales of the manual FM10 will also continue outside Europe, the company added."

The title of the article is wrong, but at least they got the facts right in the article itself.

The Coolscan 9000ED is not dead ... yet.
 
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