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
David Hegar said:
How about 2G, 3G, 4G ? And do you know that what's been considered of "phone part" have been expanded?

But we got distracted here, my question is...how is your reply prove or disprove that there will be "newer serious film camera" in the future...when the big film maker themselves, i.e. the main enablers that we are still shooting films right now, are cutting down on films that they produce as time progresses ?

-d
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And INTRODUCING some emulsions : Ektar.
 
But Kodak are clear that they can't make money building a (cheap) scanner. Without that colour film will eventually all but disappear, or go completely and black and white will also be very vulnerable.

If you can't buy film and you can't scan what you kept in the freezer you'll have little choice.

Of course there will still be enlargers and you can coat your own acetate with emulsion and make Pd/Pt contact prints:)

I doubt there will be another film Ikon - certainly in 35mm.

Mike
 
sojournerphoto said:
But Kodak are clear that they can't make money building a (cheap) scanner. Without that colour film will eventually all but disappear, or go completely and black and white will also be very vulnerable.

If you can't buy film and you can't scan what you kept in the freezer you'll have little choice.

Of course there will still be enlargers and you can coat your own acetate with emulsion and make Pd/Pt contact prints:)

I doubt there will be another film Ikon - certainly in 35mm.

Mike
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Why would that scanner come form Kodak? They haven't made a serious camera in their whole history, with the exception of the Retina, and still produced film.

We still have access to very good scanners... Epson, Microtek, Nikon etc. Why would'nt this suffice?
 
Kristopher said:
Why would that scanner come form Kodak? They haven't made a serious camera in their whole history, with the exception of the Retina, and still produced film.

We still have access to very good scanners... Epson, Microtek, Nikon etc. Why would'nt this suffice?
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Nikon have given up on the 5000, leaving only the 9000 that is very expensive for most people.

Flatbeds are usually marginal for 35mm and really leave too much behind even for medium format, so you may as well shoot digital.

I know a chap locally who sold his 4 by 5 kit when he got a 5D - he didn't think that his (landscape) prints from flatbed scans were any better than the digital output.

I don't want rid of film. I like it, but I'm worried about it's future if the high end becomes so high that it's inacesible.

Mike
 
Katzeye screen options

Katzeye screen options

jonmanjiro said:
I... I had all sorts of problems with my D200 until I installed a Katzeye focus screen.
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Hi Jon,
I saw this comment just now and wonder whether you got the "brightness enhancement" option or not. Is it worth the $55 extra?

(sorry about the off-topic nature of the question)
 
jonmanjiro said:
Ray, have you tried installing a different focus screen in your F6?

I installed an L screen, and it made a world of difference for me. I had trouble manual focusing with the standard screen, but with the new screen I find it just as easy as focusing an F2 or F3. The image really snaps into focus.
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Does the Type L Focusing Screen affect the autofocus function or meter accuracy on the F6? Thanks,

Kind regards,
 
Only skimming the thread, I wouldn't know what to wish for. Everything I could ever want from a (film-)camera is available. No complaining here.

martin
 
Perhaps this is an incorrect analogy, but I was thinking about it last night: film to me seems like a carbureted engine in a classic 1967 Camaro, while digital is like a shiny new fuel-injected BMW. They can exist side-by-side.

Most consumers want a fuel-injected car. They're more reliable, require less effort from the consumer, etc. (see any parallels to digital?) Yet Holley is still making new carburetors. Why? Because there is an enthusiast market that loves to tinker with a technology that will always be less reliable and more difficult to maintain. Holley is not out of business; in fact, they are making carburetors that are far more technologically advanced than those that came out 40 years ago.

I believe the same will hold true for the film camera industry. There will always be an element of photographers that love their strange toys to tinker with. Digital camera manufacturers are in a race to make the camera that requires the least amount of thought. That may work for the masses, but us weirdos shudder at the thought of this type of photography. :) There will always be a camera manufacturer that realizes this.
 
Well-said; however, although aftermarket parts for 1967 Camaros are a sustainable business, no one's putting new 1967 Camaros out the factory door. It's all done with scavenging what's already out there and adding newly-manufactured parts. I imagine it'll be the same for film cameras. A small number of experts will be able to do maintenance and possibly CNC the odd hard-to-find part at some expense, and a very small number of specialized companies will continue to make a limited selection of film and chemistry.

I'm sure alt-process stuff will survive, though...home-grown and increasingly significant presenting artists with a deliberately and decidedly opposed way of making images.



Does anyone think they had the same angst over the future availability of "portable" (hah) dark tents when dry plates replaced collodion??
 
I know it'll (probably) never happen but basically I want a Canon 1D Mk IV, minus all digital-specific features, plus eye-controlled autofocus (ECF). Essentially a god-mode version of the EOS 3.
 
Until corrections from other forum members, the last film cameras were:

35mm: Cosina Voigtländer Bessa R2, Bessa R3 & Bessa R4 (2006)
MF: Cosina Voigtländer Bessa III (2009)

Cheers,

Juan
 
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I am surprised noone makes a new small fixed lens true rangefinder with quality lens/body, something similar to the Contax T. It's really strange noone has yet made one considering how much the Contax T sells for.
 
dogberryjr said:
Works for the F100, too. Problem is finding the reader. those things are scarce as hens' teeth.
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The reader works with the F5, F6 and F100. I got mine around two years ago from B&H, not sure if they still have it. It was expensive, but worth every cent! The F100 and F6 now give me all I need to make my scanned images as good as a dslr's.
 
I would like a new Bessa (metered) body with a 90mm dedicated huge viewfinder, maybe with the whole window covering a bit less than the 50mm view as in an SLR...

That would be very nice for portraiture and even street shooting. Not for everyone, but I think it would sell very well. And it would require just a new viewfinder design, and the rest is done already...

Cheers,

Juan
 
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