How Can Analog Photography Be Saved?

FalseDigital said:
Two words.

affordable film
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Which is given: If you make a proper economic calculation and consider real inflation, than processing and photo chemistry are significantly cheaper than 25-30 years ago in the film boom era.
And also lots of films are cheaper compared to that time.
 
If there is enough demand such that camera manufactures can make a profit by making & selling brand new film cameras, they'll do it. Otherwise, *film* photography will die. It's just a matter of time.
 
David Hughes said:
It would make a lot of sense to buy a lot of old cameras; all the same make and model. Strip them down and test and measure as you go and then start reassembling the best bits to make a few "as new" ones. There was a firm or two that did it with classic cars, proper Jaguars and the Morris minor/1000 come to mind...
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That's a really good idea, I like it.

Reminds me of the company that bought the remaining parts of the Back To The Future DeLorean DMC-12, and you can have a new old stock car built for you, right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lrIqGphJx8
 
DominikDUK said:
Interesting it seems that "analogue" photography is considered by many to be industrial made film photography only. Denise Ross has instructions on her website the lightfarm on how to make film yourself http://thelightfarm.com/
Analogue photography unlike digital is in fact not dependent on manufacturers as it can be made at home without too much difficulty.

Analogue photography doesn't need to be saved as it is very much alive and far from dead.
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Home made film is limited to ridiculously low ISO values. No one except a fringe element is going to care about that.


Film is not in any way secure for a long term future. Fujifilm is exiting and Kodak is in very serious financial trouble (today).



I would hate to predict what the situation will be like a short 10 years from now.
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again... It completely baffles me why the two big film companies, that also had very capable digital sensor technology, did not offer a line of film scanners (consumer to semi-pro to pro) to support film sales. I imagine a simple consumer-level 35mm scanner with easy to use software could be made to sell for well under $500, maybe under $300. Heck, sell at cost, it's worth the strategic value. Instead, they leave it to market forces and end up losing.
 
What about this scanner:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...7NyU3QIViPhkCh2amwe4EAQYASABEgIAQfD_BwE&smp=y

Maybe it’s just me but why would some one make photos with a film camera then for the process stage get it developed, maybe scanned at the same time, or develop it yourself then scan it? To me it’s very time consuming. Why not capture with a good quality digital camera and save the time, work and effort if all you’re going to do is scan your film! My full frame Canon digital cameras makes pretty nice photographs.

For my business, when digital came of age, which for me was 2004, it was a real opportunity for me to give better photographs for my clients.
 
Ted Striker said:
Home made film is limited to ridiculously low ISO values. No one except a fringe element is going to care about that.
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Film is not analogue photography only a part of it and the original questions wasn't how to safe film but how to save analogue photography of which film is part but so is the calotype, dryplate, wetplate, daguerreotype, etc.... Furthermore you can make ISO 400 emulsions at home it's just a lot more complicated than low ISO emulsions an as long as there is a single analogue photography practitioner the medium is alive
 
Buy and use film? I am astonished that Instax film is so profitable. Still, George Eastman was successful with a business model of selling cheap cameras to create a market for film. It still works a 150 years later in the "digital era".

yours
FPJ
 
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philosli said:
If there is enough demand such that camera manufactures can make a profit by making & selling brand new film cameras, they'll do it. Otherwise, *film* photography will die. It's just a matter of time.
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There is a huge (over)supply of used film cameras on the market. Just look at the published CIPA numbers: From 2000 - 2007 alone more than 85 million (!!) film cameras have been sold. There are so much film cameras on the market that it will last for decades to come. And there are already new repair companies exploring the business model we have established already for decades in the classic car and air plane scene: Keeping items running for an unlimited time.
Nevertheless we will see a similar pattern as we've already seen with mechanical watches and turntables: Lots of new models, partly from new and innovative manufacturers (we have first signs of it with Chamonix, Intrepid, Reflex, Ponf).
Digital camera sales are on a all-time low and further decreasing. In the mid term, camera manufacturers will look for further attractive niches. Film cameras will be one of them.

Cheers, Jan
 
Ted Striker said:
Film is not in any way secure for a long term future. Fujifilm is exiting and Kodak is in very serious financial trouble (today).
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Your usual FUD postings. You act like a robot. Boring, nothing else. Neither is Fujifilm exiting (you know that they are by far the biggest film manufacturer with booming instax sales and just recently introduced new 3-packs for C200 and X-Tra 400), nor is there any evidence that Kodak is going away from film production.

Ted Striker said:
I would hate to predict what the situation will be like a short 10 years from now.
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People like you are saying film is dying for 15 years now. But the opposite has happened: With Instax a film product is a mass market product again, even much better selling than mirrorless digital cameras. There are even new film manufacturers on the market like Adox and Film Ferrania (something what the doom and gloom prayers always have declared to be absolutely impossible). There are new films on the market, lots of new labs, film shops and used film camera shops.
The situation now is much much better than most thought ten years ago it would be!
And in ten years from now the situation will even be significantly better for film users than today.
About how much should we bet, 1,000$, 10,000$?
No problem for me to go in for 10,000$. Very easy earned money ;). Let's meet here again in 10 years. And don't forget to bring the 10,000 bucks :).

Cheers, Jan
 
samuelphoto said:
I've said it before and I'll say it again... It completely baffles me why the two big film companies, that also had very capable digital sensor technology, did not offer a line of film scanners (consumer to semi-pro to pro) to support film sales. I imagine a simple consumer-level 35mm scanner with easy to use software could be made to sell for well under $500, maybe under $300. Heck, sell at cost, it's worth the strategic value. Instead, they leave it to market forces and end up losing.
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1. There are prof. scanners for pro-labs by Noritsu and Fujifilm. You can buy them.
2. For consumers in the 300$ to 500$ price range you can also buy new scanners from Reflecta and Plustek.
So it isn't the case that no one would be serving these markets.

Cheers, Jan
 
HHPhoto said:
There is a huge (over)supply of used film cameras on the market. Just look at the published CIPA numbers: From 2000 - 2007 alone more than 85 million (!!) film cameras have been sold. There are so much film cameras on the market that it will last for decades to come. And there are already new repair companies exploring the business model we have established already for decades in the classic car and air plane scene: Keeping items running for an unlimited time.
Nevertheless we will see a similar pattern as we've already seen with mechanical watches and turntables: Lots of new models, partly from new and innovative manufacturers (we have first signs of it with Chamonix, Intrepid, Reflex, Ponf).
Digital camera sales are on a all-time low and further decreasing. In the mid term, camera manufacturers will look for further attractive niches. Film cameras will be one of them.

Cheers, Jan
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Digital camera sales shrink because people no longer need cameras of any media, not they suddenly realized how good silver halide smells compared to a SD card. Your statements contradict themselves. There're so many film cameras around, yet it is still a niche - how could it be profitable then to support a major camera manufacturer, should they go in the way of Kodak? Imagine how many F6s should Nikon sell in order to redeem itself, if they did not opt for a new venture, which is the new mirrorless business? How many F6s are out there? How many do people really need?
 
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