How long does film have?

How long does film have?

  • Film? Film is already dead! Long live digital.

    Votes: 5 1.4%

  • A few more years.

    Votes: 38 10.8%

  • A few more decades.

    Votes: 123 35.0%

  • Film will be around forever!

    Votes: 185 52.7%
  • Total voters
    351
Nobody here REALLY nows how long film will last. Due to the fact that at a certain point it will become economically unrealistic to keep even one film plant running, film WILL disappear at some point, and fairly quickly when it does. Now, while I hope that film will last my lifetime, I wouldn't take bets on it. So, rather than buy that MP I want, I'll play with my $50 rangefinders and my CL until I'm forced to put them on display for lack of use.

Maybe by then some of the things I don't like about digital will no longer be an issue.
 
With the invention of color photography, B&W photography has been dead for decades. Nobody does B&W photography, as clearly everybody shoots color.

It is absolutely positively clear that color photography won. No B&W photographs are being made anymore. Zilch.

And the proof of that is that no matter how much a handful of people think they do B&W photography, they are crazy.

Also, the Earth is flat, and until it's shown to me the Earth out some window of some spaceship that I've never ever seen, I will hold on to the absolute truth of that assertion. No matter what other people say; specially those NASA nuts.

:angel:
 
sitemistic said:
Ducky, in what way is the price of film cameras on eBay related to the future of film? There is a total disconnect between the quality of film cameras, the future of film and their prices on eBay. quote]

Man sitemistic, you got a fever going today.

The prices reflect the fact that people are still buying film cameras, that's all. Unless they are putting them on a shelf someplace ( a possibility) they must be putting film in them.

Olympus Stylus' selling for $60 now when a year ago they were $10. XA's . . no way.
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sitemistic said:
My 1990 EOS 1 with same vintage lenses is built like a tank and takes outstanding photos, and you can buy them in like new condition all day for less than $100.
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Not where I come from, and not on Ebay so far as I can see. The average price for a good EOS 1 seems to be about $400. When I sold an Olympus OM3 (not the Ti version) a few months ago, I got over $1000. People are buying these things to use them.

Digital imaging is changing so quickly, I'm pretty sure that film (35mm, 120 and sheet) will outlast 'current' digital consumer cameras, and who is to say what will happen with professional equipment when it breaks out of the straightjacket of 'simulating' film digitally.

Enthusiasts and niche professionals will keep film going for most of our lifetimes. People are still making profits manufacturing Argyrotype kits, FFS!
 
sitemistic said:
Gabriel, that's just a straw man.
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Now you're seeing men made of straw? :rolleyes:

sitemistic said:
The number of B&W photos produced is tiny in comparison to the number of color photos. Color clearly won.
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That is such a Cowboy way of looking at the Universe: more = win

By that logic, "water has clearly won". Forget that 99.99% of the world population lives on land; governments should let go of their territories, for the sea has clearly won.

Also, Darkness has clearly won: look at the Universe. The rest of the Universe is cold and void. No point in using our measly lone, loser Sun. :bang: Clearly american-football dogmas win, because it's all in the numbers and nothing else. Ever.
 
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Well, of course young folk don't care about image quality. They just want instant results. That's why Polaroid rules the photo world.

Seriously, some folk should hang 'round "young folk " more often instead of reading "Geezer News Weekly".
 
John,

I never saw an Olympus Stylus go for $10. If one did, its an aberration.

Same for Ade-oh and your $1000+ Om-3. Look at Ebay. $400 for one WITH a nice 35/2 lens. Many more sold for $300 to $595. I think your buyer may have thought he was getting the -Ti version...
 
sitemistic said:
Gabriel, your examples have nothing to do with whether color won or not. They are just straw men. I think you are being deliberately obtuse.
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I'm deliberately siting on Truthiness Hill. Facts be d@mned, let te factoids and the gut lend an air of absoluteness.
 
I realize I may have a minority opinion, but...

I will use film until I can't. Either I will be dead and gone, or film will. If film goes first, I'll shoot digital.
To me making photographs is the most important thing, format is secondary. That said, I have invested a great deal of time and money in 35mm film. I hope it sticks around as long as I do.
 
There still seem to be a number of disposable cameras sold, and you can get one hour C41 done just about anywhere.
 
sitemistic said:
Chris, of course, but how does any of this show that film cameras will rise again from the ashes? I'm out in large crowds of people a lot (if you want anecdotal observations) and I haven't seen anyone with a film camera in a long time. Even seeing someone with an SLR of any kind is rare.
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Yes but WHERE are you? You've mentioned we're in a little bubble here on RFF and may not see the bigger picture but that could just as easily apply to your geographic location and social scene.
I think we're all in our own little bubbles and unless anybody has some hard facts here, it's a pretty useless discussion.
FWIW when I speak to the people who work at camera shops here in my bubble, they seem to agree that film sales initially fell hard, flatlined and have recently seen a slight increase.
Your bubble may vary.
 
sitemistic said:
Chris, of course, but how does any of this show that film cameras will rise again from the ashes? I'm out in large crowds of people a lot (if you want anecdotal observations) and I haven't seen anyone with a film camera in a long time. Even seeing someone with an SLR of any kind is rare.
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Depends on where you are. A few weeks ago I was the only person shooting film out of a group of 15 or so. Today I was at lunch with two friends who both had film cameras. And all the cameras were SLRs of some kind.

Next time I'm on vacation, I'll look and see if people are shooting pictures with cell phones or whatever. You are right that RFF isn't anywhere near a representative sample of the overall photography market.
 
sitemistic said:
It's interesting. More and more on the Internet I hear the refrain that digital is just a temporary blip and that consumers will come to their senses and return to film. I just don't know what to make of that.
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Over at the forums on www.dpreview.com , I constantly hear that film is dead. Again, what you hear depends on which group you listen to.
 
I used to think that film would always survive as a small niche market. But with the demise of Polaroid's instant film recently, I am no longer so confident. Polaroid films became a niche market in the art world. I thought that was a big enough market to sustain these films for many years. But I was wrong.
So now I suspect that a few years after film is essentially relegated to the art world, it will disappear. I suspect that we are not far away from film simply being a niche market especially with very few new film cameras available and with very few young people using film.
So here goes my prediciton: film will be restricted to niche use by 2011. Film will be gone by 2015.
I'll miss film but picture taking around the world will be stronger than ever.
Eric
 
It's probably already been said in this thread, but I can still buy vinyl LPs and vacuum tubes if I want to.
 
Call Now!!

Call Now!!

So why does not everyone here spend 10 minutes each and call the following:

Kodak 1-800-242-2424 ext. 10
585-724-4000

Fujifilm
732.857.3000 800.659.3854


Go and call them and ask about their Film Production!!! :D

Call Now - Operators are standing by!! :D


MArk [Aperture Priority]
Quito, EC
 
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