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
I thought the question was 'how long does film have' not 'will film rise from the ashes'. The answer is film will be in production for the rest of my life. I won't be dissuaded from using it.

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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There are enough film users in this world for Fuji to come out with new emulsions every few years. Kodak just revamped its Portra line which is very good by the way. If you shoot b/w there are many companies outside of Ilford to choose from and they range from bad, great to interesting. Film will outlive me that's for sure.
 
Sitemystic, nobody realistically believes that digital photography is not the future of commercial and popular photography as well as camera design. But again, that is not the question being polled in this thread.

Why do you deny that film photography will continue for quite some time?
 
Chris101 said:
Sitemystic, nobody realistically believes that digital photography is not the future of commercial and popular photography as well as camera design. But again, that is not the question being polled in this thread.

Why do you deny that film photography will continue for quite some time?
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Why do I have a sudden recollection of the McCarthy hearings?

Get a grip - film is dead. Game over. Enjoy it while we got it.

Anyone who can read Fujifilm's corporate report for 2007 can see that.

But believe as you wish.

You can blacklist me now, Senator McCarthy. I'll never work in this town again.
 
brachal said:
It's probably already been said in this thread, but I can still buy vinyl LPs and vacuum tubes if I want to.
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There were thousands of companies manufacturing LP's. If 1 of the thousands survive (as a sideline to their CD business) you can still buy LP's.
There were only a handful of film manufacturers and half of them are gone. The rest have seen their sales drop dramatically. I do think it will be around for a while.

Steve
 
sjw617 said:
There were thousands of companies manufacturing LP's. If 1 of the thousands survive (as a sideline to their CD business) you can still buy LP's.
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A record-pressing business requires an investment of just under 50K for a used press and vinyl, which is a commodity widely available. I just happened to read an article on it recently in No Depression.

How much does it cost to build a factory to coat photographic film? And where will you get the raw materials? And where will you get the EPA permission to create the type of hazardous waste that Kodak creates?

It is hardly a valid comparison. Film is about a bazillion times more complex than a vinyl record.

There were only a handful of film manufacturers and half of them are gone. The rest have seen their sales drop dramatically.
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And that's a positive indicator how?

I do think it will be around for a while.
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Depends on your definition of "a while," I guess.
 
visiondr said:
Bill,
Were you one of those kids who poked holes in other kids' balloons? Just wondering... :rolleyes:
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Nope. I just think tapping my heels together three times won't get me back to Kansas.
 
Film will likely be around for a while yet. How long it will be available is only a guess. Use the stuff while its here. The more we use it the longer it'll be around. If there is a demand the supply has to be there. I'll bet B&W will be around for a long time to come anyway.

The camera manufacturers aren't making heirlooms, the stuff is mostly crap but occasionally something good will make it to the market. ( It won't be the M8, trust me! )
 
literiter said:
If there is a demand the supply has to be there.
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And age-old 'truism' that is anything but.

Demand goes unmet all the time.

a) there is demand, but supply no longer exists.
b) there is demand, but insufficient to motivate any manufacturer.
c) there is demand, but regulatory issues prevent supply from existing.
d) there is demand, but no willingness to pay the prices required to create supply.

A) Iceman no longer comes.
B) No one makes new 8-track tapes. (and yes, I've seen the 8-track links - I said 'new'.)
C) No more mercury batteries. Substitutes only.
D) Will you pay $10 a roll for film? $100? $1,000? At some point, you will say 'no'. Then there will be demand, but no supply.

"The law of supply and demand" is just not that simple.
 
I would be surprised to see color 35mm film last more than 5 to 10 years, except for the pro stuff. And has anyone tried to find B&W film at Walmart or Walgreen's, to name two stores? Good luck. The price of digital cameras has gone down so much that it doesn't make sense for consumers to buy film, except in less developed nations. For most people, the ability to get their images right away and avoid going to some store to get prints wins out, and most people (not me, but that is another story) prefer the look of the digi images. I think the decision to stop making Polaroid instant films is the writing on the wall. I used to buy only music cassettes because I prefered them to CD's. They are about extinct now, and the sound quality of CD's has gotten so much better than in the beginning. The same thing will happen w/ imagery. I love the look of B&W film, but I have no attachment to the medium itself, and would love to see digital sensors that mimic the look. I would also love to see digi inserts for film cameras, but I would put my money on the former. We are in the midst of a technological shift, like it or not.
 
To Myoptic3:

I think you hae the right of it. I *do* prefer the look of B&W film to digital, and I *do* think it is superior, I just don't have high hopes for its survival in the long term. I will be sad the day I have no more film to feed my film cameras. In the meantime, I will enjoy what there is and try not to think a lot about it.

That may come as a shock to those who think I must hate film since I state flatly that it's day is done. I don't hate it, but I know a terminal state when I see one.
 
antiquark said:
But Betamax is inferior to digital in all respects.
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Didn't outlive the VHS it was superior to, did it? Technical superiority has never been an accurate predictor of success.
 
bmattock said:
To Myoptic3:

I don't hate it, but I know a terminal state when I see one.
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You may be right.

So when do you figure the end will come? Tomorrow AM? Perhaps Friday after work? 5, 10, 15, 20 years?

Give me a date, I gotta know for sure so I can get rid of some stuff.

Dang, it's good to know I can finally get an answer to this.
 
myoptic3 said:
I would be surprised to see color 35mm film last more than 5 to 10 years, except for the pro stuff. And has anyone tried to find B&W film at Walmart or Walgreen's, to name two stores? Good luck. .
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Maybe my WalMart and Walgreens are different, but I really never did see a traditional B&W film there. Just C-41 and it's still there, btw. I don't know, but where I live, I really don't see much change in film supply or developing.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
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:
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Seeing earth from space is not necessary, you can see it from any ship at sea.
 
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