NYT discovers film is not dead

[stewmander]

Oh Hipsters...

I always thought the simpler mechanical functions of film cameras to be one of the appeals over digital. No extreme precision required for my XA, GIII Q17, or FE

Rarely perfect pictures? Isnt that the point of toy cameras?

The article seems to think Lomo and Poloroid are the end all and be all of film

 

[kuzano]

All well and good..."not liking the article"...

All well and good..."not liking the article"...

I did not like the article.

By excluding any mention of serious (quality) film photography, the article draws the equation that film equals kinky, hip, Lomo-style images.

That's not generally the kind of film photography we are talking about here.

These people are not a "spit in the bucket" number to be ignored. There may come time, very soon, when we will be counting on the "kinky" side of photography for the numbers we need to preserve the availability of film.

Any "photographer" serious or otherwise by whatever standards are welcome to walk up beside me at any photo counter to order and pay for a brick of film. Likewise they can order from whatever source, on line or retail. Just keep buying film folks.

 

[Pastor Chris]

I did not like the article.

By excluding any mention of serious (quality) film photography, the article draws the equation that film equals kinky, hip, Lomo-style images.

That's not generally the kind of film photography we are talking about here.

+1. The article provides the impression that only these sorts of clown cameras, Polaroid excluded, are arrtractive or useful any more. I think that I get far more comments on my film shots than I do on digital, especially when showing prints. Perhaps because I have put more though, effort, or relationship into the subjects and how they were shot.

 

[Keith]

A lot of fluff and very little fact in this article and I'm sure any committed film user will sn!gger when they read that Lomography and co are saving the medium ... as we all know the hipsters by their nature will move on to the next trend when it suits them! They also fail to mention that of the world's two largest film manufacturers ... one is in the throws of bankruptcy and the other has cut back on numerous emulsions and is busy selling digicams as fast as it can make them.

I did find one sentence I liked though and it's definitely one of the major attractions of film for me!

There is also something refreshing about not immediately knowing what your image will look like. It instills a kind of patience that has all but disappeared!

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

...
It's nice to see the public attention to film. All the community colleges I know of, including the one where I teach have solid SRO lines for registration for film classes. Mostly BW.. and mostly manual focus manual with some automation cameras. I donate cameras to the class on a regular basis if I can't double my money or better...

Kudos for that.
Regards
Brett

 

[redisburning]

I don't think the author of the article was alive when the only choice was film. She makes it seem like it's really, really, hard to load film and FOCUS a camera. Makes me wonder how photographers ever got good shots before digital cameras and camera phones were widely available....

have you seen most people's photographs?

 

[Keith]

Kudos for that.
Regards
Brett

Totally off topic here ... but a friend of mine really likes your user name Sarcophilus Harrisii and informed me what it actually is.

She's a biologist of course! 😀

 

[johannielscom]

Totally off topic here ... but a friend of mine really likes your user name Sarcophilus Harrisii and informed me what it actually is.

She's a biologist of course! 😀

Whaha, googled it.

'carnivorous marsupial' would have been a nice handle too, though 😉


Back on topic!

 

[mathomas]

I didn't care for the article. I posted a link to my Facebook page with the following comment:

"Well, I guess film photography needs all the help it can get, but what a back-handed, limited-in-scope, article about it.

For example: "the pictures are rarely perfect"

Really?? Well, that might be true if you shoot with the hipster garbage mentioned in the article. On the other hand, my pictures are almost always "perfect" (whatever that might mean) using even modest good-quality equipment (and even high-end film equipment isn't expensive any more).

Apparently the only resurgence for film is in the hipster-driven low-fi world of light-leaking plastic fantastic cameras and half-baked polaroid-esque products (I actually respect The Impossible Project's mission, but the film is hardly the way to get so-called "perfect" results)."

I know I'm a (not that) old codger, but it really got to me.

 

[folville]

A lot of us here are making the mistake of reading an article about a particular photographic trend in a newspaper (i.e. a general interest publication) and are inferring from it far too grand pronouncements.

This story would have been infinitely better if it had a graf or even a single sentence referencing the continued use of film by serious amateurs, professionals and enthusiasts of all stripes. But the mere fact that it doesn't reference film use as most of us know it, does not mean that it's meant to imply film is dead.

This story is about the specific use of film for low-fi photography, and that's readily apparent from the attached images, the list at the bottom and the tenor of the top few grafs. It's a photography story for people who don't care all that much about photography.

 

[Sylvester]

This article is meant for those who use Instagram so they start using Dianas and Impossible film. I started film photography because of Lomography. I simply couldn't afford a quality digital camera, so I fell in love with crappy plastic film cameras. Now I shoot rangefinders and slrs, I built myself a dedicated darkroom so I can develop and enlarge my images and I decided photography would be my career.
Lomography and all of this saves film.

 

[driver]

This article is meant for those who use Instagram so they start using Dianas and Impossible film. I started film photography because of Lomography. I simply couldn't afford a quality digital camera, so I fell in love with crappy plastic film cameras. Now I shoot rangefinders and slrs, I built myself a dedicated darkroom so I can develop and enlarge my images and I decided photography would be my career.
Lomography and all of this saves film.

I'm also in love with crappy plastic film cameras. It's completely normal. It's so refreshing to hear this 🙂

 

[BobYIL]

.... Now I shoot rangefinders and slrs, I built myself a dedicated darkroom so I can develop and enlarge my images and I decided photography would be my career....

A dedicated darkroom! Appreciated. 🙂

 

[J. Borger]

Love polaroids... and can still shoot my sx-70 thanks to the Impossible Project!

Those who think it's not serious Photography should make a visit to the Polaroid Exhibit in NRW-Forum Dusseldorf Germany.

Looking at what the Impossible Project achieved with Instant Film and plans for the future i have realy no fear for the future of film. No matter what Kodak or Fuji does.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Totally off topic here ... but a friend of mine really likes your user name Sarcophilus Harrisii and informed me what it actually is.
She's a biologist of course! 😀

Keith, I chose that name years ago because we have a lot of fauna on our property and my wife and I are rescue volunteers for injured or orphaned wildlife. Plus in years gone by, I have been a bit of a devil myself, so it seemed apt... Your friend must be a little concerned though, the poor old Tassie Devil is not travelling too well at the moment because of the Devil Facial Tumour Disease.
I'm hoping they don't go the same way as the thylacine, because this is a very real and concerning possibility.
Best Regards,
Brett

 

[Keith]

Keith, I chose that name years ago because we have a lot of fauna on our property and my wife and I are rescue volunteers for injured or orphaned wildlife. Plus in years gone by, I have been a bit of a devil myself, so it seemed apt... Your friend must be a little concerned though, the poor old Tassie Devil is not travelling too well at the moment because of the Devil Facial Tumour Disease.
I'm hoping they don't go the same way as the thylacine, because this is a very real and concerning possibility.
Best Regards,
Brett

Her specialty is green sea turtles ... a fair way removed from the tassie devil! I have noticed that biologists generally have a head full of information about numerous species though! 😀

 

[Bobfrance]

I just took it to be a bit of planted editorial fluff sent in by Lomo.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that Lomo have spent advertising $$$$ in the paper of one of its sister publications recently. That's generally how the publishing industry works.

 

[KoNickon]

Olivier, you give me hope! We need more young people like you coming into traditional photography.

This article is meant for those who use Instagram so they start using Dianas and Impossible film. I started film photography because of Lomography. I simply couldn't afford a quality digital camera, so I fell in love with crappy plastic film cameras. Now I shoot rangefinders and slrs, I built myself a dedicated darkroom so I can develop and enlarge my images and I decided photography would be my career.
Lomography and all of this saves film.

 

[MikeAUS]

This article is meant for those who use Instagram so they start using Dianas and Impossible film. I started film photography because of Lomography. I simply couldn't afford a quality digital camera, so I fell in love with crappy plastic film cameras. Now I shoot rangefinders and slrs, I built myself a dedicated darkroom so I can develop and enlarge my images and I decided photography would be my career.
Lomography and all of this saves film.

A refreshing viewpoint ... Not everything about film has to be so SERIOUS! No such thing as bad publicity for film. A lot of people on RFF are over to digital anyway aren't they - they seem to swap digital cameras to the latest and greatest every other month 😱

 

[shadowfox]

This article is meant for those who use Instagram so they start using Dianas and Impossible film. I started film photography because of Lomography. I simply couldn't afford a quality digital camera, so I fell in love with crappy plastic film cameras. Now I shoot rangefinders and slrs, I built myself a dedicated darkroom so I can develop and enlarge my images and I decided photography would be my career.
Lomography and all of this saves film.

You need to speak up more and spread the word.
Your generation would be the rescuer of film photography.

From Lomo to Leica, film is still there for everyone to enjoy.
We just have to nudge people to make them realize this.