How Long Will Film Be Around?

I just graduated from school and am now in the market for a new

camera for professional and fine art work. Because I want the elbow

room to blow up my pieces big if needed, and because I'm on a budget

I was thinking of buying a Canon 20D digital slr camera to prepare

shots and get the lighting correct, and also buying a 4x5 camera to

shoot the final image. My question is, how long to you guys think

film will be around for? It seems like there are no digital options

yet that can match the size and quality of 4x5 film, if there was I'm

sure it's not in my budget. Also does anyone have any estimate of how

much a scanning service costs for a 4x5 drum scan at top quality?

thanks

 

Nick

Film will disappear from the planet on October 17, 2047. All film cameras will be rendered useless at that point.

 

Robert

Yes a Ding-mao year.

Robert, I don't believe you properly accounted for the intervening leap years, so I feel your date is off by a few days -- but you're certainly close.

2047 huh, I guess I have time.

I thought that it was this upcoming Thursday.<p> Nick, if you do a search here, you'll find that all of you're questions have been answered many times.

<a href="http://www.calypsoinc.com/data/scanning.html">Don't underestimate the costs

of commercial scanning of 4x5 material</a>. For example.

<p>

If you have a couple days, spend time reading the "film is dead" or "death of film" threads.

(I think that might explain some of the responses you've gotten so far...)

<p>

Also, cross-posting a question to various groups is considered uhmmmm... something.

Don't do it.

<p>

Look through the archives for scanning large format film threads for more information on

how to do this at various price levels than you can shake a stick at.

<p>

Film is less a problem in the near term than getting it developed (color slides) - on the

other hand you can probably save money sending it out mail order to a reliable firm than

paying someone local to send it to the same place. Ahem. I've begun doing my own B+W

development. It's okay.

<p>

Happy shooting...

Learn to process yourself as few labs handlw large format.

 

The only Q-Lab Kodak certified by Kodak in Illinois is within a few miles of my home. They don`t do 4x5 or E6. C-41 only. Then they scan it and make prints from the scan.

Predicting is hard...especially the future.

 

I expect that film will be available for many years, but with a decreasing selection and possibly increasing prices. I don't expect digital equivalents to LF to come down in price in the next few years, because I don't see the market forces acting to bring the prices down -- it's a specialized market. So I see continuing demand for LF film for a variety of reasons, albeit at a lesser level. Some companies may leave the market.

 

People don't seem concerned about buying a digital camera that they will consider obsolete in several years (though of course, if it meets their needs today, you could argue that it will continue to meet their needs...), but they seem worried that they will lose their money if they buy a film camera. You can outfit youself with a 4x5 used camera and recent, used lens for under $1000.

 

Are you considering B+W or color? If color, negative or transparency?

 

Are you sure that you need a drum scan? How big do you plan to print?

 

Costs of digital vs film also depend on the number of prints you plan to make per year: capital costs vs processing costs.

 

Here's another site with scanning prices: http://www.chromatics.com/Serv-scanning.htm

A question from someone in 1848. With this new Collodion/Wet Plate method how long will painting be around?

 

A question from someone in 1898. With this 4x5 sheet film how long will dry plate be around?

 

A question from someone in 1912. With this new kodak 127 film how long will 4x5 film be around?

 

A question from someone in 1934. With this new kodak 135 film how long will 127 film be around?

 

A question from someone in 1965. With this new kodak 220 film how long will 120 film be around?

 

A question from someone in 1972. With this new kodak 110 film how long will 220 film be around

 

A question from someone in today. With digital how long will film be around? A long F**** time.

 

Anyone who answers diffrent is chicken little the sky is falling. I invite anyone who thinks film is dead to leave you industlized nation and visit a 3rd world country oh yes they will modernize eventully and are using lots of film. So what if there will be less to choose from or it is more expensive point is it will still be around every film I mentioned or process is still avalible readily on the internet even the so-called discontined films.

 

I carefully reserched the dates in the examples.

 

I still can not understand why so many people subscribe to the thinking.I bought one so you must buy one because there discontinuing film next week. or I save 1000's of dollars on printing alone. If thats true good for you.just leave me and the other 2 people shooting film alone. before everyone gets there underpants in a wad I think digital is a fine median and a must for certain pros like newspapers. I just prefer film and love to work in a darkroom with chemistry. No offense meant if you are offended go cry somewhere else. It was meant to be funny while making a point.

 

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

Voltaire

 

He said it but I mean it.

Everyone have a great evening.

Film will be around for a while... No use debating that -- it's been a dead horse for a long

time.

 

Actually, there are digital options that match the size 4x5 film... There called digital backs.

I shoot commercially and use three different digital backs for 4x5s daily. The cost

however, is astronomical ;)

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Boy, did I ever make a mistake! I thought film was going to disappear sooner than that and I got rid of my 35mm film cameras for pennies on the dollar. I've got my two year old Tachihara and four lenses (with accessories such as holders, focusing cloth, loupe, tripod, etc.) for sale at $25.47 (Buy It Now) on ebay! No wonder my Canon EOS 1n and EOS 3 sold for $10.28, for the pair, ten minutes after I posted the auction! What's a person to do? Can anybody recommend a good shrink?

Donald... Uhmmm... I don't think anyone on the thread said film is dead yet... He kinda asked

how long it will be around because he wanted to buy a 4x5 camera...

<p>

I think there might be less "Film is dead - stick a fork in it" responses in the Large Format

Photography Forum... than in say the Leica forum...

<p>

:-)

Beepy, I was being lite hearted about it. The simple answer is no one knows. I still think everything I wrote is true or funny.

 

Nick, I would love to see more people enter into film photography, the prices are great atm so now is the time to jump in. I bought a MF camera a few months back and love it I am in the slow process of searching for a bigger enlarger so I can move to 4x5 in the future.

I was tring to prove it will be around for a long long time and not to worry.

Oh, don't misunderstand me - I loved the chronology!

<p>

Film will be around for a long time - I just bought a Graflex Super Graphic on Ebay and I

seem to have 12 film holders loaded with unexposed E3 Ektachrome. (I found this out by,

er, exposing one... when I opened the film holder.) I'm thinking that film was loaded circa

1965. So, you see, right there - film is already around for a long time:-) (I am going to try

and expose it - found a place that will attempt to develop it. Call me bored. I'm just

paralyzed trying to figure out what to shoot. Found a restaurant around since 1964 and a

sign that says so, and some recently exposed Dutch Boy painted wall advertisements that

look pre-1965 that seem like good test shots.)

My enlarger is the only thing holding me back ATM from LF. I have a roll of Ilford MGIV 50 inches X 100 foot and my first 6x6 neg on it does not do it justice 50x50 of a tree. Don't get me wrong it looks o.k for a 22X enlargment but from 4x5 that is only 12X For laughs I blew up a 35mm shot hehe it was ugh a picture I think. 55X tends to fall apart. I am sure from 200 feet away it will look o.k.

Nick,

 

Is this REALLY meant to be a serious, intelligent question?

 

If it is... you must have just graduated from some MBA program! :)

 

Get a crystal ball and give us your prediction... it'll be as accurate as anyone else's.

 

Cheers

Nobody knows the future exactly otherwise I would be a rich man!

But it will be for a long time around. For the next 10-20 years its very sure I think!

But I'm not sure about 2047!

Nick: I don't have a fix on the precise date. However, I think I can guarantee that the Canon 20D will be gone long, long before a 4x5 film camera becomes obsolete.

Nick; Mr. Baznik is the only one with a, take it to the bank, honest answer. Not only will the D-20 be dead and gone but so will what ever it wrote on. BTW I have some 8-track tapes for sale.

It will probably be "around" in the sense that there will be a couple companies making a couple different films, probably at high prices, for who knows how long, 10, 20 years, something like that. What kind of film it will be and in what formats is debatable. But the days of major industrial companies with their big budgets, excellent quality control, lots of R&D, frequent introduction of new products or improvement to old products, etc. being heavily involved in film as a staple of their revenues and growth are already over and that's not a prediction, it's a fact.

 

I don't like to say it because I use 4x5 and 8x10 film (scanned and printed digitally) and plan to continue using it for the foreseeable future. But IMHO for someone your age who is planning a future in photography to become heavily involved in film as opposed to digital is foolish. I might have some trepidation saying that except that Ray McSavaney, a 60-something year old permanent film user who I greatly respect, also said it when questioned by someone in your position at one of the workshops he and John Sexton sponsor. Photography today is digital, photography tomorrow will be digital, photography for the foreseeable future will be digital. Digital is where the major companies are, it's where the money is, it's where the R&D is, it's where the growth and constant improvements are and it's where you should be IMHO.

Donald: "Unfortunately" third world country people take the step directly to digital. Ofcourse, the ones who can afford it. The others simply don't make photographs.

 

Greetings,

 

Eugen

Brian, Fuji is just introduced two new color negative films: 160S and 160C.

 

I think B+W film will be available for a lot longer than 10 or 20 years, but no one can know for sure. I am less sure about color film

 

The problem with the LF digital is it that out of the price range of the amateur or low-volume business. So is someone who wants the print quality of LF but can't afford a $25k back just supposed to give up because "digital is the future"? Why not use what works now and is afforable now?

 

Which is most suitable depends on what your goals are and what you can afford, and on how many photo you do per year vs how much you can spend on equipment, etc.

 

 

If you buy a LF camera now, you can make photos with film, then someday, when you you have a lot of money or LF digital backs finally come down in price, put a digital back on it.

Michael - Yes, I know about Fuji's new color films. Of course a much longer list of films and film-based products that have disappeared or are being offered in fewer formats could be compiled. But that's not the point. I didn't say there would never be another new film or that no existing film would ever be improved. I said that the days of major companies like Kodak, Agfa, and Fuji relying on film as a major source of revenue and growth, and therefore devoting lots of R&D, capital, and other resources to it, were over. I don't see how that's even debatable.