rashedahmed Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 When it was film era,a MF camera was like a dream machine for the photo professionals. As the digital arrive, thousands of MF camera went out of business.Their owners start selling those gears at any price they can. Now I see(in photo.net) that amature groups start buying those dream gears and start fullfilling their desire shooting 120 films.So,I presume 120 films are going to stay a bit longer than I have anticipated.Cheers to you guys and keep clicking ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mharris Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Rashed I just clicked away 4 rolls and processed them tonight. It was all color and I loved it. I'll try and shoot 4 more tomorrow if the weather holds out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User_503771 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_waller Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 A couple of years ago the shelves of the local camera dealers filled up with MF gear. I bought a Mamiya C220 for a song. I really love using it and the quality of the negs is a whole order of magnitude better than 35 mm, AOTBE. I also have some old transparencies shot on 120 and they are a wonder to behold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kparratt Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Fuji have also reintroduced Fujichrome Velvia 50, in 35mm, 120, 220, 4x5 and 10x8. http://www.velvia50.co.uk/ Cheers, Kevin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rashedahmed Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 I have used all formats of camera.But when I see through my Bronica ETRSi's Waist-level finder,I dont know why it feels like I am in total control of my shooting.You can feel the subject in its bright focusing screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johan_de_groote Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I'm not complaining either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack_lo_..._t_o Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I wonder what the percentage of studios who still use film is. Here in Toronto, FilmPlus, whose clientele is mostly local studios, tells me film sales-a lot of MF in their fridges-are still going strong. There has to be a reason for the reintroduction of Velvia 50 for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnw436 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 The good thing is that there should be enough volume for several makers to find a lucrative piece of the pie based on what is left out there. This is a good thing, because instead of spending all their money chasing seven production lines of consumer quality bulk film they can specialize on only one or two lines of greatly superior product. That's my wish. Maybe it won't be Kodak or Fuji as the years go by, but some entrepeneur will fill the niche as long as there is money to be made. On a small scale that should not be hard to do, especially if Kodak or Fuji were to sell the specs for discontinued films so that a small producer would not need to spend loads of money on R&D, but rather could cookbook a well-loved film that Kodak or Fuji no longer have a desire to manufacture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_needham Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Freestyle and many other darkroom supply stores are offering more alternative/vintage process kits since digital was introduced than before. There is obviously plenty of interest in non-digital photography methods. The popularity of digital may make film and film processes more expensive as the mass market declines, but that won't mean extinction. Long live film, and all the processes that came before which were almost killed by the introduction of film. http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_main.php?cat_id=10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Ingold Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 The rapid decline of film processing facilities will doom film more than anything else. In the not too distant future, Photo.net will report "film sightings" with the same alarm as those of Big Foot :-) Seen any leaded gas lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stp Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Leaded gas was outlawed. I don't think that's going to happen to film. In my own side-by- side comparisons, I'm astonished at how much better my Pentax 645 with Velvia is over my Canon 5D with an "L" lens in terms of how many times I say "wow" when looking at a new image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akajohndoe Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Acrylics did not eliminate oil paints; digital will not eliminate film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q.g._de_bakker Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Ah! That old thing again!<br><br>Everybody can make perfectly good oil paints with minimal expense and technological effort.<br>Noone of use can make anything coming close to modern film emulsions at our kitchen tables.<br><br>We indeed are at the mercy of film manufacturers, which in turn are at the mercy of market economics and the buying public. As soon as sales drop below a sustainable level, it's over.<br>No matter how long we can keep on producing oil paint, wax candles, etc. in our own homes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vital1 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 oil paint is banned in D.C and is going to be all over U.S soon, maybe this happen some day with digital too heheheheh :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stwrtertbsratbs5 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Just what we need - more proclamations that film is dead from the digerati. Why don't you folks just go and salivate over this weeks digital super camera? And start saving for the endless digital upgrade cycle. Not really sure why the digital crowd feels the need to continually dump on mature and proven film technology. Maybe it makes them feel better about the money they spent on their now-obsolete DSLRs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_wilson2 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 "The rapid decline of film processing facilities will doom film more than anything else." I don't this is argument is necessarily correct. It is circular, firstly, and hardly applies to B+W. Nor even colour...there ARE fewer labs, but those that survive continue to do so, and some are busy. One pro lab in Sydney was at that moment 'insanely' busy processing E6 last time I was in. That they will continue to process film as long as there is film to be processed would be my guess. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vital1 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 maybe in 50 more years we can buy a camera that can compete with film, know you have to sell a kidney :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Couldn't agree more. When I bought my RZ67 ProII two years ago I was a little scared about film going the way of the Dodo bird but with stores like Freestyle and companies like Ilford I think traditional b&w photography will be around for quite some time. Prices may increase as I noticed they did when I was in Freestyle yesterday but that's to be expected with lower demand I guess. I do most of my printing at a local city college and for the past three semesters the darkroom has been filled almost to capacity. Thank you digital for giving me the chance to buy gear I couldn't have afforded otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johan_de_groote Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Well, I fear as well that regulation will push out film. It is getting harder and harder to obtain chemicals and even worse disposing them. My take is that slides will be the first to go. Don't know what I'll do then. As for the upgrade cycle, it is just replace by gearlust in my case. While I started with a 28/50/(dinky)135 to be replaced with a 28/35-105 it is now a 50/80/120/180 and 3 others on the list. Just another symptom of the same disease I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Ingold Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 "I don't this is argument is necessarily correct. It is circular, firstly, and hardly applies to B+W." <p> Wrong on two counts, Nick. The first gets you a Jesuit rap on the knuckles. Circular logic occurs where the conclusion is implicite in one of the premises. My logic is closer to a deadly spiral - declining interest in film leads to fewer service outlets, making film less attractive...<i>ad infinitum</i>. <p> Black and white film is produced in the same facilities, with nearly the same ingredients and technology. Its popularity has been limited to a few affectionados for the last 40 years, and is consequently supported by sale of film in general. Ya' got any Kodak Polycontrast in the freezer? Agfa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gallarotti Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 I guess I am one of the amateur that the original poster talks about. I shot digital for 7 years and I am now dipping my toes in the medium format 120 film world for the first time... A dream comes true? Of course! But it's not just a desire for an object of art and technology like I define a Hasselblad. What really we are coming to realization is that when buying digital we are buying a film (the sensor) and we are pretty much stuck with it unless we buy a different camera. This is so true that certain wedding photographers, for example, prefer the creamy colors of the 5D to the better technology of the 1D for some kinds of portraits. Has nothing to do with the camera, but with the characteristics of the sensor mounted on the 5D. But after a year or so of shooting with the 5D I started feeling the necessity to try to shoot Velvia, Ilford 400 black and white and other kinds of films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_laudermilk Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I would be another of those the OP spoke of. Now that many MF rigs are cheap enough, I finally have been able to buy a Mamiya for myself. It seems to me there are many like myself and Francesco & that should keep film going for a while--hasn't there been news of some emulsions getting reintroduced due to increased interest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsm1 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Think of film as a replaceable sensor... I figure my RZ67 is about a 42 Mp camera from that view. Digital is interesting, but still falls short of film and will for at least another 15 years. When I can buy a 42 Mp camera for under 1000.00 that is capable of working for decades with only minor service, then talk to me about film being in the slightest dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsm1 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 <i>When I can buy a 42 Mp camera for under 1000.00></i><br> should have been <br> "When I can buy a 42 Mp <b><i>digital</i></b> camera for under 1000.00" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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