KEH: "Film is not dead"

[steve_levine]

This is the proclamation on the cover of KEH's latest mail order catalog. Of

course on page 2 under "wanted: your clean used gear". They are buying only

Contax 35mm cameras, LF glass, and panoramic gear. Everything else on their

extensive "buying" list is digital!

 

 

It really isn't rocket science to read into this.

[mendonphoto]

The reason for the headline "film is not dead" could only be that film is pretty much dead. Okay, not completely, but as a mainstream product, certainly.

[nancy s.]

If I had a huge inventory or used film cameras that was losing value at double digit DEflation rates, I too would proclaim that my product, or its basis, was not dead. I would proclaim it to all.

 

Like the last manuafacturer of buggy whips you have told me about so many times... He was the last so he had the market cornered. And those, like my long dead relative, who thought the car was a passing fancy, were stocking up on that guy's whips!

[john_elder1]

I predict that all of the digital equipment CURRENTLY being made will be outdated , dead, and basically junk, long before film and film cameras are dead. The current CDs and DVDs will be junk and out date before film is dead. This is due to the rapid advancement of digital technology. Where is yesterday's floppy disk?

[craig_gillette]

That will come as good news for those using glass plates who are concerned about the celluloid fad.

[Brad_]

>>> Where is yesterday's floppy disk?

 

I often see them at garage sales in an old box filled with film cams...

[dan_mcclain]

I really don't care whether "film is dead" for most people or not. As long as I can still order film from at least one or two local stores or internet companies I'm going to continue enjoying my film cameras. If most people enjoy their digital gear, more power to them.

[johnw436]

Yes! Film is in the last five minutes of its life and therefore you had better sell me all of your medium format gear while I'm still willing to pay you two or three dollars for it.

 

I'm a nice guy, but I'm not going to give you good money for your film gear for very much longer. For the next thirty days I'll pay shipping, too. After that it's all junk. So do it now!

[bobatkins]

Film isn't dead, it's just that the value of used film cameras is approaching that of their scrap value, with the exception of a few collectibles. If I had a warehouse full of old film cameras, I'd be proclaiming that film isn't dead too, at least until I'd sold them all...

 

B&W TVs aren't (all) dead either, but there's not too much demand for new or even used ones.

 

Film may not be dead, but it is in the ICU on life support.

[ilkka_nissila]

Obviously the scale of film manufacturing has to go down. But declaring it to be dead is mostly the talk of people who are insecure in their work and afraid.

[spanky]

I just bought another brick of 120 PanF+ at Freestyle today. It still comes in the cardboard box. When Ilford starts packing 'em in small wooden coffins then I'll worry.

[jlkphoto]

Fuji just reintroduced Velvia 50 film due to customer demand.

 

Kodak just reengineered its Portra line of film.

 

Look at Ilford, Efke/Adox, Rollei, and others for black and white and infrared films, new and old.

 

Rollei just created a NEW medium format Twin Lens Reflex FILM camera with a 135mm telephoto lens....

 

And so on...

[emraphoto]

"film is/isn't dead"

jeez man... didn't i read this exact same thread 5 years ago?

[evil ted]

Film isn't dead and i doubt it will be. The thing is, theres just another medium on the block. It happens to be much better for certain types of photography.

If I were a working pro for impatient customers I'd be clicking away with a digital. For my use film is where it's at.

Don't worry about it and do what you love using whatever you works best for you. Digital will no doubt win the masses over, but many folks are realizing it isn't perfect, hence film will remain for quite some time.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

Just what we need - a new "film is dead thread. Why not just use the search engine and read the 6,832 existing threads on this same topic.

 

Let's try something new:

 

I think fine dining is dead - McDonald's sells billions of "burgers" and people keep getting fatter and fatter. All fine restaurants will shutter their doors because they can not compete against superior fast food dining offerings.

[James G. Dainis]

The demise of film will also cause the demise of photos, the real resin coated photos that are put into shoe boxes and albums for generations to come to look at. People take a P&S film camera on vacation and then bring the film to a lab to have photos made. Every shot results in a photo in hand, either good bad or indifferent.

 

People take a P&S digital camera on vacation and later look at and show friends the pictures on the computer. They may intend to edit and have some prints made of the better ones but they seldom do. Or they just print them out on their $70 printer/copier/fax machine on regular computer paper, the results of which soon deteriorate and fade.

 

On my next vacation I will use film and drop it off at the lab when I come back, getting prints and a CD. I know I could drop a digital media card off at the lab but I never do. I wait until I have edited out the dross on it which I never get around to.

[tonybeach]

Film isn't perfect and digital isn't the imaging equivalent of McDonald's hamburgers; they're both just mediums. I think small format film is already archaic; medium and large format are more esoteric but likely to outlast the 135 film format.

[._._z]

<small><i><blockquote>

 

Obviously the scale of film manufacturing has to go down. But declaring it to be dead is mostly the talk of people who are insecure in their work and afraid.

 

</blockquote> </i> </small><p>

 

Obviously the scale of film manufacturing and film sales have declined precipitously, and the film camera business with it. But declaring it to be <b>alive! alive!</b> is mostly the talk of people who are insecure in their work and afraid.

[david_harris15]

Film isn't dead, it is just getting driven more niche. Over time no doubt the niche will get smaller, but some people like using old cameras for which film is the only way to go.

 

No doubt in time the market will be small to the point that there isn't the range of choice in emulsions compared to now (let alone 5 years ago), but there will be a market for it for a long time. Whether used 35mm prices have hit bottom yet is another question. I think that it hasn't as in most cases, supply will far outstrip demand. How long before the used dealers start discounting massively just to get it off their books?

[jeffpolaski]

I shot my first film over 50 years ago (127 Baby Brownie). I figure I'll be dead before film become no longer available.

 

Of course, since I use Pentax film and digital SLRs with ALL of my old Pentax mount lenses, it really doen't matter. All I ever wanted to do was bring home the image.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Manual drafting supplies or Ham/CB radios are not dead either; but sales are a tiny tiny fraction of their hay days.

[jlkphoto]

I've had many a heyday with my film camera during hay days, stacking the bales, backing the tractor, breathing the dust....

[patrick_f]

Well, funny because I have this year assisted a few "black book" photograpers who shot the job primarly on FILM! Funny, the bigger the pro (who can put film in the budget) I have assisted, the more likely they are to use FILM. And these are guys who are shooting film alongside the p-45 backs. For amateur use (and every day people) maybe film is dead. But neverless I see many many top level creatives reverting to film for its ARTISTIC values, along with other benifits over digital (tangible, doesnt look like every other photographer with a Canon's work, etc). Face it, there are things you can do on/with film that you CANNOT do with digital. For this reason I do not think film will die. Decline? Hell yeah. Die? No. Actually, do not be suprised if Film makes a comeback, as I have read in a few publications, etc.

P

[James G. Dainis]

"<I>Face it, there are things you can do on/with film that you CANNOT do with digital.</I>"<P>

 

I'm having a bit of a problem with that. Could you name a few of those things? With Photoshop, I can do in minutes what used to take me hours, if at all, in my darkroom. I shoot 8x10 film for the grain free sharpness, but I think this discussion was geared to 35mm.

[tripanfal]

Go to any craft center / school that offers black and white darkroom classes. They are tough to get into.

 

My friend owns a one-hour photo lab and gives me empty cartridges for reloading. He develops and prints film ALL DAY LONG. Most of the folks here at PN are into photography in one way or another and some move with the times to digital, stay with film, or shot both (me included)

 

You would be surprised at the amount of people out there who shoot only a few rolls of photos a year on disposable P&S cameras. It's not worth it for a lot of people to buy a digital camera. They just don't care enough.

 

I wish that this subject would go away. The bottom line is while film use has certianly declined, it will never become unavailable to those who want to shoot it. I love film, the darkroom, not being chained to a computer, the feel of FB paper, seeing the image appear before my eyes, the deep blacks, not spending thousands on a great printer (and ink), buying gear for a fraction of what it sold for originally, etc...