For a while I have been thinking about the future of film and I can only hope that more sites like this pop up over time to secure film's existence.
Anyway I'm 35 and have been shooting film since I was 8 or 9 years old when I received my first camera; a Yashica TL Electro 35mm. It took amazing photographs and I wonder where it is today. I worked for years in the photo business as a photographer and managing a lab which was great experience. I had my own business as a sports, wedding and portraits photographer which I sold last year. By the way it was an all digital affair since the workflow needed to be a quick turn around. Anyway in the past couple of weeks I have sold all of my digital equipment since it bores me to tears and have gone back to film and am currently setting up another darkroom which has distracted me from other things. Film makes me feel like a mad scientist and it is truly magic what you can create where using photoshop to edit an image just seems flat.
Anyway I was wondering what the consensus was regarding the longevity of film. Obviously these days it as become a niche thing which is fine but do you think there will be a day in our lifetimes where film will be impossible to find? I would hate to think that I would have to stop using all my great film cameras. I feel like there will be a trend in the coming years where the younger generation will see that to be truly creative they may step back from digital to shoot film since it will be new to them and different to what everyone else will be doing. I know how things come around again and even now young folks strive to be different by using film. It's hard to believe that digital has only really come about in the last ten years and already it seems like a lost art.
What are your thoughts on this.........I would be very curious to here.

A day will come when film is not widely available, especially color films. Films of all types, with good quality, are very hard to make and are becoming harder due to the expense of these esoteric organic chemicals used.

Pretty soon we may be reduced to hand made film just like dry and wet plates and etc.

PE

It hurts thinking about this. I was talking with a guy who owns a few photography stores. He said he's talked with people in the film making industry, and that they say film will be around for the next 15 years. I, of course, have no way of knowing if that's accurate. Having film is more important, to me anyway, than having commercially produced paper. I can make albumens and photogravures, and like them more than enlarging papers. However, I NEED film.

I mostly shoot 8x10 and it’s already expensive, especially my beloved Tri-X that is now about $5 a sheet when adding in shipping. Film costs will continue to increase, maybe even $8-10 per 8x10 sheet in the next 2-3 years.

However, it's not all doom and gloom. From what I can tell, all the good view camera makers are busy and have waiting lists. I assume we're not all buying a new camera every year, so maybe the young generation is seeing the light?