Does film have a future?

[macandal]

I'm kicking myself for not saving it, but I read in a discussion somewhere, someone saying that shooting film was a losing proposition because, eventually, film would disappear. I always thought that film would always exist. Yes, my notion may be a little deranged, but I thought there would always be a market for film, a niche market but a market nonetheless. I like digital, but I love shooting film, and I would hate to see it go away. Does film have a future?

(I searched but I couldn't find a discussion on this topic. Feel free to delete this if there is already talk of this somewhere here or to repost elsewhere if it doesn't belong here. Thanks.)

[TheFlyingCamera]

This is one of the oldest, most-well-beaten-dead-horses on APUG. Short answer, yes, film has a future. Long answer, it depends on the type of film. There may not be a future for color negative film. There is probably a very limited future already for color transparency (slide) film. Black-and-white film is much easier to manufacture in small volumes; it can survive even if the market continues to contract. So if you are interested in shooting film, just keep on doing it and don't worry.

[benjiboy]

To ask a question like this on a forum that's devoted entirely to film photography is like walking into a church and enquiring where the nearest mosque is.

[macandal]

Long answer, it depends on the type of film. So if you are interested in shooting film, just keep on doing it and don't worry.

I don't know if, by this, you're also referring to the format. I, like you, it seems, shoot LF. I mean, I'm doing it more and more and would hate to see this stop or to switch to digital backs and all that. More than in my SLR, LF is something I love doing on film, color, transparency, or BW. Thanks.

[BrianShaw]

(I searched but I couldn't find a discussion on this topic. Feel free to delete this if there is already talk of this somewhere here or to repost elsewhere if it doesn't belong here. Thanks.)

http://www.apug.org/forums/google.ph...921j1772421j11

[macandal]

http://www.apug.org/forums/google.ph...921j1772421j11

Thanks Brian.

[BrianShaw]

My pleasure. Happy reading!

[Paul Goutiere]

For such an antiquated and redundant technology the prices and demand for film cameras doesn't seem to have subsided much.

I suspect the word hasn't gotten out there yet.

[TheFlyingCamera]

I don't know if, by this, you're also referring to the format. I, like you, it seems, shoot LF. I mean, I'm doing it more and more and would hate to see this stop or to switch to digital backs and all that. More than in my SLR, LF is something I love doing on film, color, transparency, or BW. Thanks.

I'm talking in general. Color film production in other-than-35mm formats is highly dependent on motion picture film consumption. If/when film production in digital passes a critical-mass point, it will be no longer cost-effective to produce color emulsions. Part of the problem is that being able to sustain quality control for color film requires higher volume than b/w does. If you don't have the volume, the quality drops, and then you have a much higher loss at the plant, increasing costs, which then drives sales volume even lower.

[JBrunner]

Yep. Deadest horse on the site.