Has film decline steadied out?

[Ektagraphic]

Do you think that the decline in film photography has begun to level off and companies will not continue to see great decline?

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I hope so.

But the real problem for somebody like Kodak is the movie industry going digital, both in shooting, post processing, distribution, and projection. That will kill a very large portion of their revenue.

[Ian Grant]

Other companies have seen an upturn and so have Kodak apart from the movie industry, last year saw a high number of 3D films which made a big difference to Kodak as they are wholey digital. MAny Directors prefer film.

Ian

[faustotesta]

I have very little knowledge about movie/film industry. Do you think the movie industry is so closely tied to film production ? If so what about BW and 120 films ? I guess this kind of rolls' factories are very different from 35mm. My understanding is that chemical photography has a decent market worldwide (even if declining). Any advice from you guys (expert in poduction processes) would be more than welcome

[Grainy]

I don't think it has started to level off. The reason? There is more old people stopping shooting film than young people starting. I will say that in maximum 5 years the majority of the generation of old people photographing with film camereas has stopped doing so. The next generation of old people started to use digital when they were younger, so they will not have any problem with using a basic p&s camera. When that transition is over the things will level out, maybe even increase a little again.

But there is hope. I do see young people starting to shoot film with Holga, Diana and so on. The chance for them getting more interested in film is huge. Another thing, when everybody has a dSLR there is a certain amount of people/photographers/artists that don't want to be mainstream, film is therefore an obvious choice. And yeah, spending time doing craftmanship in the darkroom is so much more fun than spending hours editing photos in PS.

[CGW]

I don't think it has started to level off. The reason? There is more old people stopping shooting film than young people starting. I will say that in maximum 5 years the majority of the generation of old people photographing with film camereas has stopped doing so. The next generation of old people started to use digital when they were younger, so they will not have any problem with using a basic p&s camera. When that transition is over the things will level out, maybe even increase a little again.

But there is hope. I do see young people starting to shoot film with Holga, Diana and so on. The chance for them getting more interested in film is huge. Another thing, when everybody has a dSLR there is a certain amount of people/photographers/artists that don't want to be mainstream, film is therefore an obvious choice. And yeah, spending time doing craftmanship in the darkroom is so much more fun than spending hours editing photos in PS.

Old people? The huge decline in film use resulted largely from the switch to digital by professionals at least 7-8 years ago. They kept the labs open for the rest of us by shooting miles of film every month. Not sure about your market but this is how things worked in N. America.

Toy camera use won't goose up the trend line in film consumption to any meaningful extent. And no, reverse snobbery isn't going to help much either.

[jp498]

I think price levels of used equipment has stopped dropping and is increasing. Thus demand is building. If these camera owners actually use film, it should increase film demand similarly.

[Poisson Du Jour]

This is crystal ball stuff. Film will be around for a very long time yet given that digital constantly burns itself out with "the next best thing".
There will be ebbs and flows, not strictly marked rises and falls according to market demand, even if it is a niche market. I am not concerned about film where I am, though I and many others are concerned by the extraordinary disparity in prices that so far has not been adequately explained. Nothing to do with "supplying a shrinking market" or the like.

[Grainy]

Old people? The huge decline in film use resulted largely from the switch to digital by professionals at least 7-8 years ago. They kept the labs open for the rest of us by shooting miles of film every month. Not sure about your market but this is how things worked in N. America.

I know, but I speak about todays market. The majority of film usage left in the consumer market here is by old people, so I don't think the decline will steady out before they have stopped photographing because of aging, broken cameras or passing away. And I don't know how long there will be supply of the discontinued APS film, still selling it every day.

When this transition in the photographic market is over the decline wills steady out. But I don't know anything about the movie/film industry, so that can others comment on.

[CGW]

I know, but I speak about todays market. The majority of film usage left in the consumer market here is by old people, so I don't think the decline will steady out before they have stopped photographing because of aging, broken cameras or passing away. And I don't know how long there will be supply of the discontinued APS film, still selling it every day.

When this transition in the photographic market is over the decline wills steady out. But I don't know anything about the movie/film industry, so that can others comment on.

Funny but here in Canada, seniors embraced digital enthusiastically. I'm far from old but when I'm hauling my medium format stuff around, it's seniors I see with newish DSLRs and various digital p&s. Most in the 18-24 demographic settle for phone cams. Seniors jumped at digital here for the apparent economy and freedom from the expense and trouble of development and printing.