no new 135 SLR cameras, ever?

[michaelbsc]

Look at the old black powder pistol market. There's a small but thriving business of a once giant - then passed by - market. With the compression of market cycles in the globally connected world it isn't unreasonable to hope that film will hold on to a strong niche for a long, long time. Clearly this what Ilford expects.

And if other rising consumer markets like China, India, Brazil, etc. do develop a consumer class like the USA, then there will be new film users. After all, it isn't odd to think that there are budding hobbyist in those markets.

Sure, film is relegated to a niche market for posterity because of the technological march, but let's say that 1 in 10K people stick with film as a serious hobby, and multiply that by a emerging middle class of billions, and that's a lot of Lucky film sold.

[steelneck]

Vivitar released one around a year ago (OK, I agree that Vivitar isn't one of the big makers, that their reputation has gone down a long way since their Series 1 days & have to say that the last Vivitar lens that I had, a 500mm mirror, was awful beyond belief)

Here is a link to a review: http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/18...nual-film-slr/

That is a rebranded Phenix DC828N as far as i can tell. Phenix is a chinese brand, it is really a very large large camera maker, though not so well known here in the west. A lot of their production in their numerous factories is probably parts and pieces as subcontractor for all the big brands.

The DC828N is a fully mechanical camera with Pentax-K mount. Another fully mechanical model is DN66 with Nikon mount. They have also a model with electromechanical shutter and aperture priority, the EK-180 AE, also with K-mount.

This is very cheap cameras, around 200 eur. But i have the impression that they are quite well built compared to the price. You get a lot of camera for the price.

I only have a link about Phenix cameras at a swedish dealer:
http://www.photax.se/meny09/index09/indx09_system.htm

[Christopher Walrath]

Hey, they still sell oils and acrylics, right?

[Pumal]

When they grow up to be smart; they will come. The future belongs to Medium Format SLR

[budrichard]

Never.

Nikon has two current models and Leica has two also. I assume neither company is making a lot of money on these cameras.
It was a shame to see Nikon discontinue the FM3a as it is one of the best Nikon analog cameras ever produced.
Nikon did produce a limited number of thier original rangefinder a few years ago but they had to reverse engineer the camera. I can't believe they made any money but the effort was more a labor of love. Leica tried to reverse engineer the M3 and produced the MP and an MP3 like varient of the current MP. The reason was consumer demand and disatisfaction with the M6 comparison with the M3. I think they made and are still making some money on sales of the MP. I do not forsee any new M analog cameras from Leica as the current MP and M7 appear to completely satisfy demand.-Dick

[Christopher Walrath]

I don't think we'll ever see a major production of an all-inclusive line of cameras. Perhaps a model here, a model there. Economics will prevent such a thing from happening. But, as previously stated, there are plenty of cameras out there in need of good homes that are in perfect working order. It is by no stretch an infinite supply, but definitely nothing over which to get one's panties in a bunch.

[Erik Petersson]

Our generation(s) will have plenty of cameras to play with, and maybe the next, if we keep good care of them.

[rhmimac]

Our generation(s) will have plenty of cameras to play with, and maybe the next, if we keep good care of them.

Seems most don't see any problem keeping their gear alive for the next generation(s).

It's true there are plenty of used cameras out there in the hemisphere.
The point is you always are subject to a lotery when buying one.
If you would be able to buy a new one, it more €/$/£ over the counter but you get some descent warranty and the peace of mind the thing's counter isn't on 1.000.000 shots.

Thank you for pointing out the Eastern Big Market. I wasn't aware of the potentional APUG over there.

When the PC's /internet are introduced in the same velocity as they introduce new cars it won't be long before they drop the "A".

I might consider buying a brand new FM10 or even a F6 and store it for my next generation. They can explore the silver image magic within +10 yrs if they choose.

rhmimac

[Pumal]

I'm sure 10 years from now, I'll still be using film. And so, will be many others.

[Erik Petersson]

Many cameras are thrown away as well, so there might be shortages in a couple of decades. First the electronic ones will fail, like my FE recently did. Eventually your brand new FM10 or F6 will be purchased by a collector. Well, well.