Film and the other

Graham.b · Jan 25, 2009

Morning all,

Has any one else noticed or is it my imagination. When looking around site's to buy camera's lens, and so fourth. There are a lot of digital equipment as lenses, and bodies. Where as there does seem to be a lot less in the film, looking in to a M5/6 there are about not to keen on the mark on them.
The digi stuff is a lot less, and a lot more of.

tim_walls · Jan 25, 2009

I'm confused; are you noticing that Leica kit costs a fortune more than absolutely-anything-else and putting this down as being a difference between film and digital?

PhotoJim · Jan 25, 2009

Leica stuff is niche stuff. Think of it as the Bugatti or Lamborghini in the market, and most of the digital stuff is the Vauxhall. Leica stuff is luxury equipment. It certainly is very good - Leica lenses are among the best in the market - but they are priced far more than most gear costs, and people will pay that price.

Few people these days are buying new film equipment. The gear is available used at amazing prices because there is a glut on the market as people "upgrade" to digital. Unless a person has a specific reason for preferring a new piece of gear, it makes little sense to buy new when you can get used equipment at a tiny fraction of the price of new.

Martin Aislabie · Jan 25, 2009

Digi stuff is cheap as chips 2nd hand – because no one who wants a Digi Box obsolete stuff

Digi is still a developing technology - hence newer cameras are better than the out going models

Film cameras are now a niche product - you don't buy one because its cheaper than a Digi Box - no, you buy one because you want a film camera

New film cameras are not necessarily better than the out going model - different perhaps but not better

Therefore good quality 2nd hand film cameras still fetch reasonable prices

Leica are a premium niche product - not many about & command high prices for both old and new bodies and lenses

One of the attractive features to a collector of a Leica is the high price (conspicuous consumption)
High price = rare & equally rare = high price
It’s beautifully made and will last a very long time, so unless you inadvertently trash it, your Leica will retain its high price for a very long time.

I very much suspect that if there was a price crash in Leicas’ most collectors would be hugely disappointed – not because their beautifully crafted cameras were now taking inferior photographs but because their Cameras had lost some of their magical sheen.

People don’t buy them because they are good value for money – clearly they are not.
People buy them because they are not good value for money but are very expensive together with beautifully crafted and have fabulous optics.

Martin

JBrunner · Jan 25, 2009

I don't know if anyone else has noticed but I'm having to look harder and longer to find the sweet deals on used film stuff. I think the closets are getting pretty empty.

I'd love a Leica, but my whole camera collection from 135 to 8x10 and my darkroom cost less than a new one.

And yeah, the mere action of comparing Leica prices to anything just says your not in the demographic, and nothing more.

Shmoo · Jan 25, 2009

JBrunner said:
I don't know if anyone else has noticed but I'm having to look harder and longer to find the sweet deals on used film stuff. I think the closets are getting pretty empty.

I think it's because we all own that stuff now! lol

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 25, 2009

So what's going to happen to GAS? I'm worried...

keithwms · Jan 25, 2009

I agree Jason; for some months now I've thought that the days of rockbottom deals on used film stuff are probably over, with a few exceptions Overall, the resale values seem to have stabilized somewhat, suggesting that the numbers of unwanted and of wanted film cameras have reached some sort of equilibrium. I don't see as many "OMG" deals as I saw a year ago.

Pleeeease let's not get into a discussion of what a Leica is worth...

tim_walls · Jan 25, 2009

JBrunner said:
I don't know if anyone else has noticed but I'm having to look harder and longer to find the sweet deals on used film stuff. I think the closets are getting pretty empty.

I've noticed this, although I'd put it down in no small part to the collapse in Sterling meaning what used to be sweet deals from the US or Hong Kong aren't nearly so sweet any more .

I'd love a Leica, but my whole camera collection from 135 to 8x10 and my darkroom cost less than a new one.

They're lovely looking machines, but I'll be sticking to my Zorki for the timebeing .

Matt5791 · Jan 25, 2009

I keep an eye on manual focus Nikon kit on ebay - I'm sure there is a lot less than there used to be.

Not sure what this means - maybe people are hanging onto their kit because they think film is worth looking at again after a few years of digital use.

keithwms · Jan 25, 2009

Just speaking for myself, I started buying up multiples of the bodies that I really like. That is because I am anticipating more expense for repairs, and perhaps the complete disappearance of some parts and CLA services.

Shelley-Ann · Jan 25, 2009

Matt5791 said:
I keep an eye on manual focus Nikon kit on ebay - I'm sure there is a lot less than there used to be.

Not sure what this means - maybe people are hanging onto their kit because they think film is worth looking at again after a few years of digital use.

I think that you may be right - I know a few people who are actually considering selling their digital stuff and going back to film on a more regular basis. I'm talking people with Nikon D3's. I've also seen more software trying to mimic the look of film. While I'm holding on to my D300, I haven't touched it in a few months for sure.

mhcfires · Jan 25, 2009

Shelley-Ann said:
I think that you may be right - I know a few people who are actually considering selling their digital stuff and going back to film on a more regular basis. I'm talking people with Nikon D3's. I've also seen more software trying to mimic the look of film. While I'm holding on to my D300, I haven't touched it in a few months for sure.

There is something called "Velvia-Action, so that your D-3 or whatever can mimic the look of Velvia. Somehow, I don't think so, but they can try all they want to mimic film.

wogster · Jan 25, 2009

Shelley-Ann said:
I think that you may be right - I know a few people who are actually considering selling their digital stuff and going back to film on a more regular basis. I'm talking people with Nikon D3's. I've also seen more software trying to mimic the look of film. While I'm holding on to my D300, I haven't touched it in a few months for sure.

People are starting to realise that the hype over digital was just a marketing ploy to get you to part with money.

Now of course the reason serious photographers are going back to film is this:

I can spend 2 hours trying to make a digital image look like it was taken with FP-4 and printed on silver paper, trying to get the colour response right, and add the right sized grain, and all the other crap to make a digital capture look like FP-4, then I need to spend another couple of hours trying to convince the ink-jet to make a decent print. Since the tonality is off, and the highlights are slightly blown while the shadows are starting to block up, the print sucks. Of course I can also simply shoot it on FP-4, process it in 20 minutes, next day, feed it into the enlarger and have a nice silver print, in under an hour. With wonderful grain structure and beautiful tonality......

Poisson Du Jour · Jan 25, 2009

Most good digi cameras do have a "Positive Film" or "Positive-look" colour bias setting if one wishes for higher saturation, but as others in this thread will concur, it is not a patch on Velvia or Provia under POL. The very small colour gamut of digi is a strong reason to stick with film where fidelity and clarify of colour is important.

Film and the other

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