Film is not dead: Demand soars for vintage cameras in developing trend

[Timo Schön]

Watching the final print come up in the developer under a safelight (B&W of course) is magical. I have not experienced that in a long time... Seeing scanned images reversed and tweaked is the best I get these days (and is also magical, because it is the first glimpse of the results).

I second that! I started darkroom printing about half a year ago at age 18. I remember the first time seeing the image appear on a whole sheet of paper. Such a magical moment. Scanning can be amazing as well (the first time scanning a 6x7 colour negative blew me away) but its just not as intimate as darkroom printing

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

That's good. If it starts fading out you can take your tubes to Thrifty and plug 'em into the tube tester there.

We have a Thrifty's here, but it's a grocery chain

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have a Roku TV, and watched Antenna TV on it for 2 years before figuring out it could connect to the internet. That's turned out to be a huge step backwards. In many ways its worse than Antenna TV because the TV/internet/"smart" phone/laptop are all one now. Advertisers hound and track me day and night.

It's ridiculous. I don't see the benefits. Cable at least was reliable. Streaming works only as well as your connection at that moment in time.

$50 for and antenna one time with over 200 channels plus free Roku all free versus up to $200US a month with cable and all the subscriptions.

 

[Moose22]

We have a Thrifty's here, but it's a grocery chain

Thrifty was (is) a drug store in the Western US. Got bought by CVS or one of the other big chains.

They used to also have a photo lab in every store, and sell ice cream by the scoop. I think there are still Thrifty ice cream places in the rebranded stores, and it's good stuff. But in the 70s they also had a stand with tubes and a tube tester where you could bring the tube from your TV, see how much life it had left in it, and if it was bad buy a new one.

When I was a kid my oldest sister would go pick up her photos and we'd get an ice cream cone on the way out. I suppose they're more expensive than 25 cents now.

 

[Pieter12]

Thrifty was (is) a drug store in the Western US. Got bought by CVS or one of the other big chains.

They used to also have a photo lab in every store, and sell ice cream by the scoop. I think there are still Thrifty ice cream places in the rebranded stores, and it's good stuff. But in the 70s they also had a stand with tubes and a tube tester where you could bring the tube from your TV, see how much life it had left in it, and if it was bad buy a new one.

When I was a kid my oldest sister would go pick up her photos and we'd get an ice cream cone on the way out. I suppose they're more expensive than 25 cents now.

I think Thrifty was bought by Albertsons grocery stores and they changed all the Thriftys to Rite Aid. I kind of miss the tube-testers they used to have in-store. Not that I have anything with tubes anymore, either.

 

[albada]

Here's a wikipedia article about Thrifty Drug. It has a paragraph about the tube testers, and devotes several paragraphs to the ice cream. I remember both.

 

[gone]

Unlike others here, seeing a print appear in the developer holds no magic for me. But having a GOOD print hanging on the wall, ah, that's a different story. It's a lot harder than one would think, so when it happens it's something special.

 

[Huss]

Thrifty was (is) a drug store in the Western US. Got bought by CVS or one of the other big chains.

They used to also have a photo lab in every store, and sell ice cream by the scoop. I think there are still Thrifty ice cream places in the rebranded stores, and it's good stuff. But in the 70s they also had a stand with tubes and a tube tester where you could bring the tube from your TV, see how much life it had left in it, and if it was bad buy a new one.

When I was a kid my oldest sister would go pick up her photos and we'd get an ice cream cone on the way out. I suppose they're more expensive than 25 cents now.

My local rite aid, where they sell fuji 200 and 400 film, still has the thrifty ice cream stand.

 

[Agulliver]

I think Sirius meant the demographics of NBC. Which are old. Boomers and older. Anyone younger than that doesn't watch analog TV news. The irony being that the elderly crowd is getting a story about what's trendy, not the younger folks who actually tend to hop on trends.

I actually think it isn't millennials. At least where I live, it's GenZ, the 20 somethings and younger, who are all into the film. But that's just my small circle, of course.

the demographic mostly driving this already knows because they're on insta and the other k3wl social network apps. Now the old farts also know thanks to NBC. I just hope the differing groups don't put each other off. though what I see here in Photrio suggests that many of us old stalwarts will try gatekeeping.

When I am out and about shooting film, it's the youngsters who ask what I'm shooting...and the old farts who ask "is that even loaded? can you even get film?". Probably helps that guessing my age is very difficult. I have one of those appearances people guess anything between late twenties and a very well preserved 60.

Here's an interesting graph that agrees with the statement above: Electronic devices by age. Among the young crowd, it looks like smartphones are replacing TV sets.
Anyway, it's good to hear that film is coming back, as happened with vinyl records.

Young people, those 30 and under especially, haven't been watching actual TV much for years now.

What I take from this is that the film revival is real and sustained....for now at least....and that Kodak is taking steps to ensure it can continue. That is all good. And I don't care much who is shooting the film. Or how they're shooting it.

 

[foc]

And I don't care much who is shooting the film. Or how they're shooting it.

+1, just let them at it.

 

[dutchsteammachine]

Let's hope it isn't too late yet for the retired generation to teach the younger folk to repair older camera's

Pro8mm used to service the Canon 1014XL-S but the only person that could do it passed away and he didn't pass on his skillset. I don't get why Pro8mm didn't have him write everything down or teach someone else. A real pity ):

 

[Agulliver]

Let's hope it isn't too late yet for the retired generation to teach the younger folk to repair older camera's

Pro8mm used to service the Canon 1014XL-S but the only person that could do it passed away and he didn't pass on his skillset. I don't get why Pro8mm didn't have him write everything down or teach someone else. A real pity ):

I'm lucky enough to live in a town with an excellent camera repair (and sales) shop. Thankfully while the original owner retired a few years ago the employees who took it on aren't quite at retirement age yet....but longer term I do hope they take on an apprentice.

 

[Saganich]

The youngest person I know who uses a TV is 28, but it is just a larger screen being used, the content is all streamed. I have a TV with digital rabbit ears...no white dot...so I can watch the networks in real-time, but I mainly watch old movies and lawyer advertisements.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I liked the Thrifty ice cream.

When it was announced that Kodak was discontinuing UltraColor 400 film, I walked over to Thrifty and asked the manager if I could just buy all the film in the UltraColor section to free up his shelf space. I no longer remember what I paid, but I bought 5 feet of shelf space, three rows high for not much money per roll at the time. I still have that film frozen in my freezer.

 

[Cholentpot]

I liked the Thrifty ice cream.

When it was announced that Kodak was discontinuing UltraColor 400 film, I walked over to Thrifty and asked the manager if I could just buy all the film in the UltraColor section to free up his shelf space. I no longer remember what I paid, but I bought 5 feet of shelf space, three rows high for not much money per roll at the time. I still have that film frozen in my freezer.

Want to trade for some delicious Plus-X or Orwo N-74?

 

[Tel]

+1, just let them at it.

Ditto that. Whether you call them Gen Z or whatever, the net result is 300 new jobs at Kodak.

 

[VinceInMT]

We see similar news stories pop about about supposed resurgence in other things vintage: audio vinyl and cassettes. I sort of collect reel-to-reel machines (only about 20 or so) and am glad I got them when I did because the prices, like for some cameras, have jumped quite a bit. Some of this, when attributed to boomers, is that this group now has more time and financial resources to devote to things they might never had access to in the past.

As for TV, I don’t watch one, broadcast, streaming, or otherwise. I gave up that pastime many decades ago and have never missed it. Yes, I know, it makes me culturally illiterate when I don’t get references to Cheers, Seinfeld, Fraser, Mash, Grey’s Anatomy, Game of Thrones, Simpsons, or ANYTHING related to sports but I have much more time to devote to other pursuits AND I’ve avoided being dunned by thousands of hours of advertising.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I second that! I started darkroom printing about half a year ago at age 18. I remember the first time seeing the image appear on a whole sheet of paper. Such a magical moment. Scanning can be amazing as well (the first time scanning a 6x7 colour negative blew me away) but its just not as intimate as darkroom printing

Shut the lights off.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

$50 for and antenna one time with over 200 channels plus free Roku all free versus up to $200US a month with cable and all the subscriptions.

Don't you have to pay the ISP for the internet cable connect?

 

[VinceInMT]

I liked the Thrifty ice cream.

We always went to Sav-On across the street from Thrifty on Bellflower in Long Beach, CA. A single cone was 10 cents. That was in the mid-60s. Sav-On is now an LA Fitness and Thrifty is a Five Below, whatever that is.

Back in the day, again the mid-60s, a few doors down from Thrify was Winstead Cameras. I used to cruise through there and look at all the darkroom equipment and yellow packages of enlarging paper, curious about what it was but no resources to get into it.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Unlike others here, seeing a print appear in the developer holds no magic for me. But having a GOOD print hanging on the wall, ah, that's a different story. It's a lot harder than one would think, so when it happens it's something special.

When I got my first color printer, I was amazed at how great one of my pictures printed. I can understand how people are amazed by the darkroom. But getting an 8 1/2"x11" print in a couple of minutes is pretty terrific too.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

the demographic mostly driving this already knows because they're on insta and the other k3wl social network apps. Now the old farts also know thanks to NBC. I just hope the differing groups don't put each other off. though what I see here in Photrio suggests that many of us old stalwarts will try gatekeeping.

When I am out and about shooting film, it's the youngsters who ask what I'm shooting...and the old farts who ask "is that even loaded? can you even get film?". Probably helps that guessing my age is very difficult. I have one of those appearances people guess anything between late twenties and a very well preserved 60.



Young people, those 30 and under especially, haven't been watching actual TV much for years now.

What I take from this is that the film revival is real and sustained....for now at least....and that Kodak is taking steps to ensure it can continue. That is all good. And I don't care much who is shooting the film. Or how they're shooting it.

As an old fart who continues to use film and belongs to an old fart photo club where everyone else shoots digitally, they're always asking me those questions. I think they think I'm senile, not that they should talk.

 

[albireo]

Shut the lights off.

 

[Pieter12]

20 or so years ago, one could get 35mm amateur color film just about anywhere: department stores, drug stores, convenience stores, hotels, airports, you name it--even gas stations. And in just about any town that had a traffic signal. In Los Angeles there were one-hour photo labs almost on every block in every strip mall. And Fotomat kiosks in supermarket parking lots. Dozens of camera stores selling everything from disposable cameras to high-end amateur gear. And dozens more selling professional equipment. Ads for camera gear with hundreds of times listed tiny type every week in the newspaper (oops, those are gone, too). This is not coming back. Freestyle has moved to a location that is maybe less than half the size of their old store. Samy's just shut down their store on the westside. You can call me a naysayer, but those are the facts. Fuji no longer makes color film. Agfa has disappeared. Whatever blip there may be in film sales is just that. I am not celebrating the fact that film is slowly fading, I need it to be available, Actually, I am more concerned that so many film photographers do not develop or print their photos. So darkroom chemistry and photo paper are the more likely victims. And if they go away, I would take down the darkroom and drop film altogether.

 

[Moose22]

space, three rows high for not much money per roll at the time. I still have that film frozen in my freezer.

Good for you. Keep that away from all the hoarders.

I admit I grabbed a few of the 3 packs of Fuji when mpex had them for $15. I have a lot of color 135 in the freezer, but when you see film you like at a good price, you get some.