How long do you predict the large format film market to last?

pentaxuser · Apr 2, 2014

OP that's three pages now. Let us know when you are convinced you haven't wasted your money

pentaxuser

DREW WILEY · Apr 2, 2014

I thought of exactly what Jim did. The death of painting was announced with the birth of photography. But there are probably more art stores
in the world selling pigment today then there were back then. If you want to predict doom and gloom, there are far better candidates to be
concerned about, like earthquakes, and tornadoes, and global warming. E-6 chrome sheet film is getting scarce in terms of selection, but otherwise things seem to be moving along just fine. Black and white film is abundant and better than ever. Why waste time worrying about it?
Life is much more enjoyable going out and shooting and printing. Specific films will come and go. They always have. You just adapt. I have zero interest in switching to digital. When I'm too old to carry my 8x10 and that big wooden Ries tripod, I'll carry my 8x10 with a carbon fiber
tripod. When I'm too old for that, I'll switch mainly to 4x5. Life goes on... and until it outright stops for me, I have more important things to
worry about. The doom and gloom types can go out and buy all their digital toys, which is at least a kind of insurance, because if you do that
you outright know everything you spent your money on will be obsolete in a few years.... frankly, a lot lot sooner than sheet film will be
in trouble. Methinks a lot of people are betting on the wrong horse. Hi-tech dinosaurs have come and gone. Turtles and crocodiles are still
around. Not everything old-fashioned goes extinct. Certain things just make sense.

removed account4 · Apr 2, 2014

not sure why threads like this pop up ..
its too bad people can't live in the here and now
who cares when they stop making film, will it stop you from
enjoying your self today because MAYBE in a few years you won't be able to
use a camera ?

just buy film, use your camera, and enjoy it, if film dwindles just read what denise wrote below ...

dwross said:
...or FILM. Sheet (any size) or roll (except perforated 35mm - for now, at least).

On the one hand I feel like I should apologize for beating on this issue. On the other hand, film is rarely mentioned in these conversations and if it is, as often as not the implication is wet plate, not silver gelatin dry plate.

I give everyone "permission" to put my name on ignore, because I've decided to really hammer away at this issue . People have to know that B&W d.i.y. film (and dry plate) is a reality. It's not difficult to make. It is far less expensive to make than commercial liquid emulsions and of much higher quality. The current top speed recipe is ASA 50-100.

The photo of the pineapple on this page is from handmade 4x5 film. Just a few ingredients, developed in just two ingredients.
http://www.thelightfarm.com/cgi-bin/htmltutgen.py?content=15Jun2013

d

denise

you rock !

eclarke · Apr 2, 2014

The interest in film is not so weak in the rest of the world as it is in the USA. USA's not the only show in town.

Sirius Glass · Apr 2, 2014

I do not waste time or energy of potential problem which are out of my control. I just do my part and keep using film.

mjs · Apr 2, 2014

I believe that I will be gone before film will be, and I'm not going anywhere for a good long while!

Mike

Sirius Glass · Apr 2, 2014

mjs said:
I believe that I will be gone before film will be, and I'm not going anywhere for a good long while!

Mike

I have not scheduled my demise since it will be decades before I have to do that scheduling.

randyB · Apr 3, 2014

I plan on shooting my last sheet of film in about 1 million years from...........now.

ziyanglai said:
I started digital photography about 6 years ago. And around 1-2 years ago, film photography caught my attention. I started doing more and more research about this dying field of photography. I now have a 4x5 that I only use for B&W, 2 medium formats, and a few 35mm...

So my question is, how long do you predict the film manufacturers to keep making film? I have about $3,000 worth of film equipment gear right now, and it would really suck to have Fuji, Kodak, and Ilford stop making film as the value of those gear would instantly drop down to $10.

I have thought about switching back to digital multiple times( I sold all my digital gear a little over 6 months ago), but I really enjoying the process of film.

Someone please shed some light on this. Thanks..

P.S. I am not as concern about 35mm and MF as large format.

Shootar401 · Apr 3, 2014

4x5: 12 years
8x10: 16 years
5x7: 3 years, 6 months
11x14 and larger: 4 years

eclarke · Apr 3, 2014

Shootar401 said:
4x5: 12 years
8x10: 16 years
5x7: 3 years, 6 months
11x14 and larger: 4 years

I have a better supply of all those sizes than this

SebastianKrauss · Apr 3, 2014

until hell freezes over...

Mainecoonmaniac · Apr 3, 2014

When that day comes when LF film is no longer available. I'm going to make my own BW film.

http://thelightfarm.com/

Sirius Glass · Apr 3, 2014

ziyanglai said:
So my question is, how long do you predict the film manufacturers to keep making film?

You should live so long.

Dr Croubie · Apr 3, 2014

SebastianKrauss said:
until hell freezes over...

Which would actually be a good thing, my current freezer is full of film and I could do with more storage space down there.

DREW WILEY · Apr 4, 2014

Sorry, but won't be much storage room left in hell... with all the instantly-obsolete consumer electronics gear piling up in landfills and recycle
dumps, pretty soon there won'r be any other place to put it. Where it belongs anyway...

How long do you predict the large format film market to last?

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency