Is film dead?

removed account4 · Dec 16, 2015

they have laid a few bricks but they still need a foundation.
hopefully they will keep building on the momentum,
... it is an uphill battle.

Steve Smith · Dec 16, 2015

paper breath said:
And also-can analogue photography can relate with vinyl revival?

Last year, vinyl sales in the UK were the highest they have been for fifteen years. Film is following a similar trend.

Neither will be mainstream again but they are both in a sustainable position.

Steve.

Ian Grant · Dec 16, 2015

Steve Smith said:
Last year, vinyl sales in the UK were the highest they have been for fifteen years. Film is following a similar trend.

Neither will be mainstream again but they are both in a sustainable position.

Steve.

I was in a music shop yesterday and many albums I have on Vinyl were selling for £30 second hand. Film & paper has already gone that way in terms of price.

Ian

Steve Smith · Dec 16, 2015

The fact that vinyl sales were the highest for fifteen years was a report on BBC news last year which referred to sales of new records rather than secondhand.

I have a couple of musician friends who will be releasing albums on vinyl next year.

Steve.

Ian Grant · Dec 16, 2015

Steve Smith said:
The fact that vinyl sales were the highest for fifteen years was a report on BBC news last year which referred to sales of new records rather than secondhand.

I have a couple of musician friends who will be releasing albums on vinyl next year.

Steve.

The store I use sells mostly new Vinyl but has a demand for original Vinyll, the two are inter-linked. One of my friends has a store and online precscence and has never had a problem selling Vinyall at good prices, he pays almost nothing though

Personally I don't see the film/digital versus CD/Vinyl as being so similar because vinyl wears out, or gets damaged easily and film is very robust.

Ian

Steve Smith · Dec 16, 2015

Vinyl must be fairly robust for there to be a good market in secondhand records!

Steve.

DREW WILEY · Dec 18, 2015

There is a company is this country that has refurbished all the machinery to press vinyl again, is doing is it mass volume (millions), including new recordings, and is already profitable, despite the enormous start-up overhead. Now if someone can just figure out how to get dye out of recycled plastic and make it fully transparent, there are enough digital cameras already in landfill to supply film base for at least another
thousand years. Sheer weight of the piles will compress it sufficiently thin.

1L6E6VHF · Dec 18, 2015

Back to film......

When I got my first useful d****** camera (a Nikon Coolpix 3200, in January 2005), my consumption of C-41 went WAY down, but my use of E-6 was unaffected (it has gone down somewhat since, as I can no longer afford scenic vacations and the price of film has soared - but I still shoot some E-6)

I still shoot regular 35mm E-6 because I can sit back and go through my pictures at the touch of a button and see every detail with the large screen directly in front of me.

I still shoot stereo E-6 because there is NOTHING quite like the sight of a color stereo transparency pair back-illuminated, with the light sent through the original film chip, through achromatic lenses, straight into the eyes. It wowed me the first time I saw it, and it still does.

So, I'll use film, until there is an 80" square 8192x8192 pixel flat panel, a d****** stereo viewer of similar resolution, both of which would be able to display my roughly 12,000 slides as well as d****** files, AND (the hardest part) I can afford both of them!

Doc W · Dec 18, 2015

blansky said:
Is God dead?

Neither God nor film is dead, but fewer people pay attention to them these days.

blockend · Dec 21, 2015

Not dead, but on life support, as anyone looking at my bank withdrawals would concur.

Wayne · Dec 21, 2015

I went to the funeral this morning. But it seems to have risen...

scheimfluger_77 · Dec 21, 2015

Doc W said:
Neither God nor film is dead, but fewer people pay attention to them these days.

Great answer!

Steve Smith · Dec 22, 2015

Film is certainly real.

Steve.

pdeeh · Dec 22, 2015

Doomed, I tell ye ...

BMbikerider · Dec 22, 2015

paper breath said:
Hello there! Is there any research or article where can i see which companies still making film cameras and films? I'm interested in facts, that's prove that film is not dead.
And also-can analogue photography can relate with vinyl revival?

It is about as dead as you or me!

Doc W · Dec 22, 2015

BMbikerider said:
It is about as dead as you or me!

...checking my pulse right now...

nolanr66 · Jan 28, 2016

Film is still going around and so are my records.

cliveh · Jan 28, 2016

As a recording medium, yes. As an art medium, no.

pdeeh · Jan 28, 2016

My god I wish this thread would die ...

Sirius Glass · Jan 28, 2016

pdeeh said:
My god I wish this thread would die ...

When it does, more will pop up from the ether. Such is the nature of rumors and the internet.

ME Super · Jan 28, 2016

Someone played "Pop Goes the Weasel" at film's funeral. The coffin popped open at the appropriate time, and film rose from the dead.

Cropline · Jan 28, 2016

Didn't make no resolutions, but I'll be shooting more this year.

skorpiius · Jan 28, 2016

Cropline said:
Didn't make no resolutions, but I'll be shooting more this year.

Same, 2015 was re-acquainting myself with film and testing vintage cameras. 2016 is to produce photos.

Ko.Fe. · Feb 10, 2016

I just realized it for myself.
Yes, film is not for masses anymore. But I'm not with crowd for many things. All digital cameras are looking like hard soap or like secondary to film cameras.
Look at this Fuji X, it is Leica knock-off in terms exterior. Olympus was next, first to make tiny camera with tiny and crappy sensor to look like 35mm SLR, but IQ next to garbage. Then Nikon, then Leica act of mimicry to copy SLR with nothing but empty fetish due to EVF and Olympus now with secondary copy of Fuji X with their same small and crappy sensors. They can't design anything original and sexy on digital side. Nothing, zero.

I'm thinking of getting still practical R-D1 or sentimental M4-P and while film is dead for stupid masses, I want Leica. Because it is the Original.
Like Queen on LP and them on CD. Not to mention Sinatra. The Voice sounds great on 45 RPM.

blockend · Feb 16, 2016

Ko.Fe. said:
I want Leica. Because it is the Original.
Like Queen on LP and them on CD. Not to mention Sinatra. The Voice sounds great on 45 RPM.

Leica digital cameras are overpriced riffs on their excellent film cameras. Your analogy with Queen is apposite, overblown, self indulgent and living in the past.

Is film dead?

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