Is the film craze dead?

Prest_400 · Oct 25, 2023

Last saturday I was in a local photo walk that a distributor (mainly Sponsoring Ilford for film) organised.
25 places filled in a day. We got some goodies and got to see a bit of the scene.

The most interesting fact was, to paraphrase, getting a demand for 12000 rolls 3-4 years ago, which has increased to 150000 in 2022!

I Did notice that (Ilford) film distribution in Sweden is much better now than years ago, they indeed picked it up and wanted to organise something to contribute to the community.

We can't anymore look at it as Film vs Digital, that is largely settled. Film stands for its own qualities now. I also got a bit back into it and stocked up at recent prices, which are high indeed!

Pieter12 · Oct 25, 2023

Yashica said:
I never chimp on location with digital. No color calibrated screen, also very small, what gives? Of course, digital does have its advantages, but it doesn't have any kind of emotion for my taste, or soul. It's pixels to RAW files, not photons to photographs. Just a file, floating onto a memory card somewhere, literally...no hard feelings. YMMV.

I know this shouldn't be a film vs digital discussion, but I find I can get pleasing results from digital by doing the following:
1. Always shoot raw or raw+jpeg. Raw files give you a lot more to work with and you're not stuck with such silly things manufacturers come up with such as film emulations, over-sharpening and ridiculous color saturation.
2. When possible, shoot at a higher ISO than you would with film. It adds some noise to the image, akin to grain.
3. Use film lenses when you can. Most Nikons (sorry, I don't know about other brands) will take Nikon film lenses, and I have an adapter that allows me to mount Nikon F lenses to my Fuji X cameras. Film lenses seem to take some of the digital curse off the image.
4. Use the largest sensor camera you can. The smaller the sensor, the shorter the lens and it the resulting image will have more depth of focus than what one expects from a film camera.
5. I have a high-res scan of Kodak Portra 400 film grain (well, dye clouds) that I can apply to files to further reduce the digital look.
6. Use a camera with a CCD sensor rather than a CMOS one. The colors are much more pleasing and the image is more filmic.
7. If the end result is B&W, I do my final processing in Photoshop with Nik Silver Efex Pro. I don't use any of the presets or emulations, just adjust the contrast and details and add grain to taste. But mostly I shoot film for B&W, I prefer the process of developing and printing in the darkroom.

Yashica · Oct 26, 2023

Hey Pieter...i do shoot >70% what you call vintage lenses, when using digital. Means mostly, my adapted Carl Zeiss, Contax, Minolta MD series. But i do like also the rendering, look of AF-D Nikon lenses. I have digital serveral Fujifilm, X-T1, X100 LE, X-E1/2....and like the output. Also knew the DxO Filmpack Film simulations, Fuji Film simulations, and the same from the Nik collection...but at the end of the day, it's all not the same...of course. I shoot here & there with a black mist 1/8 filter on a few lenses i use with digital, to get a more analog look.

PS: You bet, i do love my CCD Sensor gear. Still shooting occasionally my D40, D70s, D80...also Sony R1 (CMOS), D700 (CMOS) I've started with the D100, and EOS 10D. But i liked always Nikon more, from it's body design, ergonomics, etc...never being a fan of the Canon trademark "thumbwheel" onto the rear, i've found it rather stupid, silly, since the 35mm SLR film days...but nowadays, it's ok, acceptable..but still, i prefer an ordinary 2nd dial onto the back, not that thumbwheel. The handling, aesthethics from Nikon was always & forever so much better, then say Canon. For instance, the EOS 3...what a body design...or EOS 50...it was a very huge, big piece of plastic....no comparsion to my Nikon F100 & F80...i shoot Nikon since my FM. Anyway, i've ordered a 5D II with partially issues, hope i can fix them, because it was really cheap, and i wanted the 5D Mark II into my collection. Have the original 5D bought 2-times, one into early 2008, the other one a few years ago, for little money. And my 1st D700 since 2012. With the EF Mount, it's easy to adapt my Contax lenses. I do use Nik Silver Efex Pro since the beginning, 1998.

harlequin · Oct 28, 2023

is it me or am i in the wrong
analog thread?

harlequin · Oct 28, 2023

braxus said:
I agree. Many people are finding it hard to pay rent and put food on the table these days. Bills go unpaid. The economy is hitting everyone and inflation isnt helping. It will correct at some point, if the world doesnt go all to Hell by that point.

Yup. One of those threads is my thread. Since Im tight on my budget too, my list of cameras has dwindled down to much less than what I first posted. I sold off quite a bit of them to help pay the bills. Some cameras lately are going unsold, so people just aren't buying anymore. And yes its all due to money being short. I can't say for certain if the economy will get better anytime soon though. World elites seem Hell bent on changing how we will live.

Maybe. But tough times demand tough measures. If one needs food, well you can't eat your cameras. So they get sold off.

For 2 rolls of Acros i can get a pretty good steak to barbecue
its perspective…..Amigos

Pieter12 · Oct 28, 2023

Times are no tougher than they have been in the recent past. Social media seems to have blown everything out of proportion.

Chuck1 · Oct 28, 2023

I switched to 4.99 a # ground beef

Yashica · Oct 29, 2023

Chuck1 said:
I switched to 4.99 a # ground beef

I am living as vegi/vegan since ~7 years. Oatmilk for coffee, too. It's about animal welfare as well as for ethical reason(s).

George Mann · Oct 29, 2023

Yashica said:
I am living as vegi/vegan since ~7 years. Oatmilk for coffee, too. It's about animal welfare as well as for ethical reason(s).

I am completely vegetarian these days.

Sirius Glass · Oct 29, 2023

George Mann said:
I am completely vegetarian these days.

I am completely omnivorous and have been that since I was born.

koraks · Oct 29, 2023

People, please stay somewhat ontopic. Dietary choices do not fit that pattern.

eli griggs · Oct 29, 2023

Oh, contraire, diet may just be very IMPORTAINT to general photography, as it can impact good eyesight, nervous system, the ability to endure both high and low temperatures, in heat and cold, strength to carry medium and large format kit up and down sharp inclines, jungle, heavy brush. sands, mud and snow.

Both animal and vegetable proteins will have noticable effects on strength, and don't get me started about the need for whole milks for strong bones and teeth, plus vitamin D.

Whom here has had to cut short or not even began a shoot because of bone and dental pains, feelings of weakness, etc?

A good diet, like carb loading with a huge spaghetti dinner before a marathon, can make a for a 'winning' day while walking the streets, looking for a good shot, while a bad meal choice will leave you tired, unsatisfied, thus hungry, cranky and generally impatient and rude to others, who may not want to sit for you or share a rare location that goes begging for a photographer to record it's beauty, charm and favorable lighting and mists.

Ask yourself, do you pack whole grain energy bars or a Snickers bar, for quick pick me ups, even though you might just end up constipated or with the sugar blues?

Also, don't forget your passion for energy drinks, and the side effects that they present.

Diet and photography, IS a righteous topic, so, how about we start a different thread, where we can write on how diet choices, have impacted our shooting , and extended days in the field or studio.

IMO.

koraks · Oct 29, 2023

eli griggs said:
Ask yourself, do you pack whole grain energy bars of a Snickers bar, for quick pick me ups, even though you might just

...be left with unfinished posts?

All joking aside: my comment was primarily intended to nip any ideological debate on dietary choices in the bud. Once positions are taken, oppositions easily follow. Let's not go there. Thanks.

eli griggs · Oct 29, 2023

koraks said:
...be left with unfinished posts?

All joking aside: my comment was primarily intended to nip any ideological debate on dietary choices in the bud. Once positions are taken, oppositions easily follow. Let's not go there. Thanks.

Sorry I did not see this earlier, but I was completing the original post

Don_ih · Oct 29, 2023

So, yeah - food is totally irrelevant other than what kind of vegetables you have to photograph.

koraks · Oct 29, 2023

Ah. A layered image!

George Mann · Oct 29, 2023

Don_ih said:
So, yeah - foot is totally irrelevant other than what kind of vegetables you have to photograph.

As long as it fuels the film craze of course!

Alan Edward Klein · Oct 29, 2023

I find I always shoot better after a chocolate donut.

Pieter12 · Oct 29, 2023

Cheaper than film. That brings it back on-topic.

Mike Lopez · Oct 29, 2023

eli griggs said:
Oh, contraire, diet may just be very IMPORTAINT to general photography, as it can impact good eyesight, nervous system, the ability to endure both high and low endurance in heat and cold, strength to carry medium and large format kit up and down sharp inclines, jungle, heavy brush. sands, mud and snow.

Both animal and vegetable proteins will have noticable effects on strength, and don't get me started about the need for whole milks for strong bones and teeth, plus vitamin D.

Whom here has had to cut short or not even begin a shoot because of bone and dental pains, feelings of weakness, etc?

A good diet, like carb loading with a huge spaghetti dinner before a marathon, can make a for a 'winning' day while walking the streets, looking for a good shot, while a bad meal choice will leave you tired, unsatisfied, thus hungry, cranky and generally impatient and rude to others, who may not want to sit for you or share a rare location that goes begging for a photographer to record it's beauty, charm and favorable lighting and mists.

Ask yourself, do you pack whole grain energy bars of a Snickers bar, for quick pick me ups, even though you might just end up constipated or with the sugar blues?

Also, don't forget you passion for energy drinks, and the side effects that they present.

Diet and photography, IS a righteous topic, so, how about we start a different thread, where we can write on how diet choices, have impacted our shooting , and extended days in the field or studio.

IMO.

One of the most unintentionally funny posts of all time.

I can honestly state that I’ve never had to cancel or shorten a photography session because of sore bones or a toothache, nor have I ever constipated myself with Snickers bars. Sorry.

Pieter12 · Oct 29, 2023

eli griggs said:
Diet and photography, IS a righteous topic, so, how about we start a different thread, where we can write on how diet choices, have impacted our shooting , and extended days in the field or studio.

Always be careful when drinking in the darkroom.

eli griggs · Oct 29, 2023

koraks said:
Ah. A layered image!

Almost all good art is

Pieter12 said:
Always be careful when drinking in the darkroom.

Amen!

Mike Lopez said:
One of the most unintentionally funny posts of all time.

I can honestly state that I’ve never had to cancel or shorten a photography session because of sore bones or a toothache, nor have I ever constipated myself with Snickers bars. Sorry.

That's OK, we're not taking names.

eli griggs · Oct 29, 2023

I guess I should add diabetes as an important factor that links food choices with making photographs, as many of us will and do have or will develop type 2.

Roger Thoms · Oct 29, 2023

VinceInMT said:
And my car doesn’t have cup holders.

LOL, my truck has 10 cup holders and it's a regular cab. When I got the truck, I thought it was kind of ridiculous, but they quickly filled up with things like chalk, spray lubricant, cutting fluid, epoxy resin, etc, oh and of course, my morning coffee . Basically filled up the cup holder with things that would get knocked over and spill in the back of my truck.

Roger

campy51 · Oct 29, 2023

Can I lock my own post?

Is the film craze dead?

Prest_400

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Is the film craze dead?

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