Is the film craze dead?

DREW WILEY · Mar 17, 2023

Lots of younger people are still snatching up classic 35mm and MF film cameras around here, and many even prefer manual; and they spend more money on their daily morning latte than a roll of film costs. Sheesh. And with regard to those of us who shoot large format film too, a roll of film is less than the third the cost a single shot of 8x10 color film these days. Just avoid a concert or pro ballgame once a year, and you'll save money. Or learn to think before you shoot - is the shot worth printing or not?

Sirius Glass · Mar 17, 2023

DREW WILEY said:
Or learn to think before you shoot - is the shot worth printing or not?

Why would anyone do that??

DREW WILEY · Mar 17, 2023

How do you prevent abuse of credit cards? - chop em up and throw em away. How do prevent abuse of motor-winders and automated exposure systems? ....

BMbikerider · Mar 17, 2023

campy51 said:
Anyone else notice cameras and lenses are not selling on the FS board? I see many nice things on the boards for weeks to months without selling. I have had my 500 C/M for about 3 months and I don't think my price is way high.

Probably because all the decent ones have been sold and the new buyers are hanging on to them.

Perry Way · Mar 17, 2023

the universe responds?

Sirius Glass · Mar 17, 2023

DREW WILEY said:
How do you prevent abuse of credit cards? - chop em up and throw em away. How do prevent abuse of motor-winders and automated exposure systems? ....

I take them out and exercise them regularly. Sometimes, unlike banks, I stress test them. Someone has to keep the economy moving.

DREW WILEY · Mar 17, 2023

My "bank" is full of frozen sheet film. That's what I call a wise investment.
Crypto currency, digital images stored on the "cloud" somewhere beyond the blue, etc - that's all risky.

Terence · Mar 17, 2023

Saganich said:
Well I'm in the middle of hipster Brooklyn and a week doesn't go by that someone who sees me shooting asks where I get my film developed. After I tell them I do it myself, and the pleasantries of impressiveness pass, they ask how they can get their TriX or HP5 developed. I say there are 2 places that will do the developing and quality scan for $20 ($25 for 120), so lets say a roll per week costs $10 per roll and 20 per dev and scan, so $120 per month. That's a night out for one in a neighborhood where a crappy 2-bed is nearly $4000 month. So I don't think the price or access to services is the problem, around here at least. I think the biggest problem is that few people under the age of 40 knows how to use a manual camera.

Which two places?

Edgy01 · Mar 18, 2023

campy51 said:
Anyone else notice cameras and lenses are not selling on the FS board? I see many nice things on the boards for weeks to months without selling. I have had my 500 C/M for about 3 months and I don't think my price is way high.

Perhaps you didn’t get the memo, but there is a recession going on globally. Sadly, along with that, will be job losses, and subsequently, a shortage of funds for discretionary items. Photography is a not must-have category, unfortunately.

perkeleellinen · Mar 18, 2023

I can add that the four film cameras I've sold on ebay this year have all sold for higher prices than I bought them for one or two years previously. All sold within a matter of days.

guangong · Mar 18, 2023

Terence said:
Which two places?

The problem is not knowing how to use a manual camera, but being able to read a camera manual. Even a Harvard professor was complaining that some freshmen found reading The Scarlet Letter too difficult. That was 8th grade book when I was in school. The number of schools failing to have even a single student reading at grade level is staggering. From my own experience, I wonder how many teachers can read at grade level.

Alan Edward Klein · Mar 18, 2023

guangong said:
The problem is not knowing how to use a manual camera, but being able to read a camera manual. Even a Harvard professor was complaining that some freshmen found reading The Scarlet Letter too difficult. That was 8th grade book when I was in school. The number of schools failing to have even a single student reading at grade level is staggering. From my own experience, I wonder how many teachers can read at grade level.

The truth is going through a 450 page camera manual to figure out menus is enough to make any sane photographer ready to blow his brains out.

Nicholas Lindan · Mar 18, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
The truth is going through a 450 page camera manual to figure out menus is enough to make any sane photographer ready to blow his brains out.

Another win for film: The manual is shorter!

JerseyDoug · Mar 18, 2023

Nicholas Lindan said:
Another win for film: The manual is shorter!

The manual for my Nikon F6 is 196 pages.

Huss · Mar 18, 2023

JerseyDoug said:
The manual for my Nikon F6 is 196 pages.

Good thing it has a simple,, well thought out menu system on the camera.
oh wait.

This is why the F4 got it right w just knobs. The upcoming F8 apparently is going back to the knobs.

Huss · Mar 18, 2023

campy51 said:
Anyone else notice cameras and lenses are not selling on the FS board? I see many nice things on the boards for weeks to months without selling. I have had my 500 C/M for about 3 months and I don't think my price is way high.

If it has been sitting for three months your price is way too high.

It really is as simple as that. The correct price is what it sells at.

Huss · Mar 18, 2023

Here’s the problem I have w Kodak’s forever price increases. Third party vendors are now respooling Kodak’s FRESH Aerocolor IV and selling it at a profit (otherwise they obviously would not bother) for less than Kodak sells its films directly!
It is an excellent film and is sold under the labels Luminaire 100, SantaColor, Elektra 100

faberryman · Mar 18, 2023

Huss said:
Here’s the problem I have w Kodak’s forever price increases. Third party vendors are now respooling Kodak’s FRESH Aerocolor IV and selling it at a profit (otherwise they obviously would not bother) for less than Kodak sells its films directly!
It is an excellent film and is sold under the labels Luminaire 100, SantaColor, Elektra 100

Why is that a problem?

Frigge · Mar 18, 2023

campy51 said:
I have had my 500 C/M for about 3 months and I don't think my price is way high.

Maybe opening the box of Pandora here.. but the market says it's a tad high.
I bought a similar setup, serviced by a hasselblad technician right before the sale, with shutter speeds tested and documented and clean lenses without Haze or dust.

The short lens had a small ding, but on the other hand the mag was serviced with new seals and perfect frame space adjusted. The long lens was lightly used with no marks or dents.

€150 ~ $160 with 3 months warranty.

Looking at what actually sells on the auction site I got a good price, but not a bargain.

For 250 i wouldn't consider a camera needing CLA. Not today, not Last year, not 3 years ago. You just don't know what the repair vill will cost.

Plus I never buy anything from a seller with less than a tiny bit of negative reviews.

blee1996 · Mar 18, 2023

I also observed in recent couple of months that medium-high end film cameras have reached a local peak, and are not selling that fast. Last year I was in the market for a basic Hasselblad system, and KEH has little inventory. Any time they had something in stock, it was sold rather quickly. Right now, things definitely have slowed. There are plenty of Hasselblad body and lenses available on KEH, and they are not moving that fast.

If you look at the CPI data, we definitely have passed the peak inflation. Remember the egg price?

Sirius Glass · Mar 18, 2023

Frigge said:
Maybe opening the box of Pandora here.. but the market says it's a tad high.
I bought a similar setup, serviced by a hasselblad technician right before the sale, with shutter speeds tested and documented and clean lenses without Haze or dust.

The short lens had a small ding, but on the other hand the mag was serviced with new seals and perfect frame space adjusted. The long lens was lightly used with no marks or dents.

€150 ~ $160 with 3 months warranty.

Looking at what actually sells on the auction site I got a good price, but not a bargain.

For 250 i wouldn't consider a camera needing CLA. Not today, not Last year, not 3 years ago. You just don't know what the repair vill will cost.

Plus I never buy anything from a seller with less than a tiny bit of negative reviews.

Enjoy. We all know that Swedish cameras are always better. You are a wise man.

Sirius Glass · Mar 18, 2023

blee1996 said:
I also observed in recent couple of months that medium-high end film cameras have reached a local peak, and are not selling that fast. Last year I was in the market for a basic Hasselblad system, and KEH has little inventory. Any time they had something in stock, it was sold rather quickly. Right now, things definitely have slowed. There are plenty of Hasselblad body and lenses available on KEH, and they are not moving that fast.

If you look at the CPI data, we definitely have passed the peak inflation. Remember the egg price?

Egging people on?

Huss · Mar 18, 2023

Egg prices spiked because of bird flu, and millions of chickens had to be culled. poor things. Not because of ‘normal’ inflation.

Pieter12 · Mar 18, 2023

Edgy01 said:
Perhaps you didn’t get the memo, but there is a recession going on globally. Sadly, along with that, will be job losses, and subsequently, a shortage of funds for discretionary items. Photography is a not must-have category, unfortunately.

I don't know the global situation, but the U.S. is not in a recession. There is inflation, although that is edging down.

skorpiius · Mar 18, 2023

Nicholas Lindan said:
As to film demand, I'm too far removed from the hipster scene to know.

All of the 20 yr old hipsters reversing film sales decline are now in their mid 30s with families. The current 20 yr olds are infatuated with 15-20 yr old point and shoot cameras.

Is the film craze dead?

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