Film is dead. It is a niche market for hipsters (who will most probably drop out after a while), hobbyists and some art photographers. Darkroom printing is also a lost art that no-one wants to bother with anymore. While film sales may be up (and down) temporarily, aspects like cost, water usage and chemical waste are also of concern. Most people do not take into account what may go into the manufacturing process of their digital products, nor their disposal. But with film, it can be something one is more in touch with and can be a concern.
I never see hipsters shooting film. In fact I rarely see anyone shooting film.
The most expensive thing about darkrooms, especially these days, is the dedicated space needed.
Well, my slide shows weren't really all that bad*, but with the carousel begging for 80 or 140 slides, a few less than gallery level slides might have slipped in here and there from time to time. I don't think I have the attention span to watch a slide show of 80 to 140 images of even [insert your favorite photographer here]. If I were to do slides again. I would probably go with 30 tops like a printed portfolio. Weren't Leica projector trays 35 slots? I think there is some truth to the saying that you are judged by your weakest image.
* Some who actually had to sit through them might disagree, but they aren't my friends anymore so their opinions don't count.
Just before the pandemic a man walked into a pub, Centon SLR and big strap around his neck with a large flash attached...
Hell, I can even take a film SLR to the beach again without being accused of all sorts of unpleasantness.
I just saw someone using a film camera near the Rock and Roll Hall about two hours ago, I mean aside from me.
Some of these reports of seeing a person with a film camera sort of remind me of Sasquatch sightings.
There's a problem with the equation of strong with popular. All film shooting needs to survive is a small but dedicated community (strong in another sense of the word) and a few suppliers like Ilford and Adox who cater to a niche market. The glory days of Kodak and literally everyone in the world shooting their film are well and truly over, but that's not the sole viable business model. As cameras lose out to cell phones for the disposable snapshot market, DSLRs will likely begin to fade away too.
There will almost always be some kind of correlation and coincidence between the two.There's a problem with the equation of strong with popular. All film shooting needs to survive is a small but dedicated community (strong in another sense of the word) and a few suppliers like Ilford and Adox who cater to a niche market. The glory days of Kodak and literally everyone in the world shooting their film are well and truly over, but that's not the sole viable business model. As cameras lose out to cell phones for the disposable snapshot market, DSLRs will likely begin to fade away too.
NAC was one, RTM sent me pre-production samples of their improved C90, and Panggung as they were restarting production after a couple of years mothballing their machinery.
The LP analogy is really just to show that in the right circumstances, something which was written off as dead can come back into the mainstream. FIlm certainly isn't there yet, but if the upswing continues it could be. What is of no help to anyone in these forums is being a grumpy old fart, saying film is dead and that any upsurge in interest is going to be reversed soon....because presumably one has read it in one's tea leaves.
Just to explore this topic more, one idea is that if color film goes, so goes film. I.e., monochrome alone will not keep film alive.
Younger people seem to prefer color film. Even among all film users, color is bigger than monochrome.
On the flip side, color takes a lot more technology to maintain- multi-layer coatings, dyes and chemicals, C-41/E6 proesses (and ECN2). Very few people today (Kodak and Fuji realistically- wish ADOX Godspeed) really have the capability to produce quality color film. Many people can produce monochrome films.
Since cinema is driving a lot of film usage, and cinema requires color, this helps, but most cinema films are ECN2. If color defaults to ECN2 only, how big an issue is this there are ECN2 home process kits)?
My thought is if color ends monochrome may survive, but would likely become a very expensive boutique item. Thoughts?
Was the available light such that he needed a large flash? Did he also have a large lens?
Probably people don't want to be photographed in their bathing suits. I haven't been to the beach in a while, but from what I remember, it is understandable why people don't want to be photographed in their bathing suits. And then there is the issue of photographing children. I'll go out on a limb and say you would get the same reception if you took a DSLR to the beach.
I've never heard of Panggung but it's nice that they're back in production.
Any thoughts on this?
Any thoughts on this?
Any thoughts on this?
Living now in the country, with only a septic system, as far as film and chemicals, there is no problem at all. Steelwool absorbs silver. All else evaporates. Very tiny bit of electricity used. Minimal water usage for processing. Film, relative to a phase one digital back's original cost, is very small, even over the years. Images captured on film that are twenty years old or older are still scanable and printable, as well as useable for serigraph images, even tho that does require water, but not bad because it's a waterbased process. So, to reply, for artsy fartsy types it's well worth it and fun as a process. And as a geeser, and retired commercial shooter, it's still a blast! I'm trying to get a better handle on your interests and opinion tho, because in art school, I worked with many mediums along the way. To you, I'm pretty sure that a computer darkroom is far less "Task Driven" than it is to me. It's not that different. Only difference that I can see is what you were brought up using. Film cannot be hacked. Film is not dead! Why? For me because I've got a bunch of it in my freezer! So, if you back everything up digital should work even better, hybrid even better than that. Again I would try both, as well as other related mediums for your message. Sketching should outlast them all! Many good ideas were created sketching on a napkin. Cheers!
The water usage for film processing is minimal. The release of rare earth elements and hazadous materials from dumping electronic cameras both film and digital into landfills as people abandon one electron camera for the next is in the long run a greater hazard.
And, of course, it is.There is the conspicuous consumption aspect to it, but also the sneaking suspicion from people why whemenently oppose or ridicule film that they are really missing something important, and that film is in fact in many ways superior.
If you are worried about wasting water, just skip showering on the days you develop film. You'll probably need to skip showering two or three days when you are printing, depending on whether you have removed the flow restrictor disk from your showerhead.
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