Score one for film.

[Louis Nargi]

Nikon just introduced the F6 film camera. If Nikon is willing to produce a film camera thats a pro model and cost 2299.00 encourages me to think that anolog photography is heathy and in good shape, dispite what all the digital add would like you to think.

 

[BarrieB]

Perhaps the ' F 6 ' model was already on the drawing boards and they thought it best to continue into mamufacture, might be the LAST collectable Film SLR !!!!

 

[John McCallum]

Perhaps the ' F 6 ' model was already on the drawing boards and they thought it best to continue into mamufacture, might be the LAST collectable Film SLR !!!!

Ahhh phooee! It's much cheaper to cut it at the drawing board than after spending the sums required on R&D and product launch. Perhaps you're saying this with tongue-firmly-in-cheek Barrie, but if they really thought there was no market for the F6 alongside the range of prof digi cameras they are producing, they just wouldn't let it out of the stable (they wouldn't be able to afford to). And Nikon are not the only ones bringing out new models either.

 

[Dave Parker]

Nikon has also announced that the F6 will be the last of their proffessional series film cameras, only time will tell.

Dave

 

[Graeme Hird]

Just a pity that there seems to be no improvement on the F5 in the latest model. I own an F5, but see absolutley no reason to change it for an F6.

Perhaps I'm missing something - can anybody tell me why they released this latest model?

 

[Art Vandalay]

About the only good thing about digital cameras is that used film cameras are so damned cheap now. I replaced my broken Olympus OM-1 with a perfectly good used one for about $40 US - and it came with a 50mm Zuiko. Repairs would've cost more than double the amount. Other than that the announcement of the very last prof film camera by Nikon is very, very depressing.

 

[Mongo]

If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the reason the F6 was released has to do with the cost of producing the camera more than anything else. The F6 shares so many common parts with the newer high-end Nikon digital cameras (including the basic chasis and the metering system) that I believe it was released so it could be produced on the same assembly line as some other camera. Still, it's a nice camera and it is good to see a new film camera from Nikon at a time when most of us had to think such a thing was unlikely.

To the best of my knowledge Nikon have only announce that this is the last of the "F" series of cameras, not the last film camera. I'd be very surprised, though, to see any new film cameras from any of the big players anywhere other than the bottom end.

 

[Dave Parker]

They told us at PMA this year, that the F6 would be the last Pro film camera, and they were still going to produce consumer series cameras for a while longer.

Dave Parker
Ground Glass Specialties

 

[Mongo]

Interesting Dave...thanks for the info. I wonder what they consider a "consumer series" camera. Would the FE2 or FM2N have been considered "consumer series" cameras? Nikon made some fantastic cameras over the years that weren't in the F series but that were a lot more than generic consumer cameras.

I'd be willing to bet that an unlikely resurgence in film would chane their minds over time. Given the way the world seems to be headed, it seems likely that the only new film cameras we'll see are those produced to bring down production costs, not to introduce any interesting features.

 

[Graeme Hird]

I wouldn't be so quick to give up on film cameras just yet.

Many pros who went digital are returning to film after they found out no-one wants to pay them for time spent proofing on the computer. Shooting film allows them to spend their own time doing what they do best - operate a camera and speak with their clients.

It'll never get back to the levels it was at 4 years ago, but film will still be used for many years yet. Don't give up on it.

 

[Stan. L-B]

I am still waiting for a real improvement on my old F3s (C. l970)

The Digital marketing ploy fails to mention the fact that digital cameras and other like instruments deterioate rapidly with age. If this fact were better known the commercial
marketing firms for digital cameras would go into free fall!

My faith in film is not shaken.

 

[Woolliscroft]

The Digital marketing ploy fails to mention the fact that digital cameras and other like instruments deterioate rapidly with age. If this fact were better known the commercial marketing firms for digital cameras would go into free fall!

The cameras also have virtually no 2nd hand value.

David.

 

[Art Vandalay]

I am still waiting for a real improvement on my old F3s (C. l970)

The Digital marketing ploy fails to mention the fact that digital cameras and other like instruments deterioate rapidly with age. If this fact were better known the commercial
marketing firms for digital cameras would go into free fall!

My faith in film is not shaken.

From what I've seen on sites that allow digital images, the 'equipment used' section rarely has a digital more than a couple of years old. Since digitals were forever seeking to be 'photo quality' the users often buy newer models with increased storage/resolution. If you want to keep on the leading edge of this race you have to put out a considerable amount of money - which seems to be lost on those who use the argument that they don't have to pay for film and processing.

 

[Jeremy]

If you want to keep on the leading edge of this race you have to put out a considerable amount of money - which seems to be lost on those who use the argument that they don't have to pay for film and processing.

Who says you have to be on the leading edge? My mother wanted a small camera that could make 5x7" prints (at the largest) and wanted to easily email them to the family. I suggested a 4 megapixel camera and she's been very happy shooting with it ever since: this was 2 years ago and the camera was a year old at the time she got it. She won't be upgrading any time soon. I think most of the people that keep having to buy the newest digital cameras are amateurs with too much money and not enough talent (i.e. they think that if they have a better camera then their pictures will be better). They read too much popular photography and luminous-landscape.com. I know of many newspaper photogs that still use the original Nikon D1 and D1H who say they won't upgrade until the shutter assembly dies.

 

[rbarker]

Although discussions of this topic probably have some positive cardio-vascular benefit, they usually seem to swirl around the same drain. Constrained to the brevity imposed by the style of Web communication, we usually seem to ignore, or gloss over, the fact that there are numerous complex market and technological dynamics at play, each of which affects reality in a slightly different manner.

The F6: I haven't studied its specs in detail, but it does seem to have several improvements over the F5, such as improved metering. Whether those are sufficient to motivate an F5 owner to "upgrade" (actually, to create another level of backup camera) is probably an individual choice. But, having that choice is probably a good thing. Personally, I'm sticking with my F5 (and F4s backup) for now.

Digi-frenzy: It seems to me that the ability to rapidly turn over camera models at the consumer and pro-sumer level has, in part, solved a revenue-stream problem for manufacturers selling into an already well-saturated market. Instead of getting to sell the person a new camera every 10, 15, or 20 years, they get to sell a new one every 12-18 months. Sometimes less. Duty cycles seem to have been substantially reduced with many of the pro-sumer models. Additionally, many of these cameras seem to suffer from the rush to market. Several cutting-edge Canon users I know have run into significant bugs that should have been resolved before the camera was released. I'd love to see Nikon or Canon come out with a high-end digital SLR that provided user-upgradeable sensors and user-replaceable feature modules. After all, it's just electronics and firmware. I'm not holding my breath, however.

At the professional level, I agree with Graeme - it's an uphill battle to get paid for post-production effort required by a digital workflow. With film, that work is done by a magazine's art department after scanning the film. If the magazine is successful in imposing a digital-or-nothing requirement, however, they succeed in shifting that expense to the photographer, who is often already working on thin, or non-existent margins. As a photographer, do I want to pay $9/hr to an E-6 lab tech, or $25-$35/hr for a Photoshop-wiz assistant? Hmmm. Let me think about that one.

That is not to say that digital workflow doesn't have its advantages in professional situations, of course. Quick turnaround in news situations, and immediate sign-off for catalog work are two good examples.

 

[Art Vandalay]

I think most of the people that keep having to buy the newest digital cameras are amateurs with too much money and not enough talent (i.e. they think that if they have a better camera then their pictures will be better). They read too much popular photography and luminous-landscape.com.

They're basically the same people who ran out and bought the newest film cameras when they came out. The type of cameras with many bells and whistles. The only difference is that now is that they are also chasing higher capacity, as well as metering etc. etc.

 

[Fintan]

Its either a very brave, very clever or very stupid move by Nikon.

IMHO its very clever, there will be a swing back to film in the not too distant future. Once everyone has a 5mp camera on their phone, people will look for something different. I read in a fashion magazine a review for a polaroid instant camera, the bottom line was to be original not follow the masses into digital. A camera store owner told me today that yesterday a kid traded in a 5mp Canon Powershot for a Contax 645 and he thinks the tide might turn yet.
I mean flares and sideburns came back in fashion, film will too.

 

[sparx]

I think most of the people that keep having to buy the newest digital cameras are amateurs with too much money and not enough talent (i.e. they think that if they have a better camera then their pictures will be better). They read too much popular photography and luminous-landscape.com.

Add Photography Monthly and you've just described most of the members of my local camera club. As a great example we already have 2 20D users and our resident pro still gets by with his D60.

 

[sparx]

I mean flares and sideburns came back in fashion, film will too.

What do you mean 'came back into fashion'. They never went away baby yeeah.

 

[Fintan]

What do you mean 'came back into fashion'. They never went away baby yeeah.

Do post your pics, I need cheering up this dark monday morning back in the "day job"

 

[BarrieB]

Despite the increase in digital camera sales there are many, many fine Film Cameras out there and most of their owners will shoot film with them for many years to come. Film variety may be reduced but film will still be made and sold as long as photographers still choose to use film.