The comeback?

marcofimages

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Is film photography coming back? Do you have any story to share? Either positive or negative?
This thread is meant to collect some anecdotal evidence on the subject. Please feel free to contribute with any personal story of "feeling" about the topic. I would love to hear about that.
Marco
 

Eric Rose

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For the ardent film types it never left. For those that started out on digital it's a new thing and seems to be gaining some traction. For those of us that dumped film for digital are sticking their toes back in because they miss it. And then there is those that have never done anything more than a cellphone pic that want something different. Which one are you? I take that back, it seems you have some large format vids up. I will have to check them out.

There is a large selection of film products available these days. While your local drug store might not carry it anymore there are dedicated camera stores who still stock it and of course lots of online availability.
 

Cholentpot

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Are fountain pens, typewriters and vinyl records making a comeback?
 

Arklatexian

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It must be coming back. The local Digital folks have almost all learned that "yes film is still being manufactured in spite of what you had been told". I've been in photography for 77 years and there seems to be more B&W films being made now than at anytime in my lifetime. Maybe that is because it is more of a world market now, when before it was, in the USA, Kodak, Agfa/Ansco, DuPont, maybe Gevaert (sp) and later Ferrania, 3M. Mostly the first two. At the end of WW2, Dupont came out with a paper that used "filters" instead of grades called Varigam followed by a warmer-toned Varilour. ......Regards!
 

awty

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Its great that so many professional photographers sell off there old obsolete equipment for a fraction of what they originally cost.
I just never got into digital. I bought a cd player and a few cd's but only used them when my record player broke, ten years later I fixed the record player and now I have 3 and no cd player. Film is a bit the same, bought a digital camera, but hardly used it, dusted the old nikon fg20 off after sitting in the cupboard for ten years and cant stop taking pictures. Digital is predictable and boring.
 

Nodda Duma

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I never stopped shooting film. Annoyingly, second hand film and paper are more expensive now.

Arklatexian said:
Yes, everything except for the typewriters and they might if we could find someone to work on them.....Regards!
Click to expand...

My kids each have a typewriter. The newest dates from 1950!
 

MattKing

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keenmaster486

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Arklatexian said:
Yes, everything except for the typewriters and they might if we could find someone to work on them.....Regards!
Click to expand...
I learned to type on typewriters, and now here in college I couldn't help myself. I have two.
 

Film-Niko

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Agulliver

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There is something of a resurgence. Film will never be mainstream like it was 20+ years ago, because of the ease and economy of digital. But I noticed a couple of years ago that the prices of second hand gear and even expired film have skyrocketed. I see more people out in the wild shooting film. Just yesterday I was messaged by my wife who was in a coffee shop in West London, to tell me a professional photographer was in the shop taking photos on a 50s Hasselblad. When I go to a mainstream store that still stocks film, and buy some film, I am no longer looked at like I'm some sort of space alien or Luddite.

It remains to be seen if the extent is going to match that of the vinyl record resurgence.....as someone who realised very quickly that the CD couldn't hold a candle to vinyl I lived through the "wilderness years" to witness a situation in 2018 where I can walk into the freakin' supermarket and buy a fair selection of the latest releases and classic albums on vinyl. The situation has gone from major artists not issuing records or issuing a few thousand "limited edition" to the records being on the shelf at the supermarket or the re-opened record store and at a price which (accounting for inflation) is similar to the mid 80s. Quite remarkable, and repeated wherever I have traveled. Stories such as Sony restarting vinyl production in Japan after a 30 year hiatus, brand new record presses being designed and manufactured to cope with demand....new pressing plants opening for the same reason....and the year on year increases in sales have been happening for around a decade now.

Film isn't there yet, it's still the preserve of specialst shops and online retailers. The last high street store to stock film in the UK is Boots and they are expensive, but welcome. The day I see a roll of even something simple such as Kodak Colorplus or Fuji Superia back on the supermarket shelf...then I'll feel the comeback is complete.

But for now, it's nice not to be accused of being a pervert just for taking a "proper" camera to the beach. Nice not to be looked at like some madman for having a film camera out in public. Nice to be approached and asked about my gear, and asked advice on which film cameras a newbie or returnee should buy.
 

blockend

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The Lomography thing kept film photography alive in popular consciousness. Overpriced FSU cameras and plastic gimmick boxes seem to have waned as the company became a mainstream player. It's hard to envisage new film camera production beyond Leica in the foreseeable future, there's too much quality equipment at bargain basement prices. Instant cameras are the exception, the thrall of a print in your hand quickly still has market value.

As digital photography becomes almost exclusively screen based, a gap in the paper print sector is clearer. I can certainly see 1 hour labs making a return in cities, and hand printing coming back in numbers.
 

guangong

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In grade school we were taught to use pen and ink. Early ball points were forbidden because they were messy. Basically lazy, I stayed with pen and ink because works flow onto paper without need to press, pen is just faster and easier. As for computer vs typewriter, I wright in longhand but no longer need typist since I can dictate using Dragon.
As for photography, an old friend working at B&H tells me there is a growing demand for cameras.
As for professionals dumping equipment, I bought a whole collection of Schneider lenses for my Arri for a song.
Digital has its place, but it’s ephemeral, negatives and film are almost forever.
 

blockend

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Agulliver said:
The day I see a roll of even something simple such as Kodak Colorplus or Fuji Superia back on the supermarket shelf...then I'll feel the comeback is complete.
Click to expand...
Like vinyl, film photography's absence may prove fleeting. Asda still had in store C41 processing 18 months ago, and some UK supermarkets carried film until 2010 or later. It's something people didn't appreciate until it was almost gone, and most record and film camera shops who hung on couldn't survive long enough to see the revival. The scale of the demand is too low to support high street business, but big enough for online and market traders. The biggest barrier is the production of new wet processing and silver print machines.
 

Film-Niko

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blockend said:
The biggest barrier is the production of new wet processing and silver print machines.
Click to expand...

No, this isn't a barrier at all. Because Noritsu, Fujifilm, Hostert and Colenta are producing these machines. You can buy them brand new if you need one. And there are companies which have specialised in refurbishing machines from Agfa, Noritsu, Fujifilm and so on. So you can also get "like brand new" machines for lower prices.
 

Ste_S

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I do wonder if we're on the downward curve (again) for film now

A few years back Kodak had just bounced back from bankruptcy and had an injection of cash from Hollywood. Fuji was still knocking out film. There seemed like a new kickstarter every day for cameras and film. The second hand market was awash with cheap film cameras.

Now ? Kodak look precarious again. Fuji is killing off film stocks. Most of the Kickstarters failed. The second hand market is considerably more expensive.
I kind of get the feeling it's going to take something big to turn it around again.
 

RalphLambrecht

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there are some folks who have invested a ton of time ,experience and effort in learning analog photography. they can't stand the thought of it disappearing and their wishful thinking claims the renaissance of film photography. the truth is: it's as good as dead and only a niece market know-nothing wrong with that but ,it's time to forget about it and get onto the digital train before it leaves the station.
 

Film-Niko

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Ste_S said:
I do wonder if we're on the downward curve (again) for film now
Click to expand...

No, because if you ask the film manufacturers, photo chemical manufacturers and labs they will tell you demand is increasing again in lots of the major markets.
That is why Kodak and Fujifilm are intriducing new products, that is why Adox and Film Ferrania are building new factories, that is why worldwide new labs and film photo shops start.

Ste_S said:
Now ? Kodak look precarious again.
Fuji is killing off film stocks.
Click to expand...

Kodak's problems are not in their film segment, but in other business segments.
Fujifilm has recently introduced new 3-Packs for C200 and Superia X-Tra 400 for the NA market. And are permanently bringing new Instax film products and new RA-4 products to the market.

Ste_S said:
Most of the Kickstarters failed.
Click to expand...

Wrong. Most of the film related Kickstarters in the last years were successful. Just recently two new LF camera KS projetcts were successful, and one with a film magazine. Only very few failed, and then because of good reasons, like the "Elbaflex" nonsense.

Ste_S said:
The second hand market is considerably more expensive.
Click to expand...
Yes, because of increasing demand for film cameras. Another sign for the revival.
 

removed account4

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no clue if it is a revival / come back
but its still around and never really went away
kind of like crabgrass ...
i try not to pay attention to all the hype
cause usually its just marketing BS
for a world that has like a 3 second attention span.
trick is to just do what you want and not listen to the white noise
even if the big companies go belly up and the little companies go belly up
there will still be people coating plates or paper, and making emulsion or doing wet plates or cyanotypes
or whatever ...
 

Film-Niko

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It's just the other way round:
People who invested thousands of dollars in digital gear because they believed in the "film is dead" propaganda, can't stand the fact that film has not dissappeard, and is now gaining interest again.
Their "wishful thinking" it that film has no future, because then they can justify for themselves that they have paid so much for digital gear.

Fact is that the market for digital cameras has collapsed by 85% in the last years. Lots of digital OEM camera manufacturers had to stop production, and even the first big player (Samsung) left the digital camera market.
And instant film is now a huge mass volume market again, being much much bigger than the market for DSLM / MILC cameras. The MILC market was about 4.1 million units in 2017, the market for instant film cameras was more than 7 million cameras (!!!) in 2017.

The "film is dead" prayers only demonstrate their lack of knowledge of the current photography market developments.
 

blockend

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I read that companies had abandoned processing because Fuji, which were the most popular in store quick lab machines, were no longer making them and parts and servicing weren't available.
 

Cholentpot

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blockend said:
I read that companies had abandoned processing because Fuji, which were the most popular in store quick lab machines, were no longer making them and parts and servicing weren't available.
Click to expand...

Local place stopped processing E-6 because a part broke and fuji stopped supporting the machine.
 

removed account4

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not really sure where you are coming from
there are plenty of people that used a digital camera because they wanted to
not because they believed any film is dead propaganda .. i know dozens and dozens
maybe even hundreds of people. it has had nothing to do with propaganda why the majority of
people bought and use a digital camera .. has had to do with convenience and ease and the ez fact that
a cellphone camera is probably as good as any 35mm camera ever was. sorry ...
and it is easy to make a cellphone snappie look like anything you want from a kodachrome to a PTPD print .to a wet plate..
and no processing is needed... and it takes about 2 mins. ( maybe less )
what ralph said is pretty much true for most people except the niche market folks which we pretty much are.
the lions share of people on this planet who used film and switched to digital cause its fun and easy really aren't
going back to film ... for the average person who isnt' involved with a darkroom in their basement
there are few places left to develop film whether it is black and white or color. nearly all the processing infrastructure
was dismantled and if you talk to someone like fuji labs they used to have like 4 or 5 labs in north america and now
i think they have 1. while i guess a lot of people are guzzling the koolaid that there is some sort of massive
film surge ... its a blip on the radar i think .. and while i love using film and paper and coating my own and everyting else
i dont' believe for a new york minute that there is going to be some massive surge and all the pro labs ( or even 1/10 of them ) will
re-open that kodak will start mail in processing again ( even for their new e6 flm ) that mom and pops will be popping up like
coffee shops in the 1990s .. its nice to think so but i doubt its going to happen ..
and if you use the vinyl record analogy .. an album that cost 1.99 new in 1980 costs $27 now .. i don't think that if
film ( includingprocessing ) costs go up to 100$ a roll anyone's gonna buy it...
 
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