The end of film cameras

spacer · Jun 22, 2011

holmburgers said:
Well by the time all the parts are gone, 3D printers will be of a quality that we can just make the parts by ourself on our desktops.

http://www.makerbot.com/blog/tag/3d-printer/

That'll be the beginning of a whole new economy, there. When you can create your own repair parts in-home, or even a whole camera kit, I think it'll go in many interesting and diverse ways... if it's allowed to.

holmburgers · Jun 22, 2011

spacer said:
That'll be the beginning of a whole new economy, there. When you can create your own repair parts in-home, or even a whole camera kit, I think it'll go in many interesting and diverse ways... if it's allowed to.

You're right, it could be amazing.

Imagine a forum like this devoted to these "rapid protypers", or maybe in the future they'll go beyond "prototypes".

Someone designs a new camera and sends you the files, you print out the parts and you discuss assembly techniques, improvements to the design, etc.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 22, 2011

They are printing metal parts also but took lots of time , F22 prototype titanium core takes months to complete. But inkjet printing of metal powders with a binder and sintering in a furnace produces thousands of small watch gears for couple of hundreds and take one day time.

Chris , You are right , this technology and cad softwares will make 1924 Leica by reach everyone.

left handed materials are coming and hundred times sharper pictures will be at reach at 20 years time.

Laser sintering of glass labs will produce our traditional Leica lenses also.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 22, 2011

I wanted to order Leica S2 body with rp and they said cost 500 dollars , still so slow , weak and expensive.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 22, 2011

I think casting a real hologram in to the photopolymer and get your finished product is most wild technology.

spacer · Jun 22, 2011

That, with the ability to produce good film, would completely obliterate the problem with relying on mass production. Huzzah!

holmburgers said:
You're right, it could be amazing.

Imagine a forum like this devoted to these "rapid protypers", or maybe in the future they'll go beyond "prototypes".

Someone designs a new camera and sends you the files, you print out the parts and you discuss assembly techniques, improvements to the design, etc.

holmburgers · Jun 22, 2011

Michael R 1974 said:
That's great if your hobby is pretending to make film that is at best terrible.

As my mom would've said... "well not with that attitude!"

Chan Tran · Jun 22, 2011

There is a very good chance that I will be death before I run out of 35mm camera to use. I am not so sure about film though.
In the event that all of my film camera go dead and there is none available then I would simply buy a digital camera. My concern is that I may have a bunch of perfectly functioning cameras with no film.

hpulley · Jun 22, 2011

Aristophanes said:
Because Nikon won't make a money-losing camera with an antiquated flip-up mirror in 80 years. And a mechanical shutter. Etc.

Maybe micro-manufacturing on all this sunk cost IP will save the day. Hard to say. To mass produce you need a mass market.

I didn't mean they'd manufacture 1990 cameras in 2090. I meant you'll still be able to buy them, used... or perhaps replicate them As long as they are 100% mechanical cameras I bet they'll still work. Battery operated ones, perhaps not... unless you can replicate those too

Edit: I see with the 3D creator comments I'm very late to the party on 'replicators'.

Photo Engineer · Jun 22, 2011

I am not predicting the "death" of film or camera making, just predicting what will happen if these things do vanish from the open market. I also can add that we can make production quality materials at home. After all, fine art printers make better than production quality prints at home!

PE

removed account4 · Jun 22, 2011

blockend said:
A few weeks ago I spoke to someone who'd worked for Kodak for many years. I gave him the party line about film being here to stay and could see he was humouring me. His opinion was unequivocally that it's in its death throes. Take that how you will.

that is obvious ...
it has been like this for a while
and isn't getting much better ...
it won't be long before the hobbyist photographer
will be like a hobbyist in the 1880s ...
the only thing is we won't all be wearing bowler hats,
hoop skirts and riding velocipedes.

tomalophicon · Jun 22, 2011

I'm too lazy to read the whole 7 pages:

There are loads of film cameras still being made. I read somewhere that there were no less than 7 manufacturers still making large format gear.
And don't forget Mamiya and Hasselblad. I even heard that Nikon still makes their F6 when necessary.

j-dogg · Jun 22, 2011

Everyone in this thread got trolled.

ntenny · Jun 22, 2011

jnanian said:
it won't be long before the hobbyist photographer
will be like a hobbyist in the 1880s ...
the only thing is we won't all be wearing bowler hats,
hoop skirts and riding velocipedes.

At least, not all three at once!

-NT

stavrosk · Jun 22, 2011

Nikon still makes two film cameras, the F6 and the FM10

tomalophicon · Jun 22, 2011

They don't make the FM10. They just put their name on it.

tomalophicon · Jun 22, 2011

j-dogg said:
Everyone in this thread got trolled.

Mate go back to the WoW fora

removed account4 · Jun 22, 2011

ntenny said:
At least, not all three at once!

-NT

exactly !

ic-racer · Jun 22, 2011

anm said:
I may be wrong, but other than Leica, Voightlander and Lomo, there are no film camera manufacturs out there, certainly none mass produced.

Shen-Hao, Ebony, Tachihara, Chamonix, Rolleiflex, Nikon, Arca Swiss, Linhof, Fuji, Hasselblad, Horseman, Mamiya to name a few.

tomalophicon · Jun 22, 2011

Cambo, Toyo, Gaoersi, Dayi, and Kodak and Fuji still have disposable cameras.

Steve Smith · Jun 22, 2011

jnanian said:
the only thing is we won't all be wearing bowler hats,
hoop skirts and riding velocipedes.

You speak for yourself!

Steve.

Steve Smith · Jun 22, 2011

c6h6o3 said:
The problem will not be finding the expertise, but will be finding the parts.

Parts don't have to be sourced from the original manufacturer. They can be made. It's what clock and watch makers/repairers do.

Steve.

fstop · Jun 22, 2011

anm said:
I'm 'only' 37. I know there are tank like indestructable things that will be around forever, and there are cheap plastic things still being made, but the middle ground of affordable, good quality cameras seems to be the weak point, maybe there's an opportunity there for a camera manufacturer to step in.

I've been saying that for a while. All you need to do is pick the best seller from Minolta,Nikon or Canon and make them, they will sell even at a higher price necessary for lower volume production.

Photo Engineer · Jun 22, 2011

Michael R 1974 said:
How is making a fine print comparable to making the materials we use? It is one thing to coat paper (not that I believe for one minute it would ever be as good as a top quality commercial product). Entirely another to make film. How can someone at home, even with all the skill in the world, possibly make a film like TMAX 100 for example? I must really be missing your point or something...

It all comes down to craftsmanship! It does work. Anyone can paint a picture, but then there was Leonardo Da Vinci and others who did it better. Using a brush, I can paint emulsion onto a support with concomitant brush strokes or I can learn to coat it with high quality using other methods. The same argument holds for making fine quality prints. A photofinisher is a lower standard than a high end artist.

PE

spacer · Jun 23, 2011

If we're at the point where we can 3D print camera components, I'd hope that someone, somewhere, will have worked out a way to "print" emulsion onto cellulose
on demand. Of course, as with film in the past, it might be a simple B&W formulation applied with a laserjet-type machine... but no technology ever starts out mature.

The end of film cameras

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