The photographers who refuse to abandon traditional film cameras

[braxus]

The only thing that will slow down the resurgence of film users (new and old), will be the labs out there that can still develop the stuff. Labs are closing down like crazy due to lack of demand for them. Sure you can develop at home, but some 20 year old with a Lomo type camera or dads old 35mm, he won't want to develop it himself. Only option is to mail order the film, but I wonder how many will bother to do that, then just give up on using it when their local outfit is no longer available?

 

[Bob Carnie]

This is very true... I have been a lab owner processing BW film now for 24years in Toronto.. In the early 90's we were processing and contacting 200 rolls per day , my partner and I worked two shifts to manage this... talk about a dream business.

Today 24 years later we still offer film processing at the exact basic same price structure - some increases due to inflation- I would say on average per month we are processing 30 rolls.. that's per month and that is in a very large city.. I am actually thinking of taking film processing off my price list as it is so irrelevant to today's market.
Those clients of mine who still shoot film know I purchased the new Jobo , basically for my own film production. Think about it - keeping a show open with no audience..

Mail order film is not in my future- too many unpredictable variables - one unsatisfied customer and from afar my business is trashed - no thanks I will leave that to others to deal with.

The only thing that will slow down the resurgence of film users (new and old), will be the labs out there that can still develop the stuff. Labs are closing down like crazy due to lack of demand for them. Sure you can develop at home, but some 20 year old with a Lomo type camera or dads old 35mm, he won't want to develop it himself. Only option is to mail order the film, but I wonder how many will bother to do that, then just give up on using it when their local outfit is no longer available?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Ernst Hass on the subject...

"There are black and white snobs, as well as colour snobs. Because of their inability to use both well, they act on the defensive and create camps. We should never judge a photographer by what film (or digital media) he uses- only by how he uses it."

I reserve the right to judge photographers that use film. Those that do not are not work viewing or judging. So Ernst Hass can take a long hike off a short pier!

 

[Element 6]

From the article:

These old cameras can disarm people and can be the starting point for some great portraits. There's something more friendly about film cameras, even quaint, and I try and make that work for me.

I know I feel the same way. I would pose for a film camera over, say an IPhone, for the sole reason I know the probability my film photo image has less likelihood of being plastered all over social media. When I see a camera in public my first reaction is to wonder what they will do with the photo. A film camera seems to temper the assumption the photo snap will be used for some unflattering purpose and make me believe it is for artistic reasons.

 

[gleaf]

Interesting mental process in the BBC clan. If they applied the same complication based value factor to their studio video cameras... Well how very outmoded when they can do it with a iPad for hundreds not thousands of pounds sterling or Euros if you should chose. So very interesting the concepts that befuddle folks while they use technology where all of the complexity hides inside the little magic box with the virtual button.

 

[cmacd123]

Interesting mental process in the BBC clan. If they applied the same complication based value factor to their studio video cameras... Well how very outmoded when they can do it with a iPad for hundreds not thousands of pounds sterling or Euros if you should chose.

That is the very issue with folks who use profesional film Cameras are driven by

An I-pad is NOT the equivalent of a Professional Video camera for many reasons, even if a Cell Phone style camera CAN generate useable HD video. Control of Focus, Control of Compression, Control of Depth of Field, Control of exposure and colour balance are all quite lacking in the 100 Dollar Camera. In fact providing those controls would likely make the Camera a befuddling mess for the intended user.

A Minolta X370 is not a canon digital rebel. One takes much more thought to use.

 

[moose10101]

A Minolta X370 is not a canon digital rebel. One takes much more thought to use.

They take the same amount of thought to use well.

 

[FoidPoosening]

Really awesome to see articles like this. Those images within the article are proof that analog can still rival or exceed digital in various use cases.

 

[Cropline]

It has taken a while for the wheel to turn full circle, but film is cool again. It is the material of choice for many, and it is testament to it's value as a medium, that people young and old are converting to film from digital and liking it ! I never took the digital route, as I saw film as a mature technology. Buy cheap film cameras while you can, as the price will start to climb again. I fully intend to "collect" a few more Pro Nikon bodies while I can. They are great to own, and seem to have soul and personality, where digital cameras do not.

I have both and but started w/film and refuse to give it up. Digital is like knowing what your present is on Christmas day rather than
experiencing the revelation of the gift at the appointed time. I guess everyone has their own take and that's mine.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I never took the digital route, as I saw film as a mature technology.

Great mind think alike.

 

[bobwysiwyg]

The only thing that will slow down the resurgence of film users (new and old), will be the labs out there that can still develop the stuff. Labs are closing down like crazy due to lack of demand for them. Sure you can develop at home, but some 20 year old with a Lomo type camera or dads old 35mm, he won't want to develop it himself. Only option is to mail order the film, but I wonder how many will bother to do that, then just give up on using it when their local outfit is no longer available?

Reminds me of a recent NPR segment about the "resurrection" of vinyl records. No, digital is still king but the demand for vinyl has increased to the point where the few pressing operations that remain are running 24/7 and there are issues finding parts for the old pressing machinery.

 

[Xmas]

While sales may be up from 10 years ago, they are not a patch on sales from 20 years ago... Before blaming companies business practices, lets not lose sight of the facts.

If you read Kodaks accounts the legacy profit drops every quarter...
Fuji have only one mono left and are dumping Agfa vista at close to factory prices...
LeverKursen Agfa was available till fall 13...
Labs are still disappearing...
Photo shops that remain only a few do film cams or film or paper.
Impossible and the Fuji instant cams are the only product that have expanded from zero to many shops and many users.

 

[ScottPhoto.co]

I love film. Here is an article posted on Film Shooters Collective looking at film formats and why I love them.

Dead Link Removed


Tim
www.ScottPhoto.co

 

[AgX]

But he's part of a growing wave of photography enthusiasts who remain committed to the old technology.

Well, that tide has not reached my place...

Furthermore, how can something grow out of people sticking to something?
That is not logical. The author should be more careful with his wording.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Film users number is small. Labs are closing. Only few stores offering film.
BBC article is naive. The reason why dude is selling more film now is simple. It is not because growing popularity. But because no one else is selling film. Comparing to ten years ago.
Current reality is in abandoning of digital cameras. Mobile phones and are new reality.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I love film. Here is an article posted on Film Shooters Collective looking at film formats and why I love them.

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Tim
Dead Link Removed

Thank you, I enjoyed that.

 

[Xmas]

Film users number is small. Labs are closing. Only few stores offering film.
BBC article is naive. The reason why dude is selling more film now is simple. It is not because growing popularity. But because no one else is selling film. Comparing to ten years ago.
Current reality is in abandoning of digital cameras. Mobile phones and are new reality.

Lots of BBC progs are poor.
Kodak are making less film.
Fuji ditto.
Labs are closing.
Dig cameras are still selling for replacement and new users.
Everyone has a camera phone well ok >99.97%
Even monkeys are taking selfies.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Lots of BBC progs are poor.
Kodak are making less film.
Fuji ditto.
Labs are closing.
Dig cameras are still selling for replacement and new users.
Everyone has a camera phone well ok >99.97%
Even monkeys are taking selfies.

Yes and the monkeys are doing a much better job than the humans!

 

[Ai Print]

After a conversation in person on Thursday it came to my attention that Englewood Camera in Denver has seen a steady rise in film sales and color processing in the past few years.

The local college I am an advisory board member of had a 6 enlarger station darkroom but dismantled it in 09. With a new high profile underwriter and due to the sharp rise in popularity of film related classes at the college, they now have a 24 enlarger station darkroom with a side room for Alt process and I am helping them create a mural enlarging room.

From where I am standing I see a wonderful new future for the niche of film, at least in black and white.

 

[analoguey]

Well, Ilford till recently had no distributor in India, it now does - as of this week, I think.
Although its the same person that Foma and Kaiser use, still good to see they're expanding.
Dont compare demand to peak film demands, we probably won't that that again.

 

[Ricardo Miranda]

BBC article is naive. The reason why dude is selling more film now is simple. It is not because growing popularity. But because no one else is selling film. Comparing to ten years ago.

The BBC article was written for the average British man in the street, for Joe Bloggs.
The author is, like you and me, an amateur photogrpaher.
He might not be known on this board, but he is known on Flickr, especially the Film Podcast Project and "I shoot film" groups.
In fact he asked for opinions and suggestions to those groups before writing that article and others. See this one about Kodak Brownies: https://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157647371730423/
And here: https://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157652043511895/

He has a nice website: Dead Link Removed
And he has written a series of articles in collaboration with "FilmsNotDead": http://www.filmsnotdead.com/category/52-photo-tips/

Yes, the places that sell film have been reduced.
In the UK we "lost" 2 large chains of photographic shops: Jessops and Jacobs. While Jessops still trades online and has a reduced number of shops, Jacobs went to never be seen again.
But, there are still chemists and pharmacies, and shops that still develop or can send away film to be developed.
Snappy Snaps is a chain of photo labs that still goes on. Boots, as you can see in another thread still goes on.

And the man in the article is from the "West End Cameras" that has been on the same location for a long time. And around him there are at least 3 or 4 other shops that sell film: Aperture, Calumet, Camera World and professional labs like Bayeux and Metro Imaging are close by.
Oh, and I was forgetting the special "Leica Dealers".

10 years ago, West End Cameras didn't sell as much film as now or at least they didn't display the range they have now. As an example, I don't remember to have seen Foma films there in the past. Now he sells them.

 

[kuparikettu]

In the olden days, everyone doing photography had to shoot film.
Then came digital, and there was a Choice.
For many people, however, it wasn't a real choice: digital cameras were expensive and required new knowledge.
The group for which digital wasn't a real choice has gotten smaller and smaller: either due to cheaper cameras (phones) or due to old not so tech savvy people dying.
Mainstream film is becoming extinct. Mainstream film sales are drying up.
But at the same time Film the Choice has entered the stage.
And I argue that those sales aren't drying up. On the contrary.

The problem is of course that we can only see film sales as a whole. Thus at the same time it is true that film is thriving and that it is dying. More labs will close down, some film manufacturers might cease their operations but at the same time new film business better oriented to live as a Choice is emerging.

I myself do hope to see great late generation color (neg&pos) films in that emerging future. However, if that's not to happen and we'll only have somewhat grainier Ferrania transparencies, well -- one more good reason to shoot LF then, eh?

 

[Prest_400]

In the olden days, everyone doing photography had to shoot film.
Then came digital, and there was a Choice.
For many people, however, it wasn't a real choice: digital cameras were expensive and required new knowledge.
The group for which digital wasn't a real choice has gotten smaller and smaller: either due to cheaper cameras (phones) or due to old not so tech savvy people dying.
Mainstream film is becoming extinct. Mainstream film sales are drying up.
But at the same time Film the Choice has entered the stage.
And I argue that those sales aren't drying up. On the contrary.

The problem is of course that we can only see film sales as a whole. Thus at the same time it is true that film is thriving and that it is dying. More labs will close down, some film manufacturers might cease their operations but at the same time new film business better oriented to live as a Choice is emerging.

I myself do hope to see great late generation color (neg&pos) films in that emerging future. However, if that's not to happen and we'll only have somewhat grainier Ferrania transparencies, well -- one more good reason to shoot LF then, eh?

I am one of those who wasn't convinced by digital at first, I don't regret my decision.
7 years ago (!) as a teenager DSLRs were nice but the price was quite steep to me and I disliked the obsolescence cycle they have.
Well, turn out I did a good decision as the 4/3 olympus DSLR system is all but alive, my OM-1 has become a great reliable companion, and at the end I was lucky to get a good deal on a mirrorless camera to use.

There are some new labs opening, with a very specific focus on this new age of film shooters.
I will be for the long run (at least alive I hope) and will see what will happen as time goes on...

 

[Ai Print]

Meanwhile, in other news.....

Dead Link Removed

http://fojo.me

The future looks as bright as an enlarger bulb.....