- Joined
- Jan 6, 2007
- Messages
- 16
- Format
- 35mm
With interest I read Matt5791's post on the spill over from digital photography to analog. I cannot but agree with his theory. In the light of this, I would like to bring up another theory here, which I call the self sustaining theory of analog photography.
More and more people these days are selling their "old" analog stuff in places like e-Bay either because they have switched to digital OR they do not use their gear anymore for whatever reason. They tell themselves it is better to sell then to throw it away because for some reason they realise the value of their stuff, be it emotional of financial. So what we see is that a lot of analog gear actually doesn't disappear from the market, it merely finds a new home and in most cases, is used again. Either by "new" photographers, by people who go back from digital to film or by people who never used digital and now want to take up their old passion again. Of course their is also stuff being literally thrown away but I would guess this is a small percentage.
In the digital world there is no such thing as self- sustainability, because nobody would buy a six year old DSLR, which is inferior in every way to the latest cheaper model. So what happens to this older digital gear? It is used till it is worn out and then thrown away (because repairing is more expensive then buying new). It is traded or sold with heavy losses because it is seen in the market as "old technology", or it just stays with its first owner who enjoys it but doesn't want to spend lots of $$$$ every few years to upgrade his stuff.
If you relate this to the " spill over"- theory that was mentioned earlier by Matt5791, you realize that the market for analog photography is not dead at all, unlike the stories that the big boys in cameraland want you to believe in order to sell you the latest greatest D-SLR. Why is quality analog- stuff changing owner everyday on e-bay? Why is the market for B&W photography becoming a specialized niche market with probably more different films available then ever before? Why do the old analog companies go belly up (AGFA, Polaroid) but come back in one way or another (under different names)? Why can the anlog market sustain itself and why can't digital do that?
We have experienced the rise of digital photography and are now more and more moving towards a market of co- existence in which analog is catching up but has always been there in the background anyway. It's just that it wasn't able to fight against the big digital monster that was winning the hearts of people who would previously not even touch a camera. I guess with time comes knowledge and we will see analog photography making a recovery that most people would not have thought possible.
More and more people these days are selling their "old" analog stuff in places like e-Bay either because they have switched to digital OR they do not use their gear anymore for whatever reason. They tell themselves it is better to sell then to throw it away because for some reason they realise the value of their stuff, be it emotional of financial. So what we see is that a lot of analog gear actually doesn't disappear from the market, it merely finds a new home and in most cases, is used again. Either by "new" photographers, by people who go back from digital to film or by people who never used digital and now want to take up their old passion again. Of course their is also stuff being literally thrown away but I would guess this is a small percentage.
In the digital world there is no such thing as self- sustainability, because nobody would buy a six year old DSLR, which is inferior in every way to the latest cheaper model. So what happens to this older digital gear? It is used till it is worn out and then thrown away (because repairing is more expensive then buying new). It is traded or sold with heavy losses because it is seen in the market as "old technology", or it just stays with its first owner who enjoys it but doesn't want to spend lots of $$$$ every few years to upgrade his stuff.
If you relate this to the " spill over"- theory that was mentioned earlier by Matt5791, you realize that the market for analog photography is not dead at all, unlike the stories that the big boys in cameraland want you to believe in order to sell you the latest greatest D-SLR. Why is quality analog- stuff changing owner everyday on e-bay? Why is the market for B&W photography becoming a specialized niche market with probably more different films available then ever before? Why do the old analog companies go belly up (AGFA, Polaroid) but come back in one way or another (under different names)? Why can the anlog market sustain itself and why can't digital do that?
We have experienced the rise of digital photography and are now more and more moving towards a market of co- existence in which analog is catching up but has always been there in the background anyway. It's just that it wasn't able to fight against the big digital monster that was winning the hearts of people who would previously not even touch a camera. I guess with time comes knowledge and we will see analog photography making a recovery that most people would not have thought possible.
