I assume you are talking about black and white, right? What if Ilford only made the two Delta's, FP4 and HP5 but kept it in 35, 120 and LF and still did ULF runs, would that not be enough?
All I really need is one film because I make the photograph happen, not having a picnic basket full of two dozen kinds of films. Some of the best black and white shooters in the world use 1-2 different emulsions....just something to think about...
In some ways, yes that would be enough and in others, no ... not really. I know that one of the things I enjoy about film is how it is challenging. I see the wisdom, and benefit by the practice of knowing your materials on the one hand but also love the tinkering with new emulsions, new developer and new look - whether is works well or not. That is so much of why I like film still. I often kicks my butt ... but then slowly I learn and improve. I'm not in it just for the results. More like the journey, really.
But think how much we would lose if there were only a few emulsions. We would loose certain possibilities and also I think that we lose people along the way each time something is discontinued. As we lose shooters .... less consumption and higher prices. For instance as Efke was making the decision to get out I was about to buy two hundred rolls of its iso 25 film in both 35 and 120 and stock up on a ton of its silver rich fixed grade paper for lith. That week they announced and I changed plans. I don't want to watch a dwindling freezer as experience leads me to love a particular film or paper more and more. No ... I'm no in need of that kind of suffering!
Personally I use 3 Nikon F3hp's for when we go on one of our by-monthly photo trips and I sometime use the 35 the whole time and sometimes when we walk around a city. I keep arista premium (plus-x) @iso 80 in one body, and sometimes switch to fomapan 100 or 200 for a different look. I keep arista premium 400 @ 320 for when the light changes in a second F3 and the same film at 1600 for diafine when needed. That way I can shoot fairly wide open in bright light all the way to the end of the day .... and it keeps me for reaching for my D3, and keeps me grinning.
We like to shoot garden cemeteries up and down the east coast. Mostly we use a Mamiya 645 MF and a Mamiya RZ. There are of course advantages and disadvantages to all systems and on the RZ for example the disadvantage is the 1/400th top speed and the fact that I don't see well enough to focus if I use more than a two stop ND. Iso 25 sure comes in handy on some days whereas iso 100 is fine the rest of the way. I love the look of the fomapan films, shooting old cemetery statues and angels. The look somehow fits, imho. But that film really sucks for night time shooting.
Well, I know that all the examples I've used are obvious ... so perhaps the reason that one film would never work for me is that I have not found one single passion for what I like to shoot, like some of you have .... my subject matter is all over the place. But that adds to the enjoyment of it for me. At this point I feel like that I am standing at the film buffet, faced pressed agains the glass, marveling at the wealth, pondering the delights, and salivating, and I can't wait to get at it, each and every film day.
When I imagine standing there ... looking at a equivalent of a cupcake and a loaf of bread, the same things I've eaten every day for the last year ... again - Well, the price hike on that RHDesign thing of beauty ... it's not bad at all. One film and one developer and no choice - now that IS what I dread! You may find me, then, at McDonalds eating digital