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When film is no longer available.

There are about 195 other countries then the USA, can't take the sheep herd behavior of Americans and extrapolatenit to the rest of the globe. There's enough demand to cause Jobo to start making processors again...
 
Those of us who want to shoot color may be SOL soon. Hopefully not TOO soon. :confused:
 
I think black and white film will still be available long after everyone here isn't.
 
...but at what date in the future will I not be able to buy 35mm or 120 film in colour or black & white? Any guesses?
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When gasoline powered cars and coal-fired power plants and all those other nasty things go away, I would start to get worried.
 
Very honestly, I don't see myself shooting the day there will be no film available, unless I find a way to make my own ones. I did try digital for some time but I don't connect to it.
 
Film will still be available when none of us are able to use it.

Vacuum tubes are still in production. They've not been used in new designs in over 50 years.

As long as there's demand, there will be supply.

It's incumbent upon us as consumers to drive the quality. If we insist on buying the cheapest stuff available, five or ten years hence that's all that will be available.

- Leigh
 
A very long time. The market has been stable for some time I believe. Heck, even colleges are using more film these days. It is not a consideration for me.
 
I just spent $160 on an amount of film that I could easily shoot up in one good session. Given that, I think it's more likely that film will become too expensive for my budget, than it will that film disappears. Which is a good thing, actually--better than disappearing entirely .
 
There might be a future in the 100' rolls which are offered by international suppliers, as the tendancy shows it. While most little retailers went for digital gears, some film suppliers have become the reference (B&H, Freestyle, Maco, etc.).
 
not sure when film won't be available,
it really doesn't matter much to me. there are
easy ways to achieve an image on paper or glass
that don't require modern film.

i probably shouldn't say this, but i am kind of looking forward
to when film is scarce, so photographers will gain
the respect they lost in the 1880s, when photography was democratized...
but it won't happen anytime soon ...
 
Ding, ding, ding, winner here....

Nothing to see here, time to move on...
 
I doubt that film will disappear before most of us are too old to shoot it. If it does I will make my own. In the 70's I experimented with making glass plates from an 1890's formula. The photographs turned out fine with the look of the era in which the formula was made. Not high tech but a decent image.
 
I worry more about film cameras - when will the manufacture of film cameras stop and before any one says that there are millions of used film cameras available (which is true), what about the skilled craftsmen to service and repair those film cameras? Apart from Leica and Cosina (Zeiss) who now manufactures film bodies in any volume. (Lomography?)


Christian
 
Less talk , more shooting. We are not immortals ourselves, even we must go one day. If we are to go then let us leave behind lots of developed negs or slides then XD
 
BrianShaw said:
30 July 2032
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At about 2:37 in the afternoon.

C.poulton said:
what about the skilled craftsmen to service and repair those film cameras?
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They are just machines designed and built by humans. Whilst there are intelligent people around (sometimes a rarity in itself) someone will be able to look at it, figure out why it doesn't work and repair it - even if it means making parts.

It might not be financially viable but it will always be possible.


Steve.
 
Leigh B said:
Vacuum tubes are still in production. They've not been used in new designs in over 50 years.
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Well, I have designed stuff using them in the last five years.

eclarke said:
There are about 195 other countries then the USA, can't take the sheep herd behavior of Americans and extrapolatenit to the rest of the globe.
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I was surprised to learn that the US is just 4.5% of the world's population.


Steve.
 
Maybe because I haven't finished my breakfast yet, but I just can't understand why the evil needs to constantly creep in APUG. I sincerely hope this thread will not turn into one of the far too many here about the death of the photo-industry.

There are those pessimistic ones that spend their time thinking about the end of our art or thinking with "discolourating nostalgia" how much better the materials were when they poured more silver in it back in the old days, while the rest of us just make a print during the same time in the darkroom.
 
That will be a really dark time if film disappears. I don't care how good digital is or will be by that time, if we don't have a choice anymore that will be just plain sad.

Ok, on a positive note, that WONT happen, so we can just chill out.
 
In the USA, isn't the incandescent light bulb about to be phased out? I'm not sure if/how this correlates to photo film and chemistry but a lot can happen with the stroke of a pen.
 
I would think first it would become a boutique only product. This morning, I saw rolls of 35mm Fuji 200 film at the gas station. Ten years after that stops happening, we'll see it available as a special-order product that Wal-Mart doesn't carry, and costs more, but it'll be available for at least 30 years after that in color, and probably 50 more in black and white.
Think about it- if everyone stopped production, somebody would decide they could make money that way, and set their own price. Heck, if it was completely unavailable, I'd even consider investing in some equipment for making 35mm. It sounds like a viable market.
 

Horses are much easier to make than film
 
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