At present, we who are using film cameras are in the minority away from the feeding frenzy of new and even more expensive digital offerings being churned onto the market seemingly in ever larger number every day.
The supply of film, chemicals, paper accessories are still readily available on the open market and have even increased in the past couple of years. BUT there are very few NEW cameras being offered for sale. I believe Nikon still make the F6 in small numbers, Leica still have their 'M' series (I don't know about the reflexes) But these instruments are all high end in the price bracket. I won't even make mention of medium format models, the Bronicas, Mamyiyas, Rollieflexes. I know the Rollie is still made, almost to order but at an astronomic price
Then there are the newer rangefinder models marketed under the Voightlander name lower down the price scale and a few models sold as entry level models 'recommended' for students. Mostly we rely upon film cameras, some relatively new, but quite a lot which are 'getting on a bit'. The choice of cameras and lenses at present is still reasonably good, especially from the likes of Canon, Nikon and to some extent Pentax, Olympus and Minolta. Even with the last three there is a definite sign that some of these are drying up.
Where do we go when all of the good models die simply of old age, which they must surely do because new spares for the older models must be almost non existent, relying on canabalism to keep them working. Especially the ones using some sort of electronics to fire the shutter.
I don't know about elsewhere in the world, but in UK the availability of good Pentax or similar 42mm thread models is at a very low state. Yes they are mechanical and they could be repaired (mostly). They were probably the post prolific cameras of all time but they have almost simply vanished, gone, disappeared. (Compared to say 5 years ago). It makes me think that to some extent unless a reasonably priced mid range series of cameras is reintroduced, we could be living on borrowed time.
The supply of film, chemicals, paper accessories are still readily available on the open market and have even increased in the past couple of years. BUT there are very few NEW cameras being offered for sale. I believe Nikon still make the F6 in small numbers, Leica still have their 'M' series (I don't know about the reflexes) But these instruments are all high end in the price bracket. I won't even make mention of medium format models, the Bronicas, Mamyiyas, Rollieflexes. I know the Rollie is still made, almost to order but at an astronomic price
Then there are the newer rangefinder models marketed under the Voightlander name lower down the price scale and a few models sold as entry level models 'recommended' for students. Mostly we rely upon film cameras, some relatively new, but quite a lot which are 'getting on a bit'. The choice of cameras and lenses at present is still reasonably good, especially from the likes of Canon, Nikon and to some extent Pentax, Olympus and Minolta. Even with the last three there is a definite sign that some of these are drying up.
Where do we go when all of the good models die simply of old age, which they must surely do because new spares for the older models must be almost non existent, relying on canabalism to keep them working. Especially the ones using some sort of electronics to fire the shutter.
I don't know about elsewhere in the world, but in UK the availability of good Pentax or similar 42mm thread models is at a very low state. Yes they are mechanical and they could be repaired (mostly). They were probably the post prolific cameras of all time but they have almost simply vanished, gone, disappeared. (Compared to say 5 years ago). It makes me think that to some extent unless a reasonably priced mid range series of cameras is reintroduced, we could be living on borrowed time.