Will some companies continue to make 35mm now that digital cameras are so popular & will it be expensive?

Question

OR do you think that this type of flm will go the way of LPs, audio tapes, beta video tapes etc? Will it will be expensive & hard to find like black & white film? I just don't know. I'm looking for some concrete information. Not opinions. Thanks!

Will there be enough demand for it?

Answer 1

There is no "concrete" evidence. However I am a professional photographer, and I know quite a few other professionals. Digital cameras are really for quantity not quality. Not to say there is no way to take a great picture with a digital. But they are more for birthday parties, and trips to the beach, not a professional shoot of any kind. Imagine if you will "National Geographic", "Time", even a Model shoot, done with a Digital camera. You can't go into a war zone and get up close to get a shot, or even for that matter could you get a professional shot. C'mon think about it. Digital has its uses, admitted. But to even question if 35 mm will be fazed out by Digital is absurd.

Answer 2

I personally believe film will be around for a long time. Leica is still selling film cameras, as is Canon, and Horseman introduced a "3D" film camera earlier this year. Kodak, Ilford and Fuji are still offering film. Kodak updated their Portra line this year.

The Analog Photography Users Group (apug.org) seems to be healthy and growing.

As to your demand for "concrete information" I'm afraid there really isn't any. Neither I nor anyone else has a "crystal ball" to peer into the future.

Except for Fujifilm PRO 400H I find all the film I need on ebay. I wish it were cheaper though but that's true of most everything.

I've often pointed this out to the digital crowd: 50 years from now my descendants will most likely be able to scan my negatives into a computer and make prints from them. The prints I've placed in archival photo albums should still be in good condition. The digital crowd that fails to make prints and store them properly and has everything stored on a DVD may leave their descendants a medium that is unreadable by computers 10 years from now, much less 50 years. I well remember when the 5.25 floppy was king, only to be replaced by the 3.25 floppy which was replaced by the CD. Do you or anyone you know have a computer today that can access data from the old floppies?

My suggestion is to relax and continue shooting film if that's what you're doing.

Answer 3

Despite the fact that I plan to continue using film as long as it's feasible, I personally will never again buy a new film camera.

There's a huge amount of lightly used film equipment out there that is, for all intents and purposes, brand new, but available at a fraction of the cost of new equipment.

With that in mind, it makes no economic sense to me to invest in new film equipment.

I know plenty of other photographers who feel the same way.

Considering the availability of used equipment, I can't see the manufacture of new equipment continuing too much longer.

Answer 4

as long as there is a demand for film cameras, there will be a supply. You can get B&W film at any drugstore. (CVS, RiteAid, Walgreens, sell it to name a few)