Previous versions of George Orwell's message #13876033 « Could you go back to film? »
George Orwell Offline [X]
Re: Could you go back to film?
PhotoMaximum wrote:
Not sure why there is so much shouting on this thread?
If you enjoy the film based process then go for it. Photography is supposed to be fun.
Absolutely. Film photography for me is massively fun. Digital, not so much. PhotoMaximum wrote:
But, if you do enjoy film then be sure to USE it. Film based photography will continue to decline.
This is where you fall down. It's best not to comment on things you know nothing about. Film is now clearly, and I mean CLEARLY on an upswing. Kodak is introducing a NEW film. They are calling it Ektachrome 100 but it will only be related to an older film. It needs to be reformulated for use in today's chemical environment. Some of the older chemicals are no longer available.
That takes money. A LOT of money. Millions of dollars. Companies invest in growing markets, not shrinking ones.
Kodak reported that there is a clear trend in higher film sales, thus allowing this investment.
Ferannia is also on the verge of bringing back another color E6 option.
You are wrong, completely and totally wrong about film being in decline.
PhotoMaximum wrote:
Digital based photography will continue to progress. Millions will be spent on sensors but where is the investment in new scanning equipment?
Do you even look? There have been several new scanners in recent years. Plustek is one of the leaders in this area but not the only one.
PhotoMaximum wrote:
The Ektachrome news is news but generally film emulsions are being discontinued.
I get it now. Film is declining except when it's not. There are other new films. Fujifilm just released a new monochrome film for Instax. Fuji sold 5.7 MILLION film cameras just last year alone, far more than they have sold in the X series since inception!
PhotoMaximum wrote:
Labs are fewer. Lab technicians are fewer. The lab knowledge base is in decline. New film based cameras are fewer. The really sad part is that parts and camera repair services are also in decline. Is there a new generation of film based camera repair techs coming along? I doubt it.
Total nonsense. You can easily get film cameras repaired. Often it makes no sense to do so because getting another camera is not very expensive. You are just making up "facts".
PhotoMaximum wrote:
Film will always attract a certain base. But the economics of it all do not bode well. For example: a couple of years ago I eagerly purchased a nice Polaroid 180 Land Camera (pro model). It had a few issues so I also purcashed a much cheaper consumer Land Camera and cananbalized some parts for the 180. I wanted to shoot Fuji FP-3000B b/w film. There is no Polaroid film anymore. No sooner than my Polaroid 180 project was done and bam: Fuji disontinues 3000B. They still made FP-100C color film but that was also discontinued. Buying any old stock of these films is really expensive, especially for the b/w. As time marches on what packs of film left on the planet gets older and less effective. My camera's future will be a nice looking paper weight.
It's sad that Fujifilm dropped pack film. No doubt about that. But it is beyond ridiculous to project that experience towards 35mm, 120, or sheet film. Absolutely ridiculous to think that the fate of pack film is in anyway related to other films.
The evidence is clear to see now, it just takes either the ability to see it. Many cant because of their clear (and bizarre) bias against film use.
Jan 11, 2017 at 06:52 PM
George Orwell Offline [X]
Re: Could you go back to film?
PhotoMaximum wrote:
Not sure why there is so much shouting on this thread?
If you enjoy the film based process then go for it. Photography is supposed to be fun.
Absolutely. Film photography for me is massively fun. Digital, not so much. PhotoMaximum wrote:
But, if you do enjoy film then be sure to USE it. Film based photography will continue to decline.
This is where you fall down. It's best not to comment on things you know nothing about. Film is now clearly, and I mean CLEARLY on an upswing. Kodak is introducing a NEW film. They are calling it Ektachrome 100 but it will only be related to an older film. It needs to be reformulated for use in today's chemical environment. Some of the older chemicals are no longer available.
That takes money. A LOT of money. Millions of dollars. Companies invest in growing markets, not shrinking ones.
Kodak reported that there is a clear trend in higher film sales, thus allowing this investment.
You are wrong, completely and totally wrong about film being in decline.
PhotoMaximum wrote:
Digital based photography will continue to progress. Millions will be spent on sensors but where is the investment in new scanning equipment?
Do you even look? There have been several new scanners in recent years. Plustek is one of the leaders in this area but not the only one.
PhotoMaximum wrote:
The Ektachrome news is news but generally film emulsions are being discontinued.
I get it now. Film is declining except when it's not. There are other new films. Fujifilm just released a new monochrome film for Instax. Fuji sold 5.7 MILLION film cameras just last year alone, far more than they have sold in the X series since inception!
PhotoMaximum wrote:
Labs are fewer. Lab technicians are fewer. The lab knowledge base is in decline. New film based cameras are fewer. The really sad part is that parts and camera repair services are also in decline. Is there a new generation of film based camera repair techs coming along? I doubt it.
Total nonsense. You can easily get film cameras repaired. Often it makes no sense to do so because getting another camera is not very expensive. You are just making up "facts".
PhotoMaximum wrote:
Film will always attract a certain base. But the economics of it all do not bode well. For example: a couple of years ago I eagerly purchased a nice Polaroid 180 Land Camera (pro model). It had a few issues so I also purcashed a much cheaper consumer Land Camera and cananbalized some parts for the 180. I wanted to shoot Fuji FP-3000B b/w film. There is no Polaroid film anymore. No sooner than my Polaroid 180 project was done and bam: Fuji disontinues 3000B. They still made FP-100C color film but that was also discontinued. Buying any old stock of these films is really expensive, especially for the b/w. As time marches on what packs of film left on the planet gets older and less effective. My camera's future will be a nice looking paper weight.
It's sad that Fujifilm dropped pack film. No doubt about that. But it is beyond ridiculous to project that experience towards 35mm, 120, or sheet film. Absolutely ridiculous to think that the fate of pack film is in anyway related to other films.
The evidence is clear to see now, it just takes either the ability to see it. Many cant because of their clear (and bizarre) bias against film use.
Jan 11, 2017 at 06:41 PM
Previous versions of George Orwell's message #13876033 « Could you go back to film? »
