canon film cameras

[viridari]

2) The only people using film these days are amateurs like me who want to experiment and learn (that's who the FM10 -- and a buttload of used film cameras on eBay -- is for), and seasoned pros who need all of the latest features like matrix metering, AF with AF-S lenses, several AF sensors, iTTL flash, etc., but still want to use film.

Actually, many professionals are still shooting with film and using cameras that do not have a butt load of electronic features. Medium format and large format are alive & well for pros.

 

[dxqcanada]

Non-photographers do not buy film cameras.

Amateur photographers are moving rapidly to digital.

Professional photographers are also moving to digital.

Film manufacturers have noticed a dramatic decrease in film sales so they drop consumer film and only produce a limited amount of professional film.

Film processing labs are vanishing.

Photo retailers are selling digital due to market demand.

Quality of consumer printers is equaling traditional photographic imaging.

... all this adds up to marketing decisions by the camera manufacturer's ... film is at the end of it's time.

 

[elemental]

film is at the end of it's time.

This might be a little melodramatic. I am 20, and I started shooting digital and "regressed" to black and white film, which I currently shoot more of than digital (because I am in college and apparently love not having any money). I have friends my age who have moved from digital back to film as well. There is a thriving community of black and white analog photographers, and Kodak has continued to introduce and update black and white films. If 35mm was going to be gone in five years, they would never spend the money. Film has certainly seen its role change dramatically in the last decade, but I doubt it's going to disappear in the near future.

 

[Battou]

Adapters to mount FD lenses to EOS/EF bodies do exist.

Yes...but everything I have read....they suck, better off just using an FD body. Which brings us back full circle to the Digital body with the FD mount....


Truthfully, I don't want to see it cuz my FD lenses will go up in price making them hard for me to buy.

 

[Rem]

Non-photographers do not buy film cameras.

Amateur photographers are moving rapidly to digital.

Professional photographers are also moving to digital.

Film manufacturers have noticed a dramatic decrease in film sales so they drop consumer film and only produce a limited amount of professional film.

Film processing labs are vanishing.

Photo retailers are selling digital due to market demand.

Quality of consumer printers is equaling traditional photographic imaging.

... all this adds up to marketing decisions by the camera manufacturer's ... film is at the end of it's time.

There ARE all those things. If I COULD spend $3000 or so for a FULL digital SLR rig...maybe I'd like it more. "Average" folks are snapshot people and a simple, compact, digital point + shoot works for them. Used to be a lot of people spent for a good 35 mm..found out they were snapshot people. Their underused closet cameras are our ebay bargains.

When they took our Kodachrome away..it was a sign. The Digitals can be built in automated plants. The Classic film gear was made with human hands. The Digital gear...won't last 20-30-40 years like film gear. Consumers will get used to having to buy another every 5-10 years.

Film won't quite vanish. It's lost it's place already. I used to go to the local Longs Drugs and they sold well over a dozen different films. Now? maybe 4-5.

 

[dxqcanada]

Yup, the local drugmart has replaced rolls of film with memory cards.

Now film photography has moved into the fine art area.

It's all about supply and demand.

 

[Cat nt Tat's Dusky]

Just picked up a Canon Rebel 2000 from B&H for a reasonably good price. Auto or manual settings, auto focus...I love this camera.

Still gonna have my AE-1 tuned up, and still gonna get some nice FD as well as some auto focus lenses.

Digital is easier. Just plug and play. However I just love shooting B&W film.

 

[McQueen278]

One thing to point out about the comments about new films, is that while yes Kodak and Fuji are coming out with new films, it isn't the 35mm market they are necessarily after. Fuji is making the Velvia 100 in 8x10 and the new Velvia 50 is THE medium format slide film for all those folks out there with 6x7 and 6x9s who shoot landscapes. Kodak's newish TMAX 400 is absolutely wonderful out of a 4x5. These larger than 35mm format cameras are wonderful machines for extremely high resolution digital scans and this new slide and B&W is one more way of improving the process. 35mm film is simply less advantageous to shoot and scan compared to bigger negatives so digital cameras in this size are king.