Is film photography dead?

[DennyCrane]

Heh, I got it.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Because there are very few artists here I think the main point is totally lost.

Yes, film photography is dead as far as the commercial/retail/consumer markets are concerned. There is no good reason to use film in those markets. Turn in a transparency to a magazine and they will most probably never call you again for a job.

No, film photography is not dead in the art photo world. And it will probably make a comeback with the artsy younger generation when they realize that the galleries are not interested in showing digital prints.

The reason is fairly simple. I know I keep repeating myself but art photography had a hell of a time getting accepted as an art form by collectors. It eventually did get accepted but it was the rare photographer who was getting serious money for his prints. When I switched to painting, my income went way up very quickly. Like it or not, that is a fact of life.

With digital, we're back at zero and, tbh, I don't know that collectors will ever take digital prints seriously. So, no, film is not dead. And it will be the same kind of people who kept vinyl alive (in the world of music) that will keep film photo alive. The lovers of... Not the merchants.

Because the merchants/artists ratio here is probably 1000/1, that point is kinda lost.

 

[compur]

Those who think the measure of a photograph is how many dots it contains
or how "high tech" the equipment used to produce it will never understand
the continuing appeal of film.

 

[DennyCrane]

And the opposite is true, of course... the fact that it's done with technology does not in any way take away from the artistic ability of the person pressing the shutter.

 

[William Petruzzo]

Perhaps for commercial purposes. But people still paint, even though there are photographic methods of capturing a subject.

 

[Jordaan]

Honestly, for me, film will be dead when no one makes the actual film rolls and absolutely no one will develop it, basically when it's 100% gone from the world. THAT is when it's dead.

So it did "die" from the everyday thing, such as getting 620 film and 8mm at the store, but it's still very much alive for as mentioned above the artistic crowd and hobbyist such as myself. I like film more than digital but I can't deny the quickness of digital where you just snap and go, no reloading and unloading. Pretty much, I agree with compur and c.cloudwalker 100%. Film is only dead to the people who really believe it's "dead".

 

[Shockey]

Film is not dead. It is getting harder and harder to find labs that will do a good job of developing it.
Black and white portraits and wedding photography still see quite a few people using film.

 

[jbylake]

Film is not dead. It is getting harder and harder to find labs that will do a good job of developing it.
Black and white portraits and wedding photography still see quite a few people using film.

I don't exactly live in a "metropolitan" area, but there are at least 2 local labs that do great work for film, where I live. If you "google" labs, there are loads and loads of them in the U.S. that do very good work. Developing your own neg's and then scanning them is not only easy, but another great option.

I keep hearing this "lack of lab's" concern, voiced very often, and am just not seeing it. Obviously there will never be as many as in the "good ol' days", but there are enough, that any serious film shooter can get great lab work. Many pros's are still doing their own darkroom work, start to finish. I know that this is not always convienent, as my current flat doesn't have a good place to do this, thus I go about a mile from my place, drop my film off to Robin's photo, pick it up, and scan the photo's I want to keep.

J.:mrgreen:

 

[King Riffle]

No, not yet. I live in a city, yet we get many people from the hundreds of rural communities around here coming to get film developed at the shops here. Many of them (and many people here too) don't have computers, so digital is kind of useless (especially with film cameras so cheap in comparison). They'll keep it going for a while.

I use various film cameras (though mostly a Yashica TL-Electro). I like the fact that it makes you work harder. With film you get few chances to get the shot right (as opposed to digital where you can just "machine gun" it until you get one that looks good). It's an odd kind of fun. I have even looked into purchasing a newer film SLR.

That said, it's also a giant pita. It's expensive to do and you have to drop it off at the store and wait. Then you have to hope that they do it correctly.

It has its pros and cons. I think it'll be at least a few years before it truly becomes a niche though. Perhaps when they come up with a disposable digital camera for around $10 that can take halfway decent shots.

 

[JustForSneaks07]

Kodachrome is dead

 

[Battou]

All my film is dead....cuz I shot it


I guess I should pick some at the store huh.

 

[xjken99]

I like to think it is not dead or will die any time soon. I recently retired and I now actually have some time to get out there and shoot. I have a few Canon manual focus slr's that I recently cleaned up and used for the first time in probably ten years. They still work great and in fact I recently shot my first roll of black and white. I hope there will be a resurgence in film but, I kinda doubt it, especially since the ease and cost of digital will only improve. It is kind of ironic because it was my use of a simple Kodak point and shoot digital that actually rekindled my interest in film photography.

 

[ann]

there is some resurgence in film.

Several vendors i do business tell me that film sales are up.

My darkroom classes are busy and in fact every summer i offer a teenage workshop for traditional darkroom work and for the past several years there has been a waiting list. These teenagers have grown up with computers and the digital age and they are bored and find the darkroom magical, which some of us already know.:thumbup:

 

[Photochick]

No, It is not dead. I am a full time photographer with a store front studio and I shoot 100% film. My clients love the fact that I shoot film and I have no intention of changing to digital anytime soon. I have no problems finding film or having it professionally processed.

 

[T-town photographer]

No, It is not dead. I am a full time photographer with a store front studio and I shoot 100% film. My clients love the fact that I shoot film and I have no intention of changing to digital anytime soon. I have no problems finding film or having it professionally processed.

I am loving the fact that film is not dead. I take the digital with me to get a couple of ideas before I shoot it with film. As long as I can help make it so film is not dead.

It is great to see another photographer from Tulsa on here. Where is your studio at??

Michael