Why Film?

[zandman]

In a word, Helen, the reason is "youth". My 20 year old daughter comes to me for advise. I calmly nicely give it, but it is not what she wants to hear, so now I am "rude", "negative", and "you just don't understand". These are her knee-jerk reactions when I give the "wrong answer". ;-) lol

And if you have one or more Teens, well you know.....If I had a chance to do it all over again, I would.....ah.....nevermind....

ouch.. yea, true. but we all need to put ourselves into each other's shoe.

 

[Chris Sandström]

Hi,
While some people keep using film, the market for it has still declined at a rapid pace. Most film manufacturers have gone out of business or suffered greatly.

Kodak:
Disruptive Innovation, Kodak and digital imaging

Ilford:
Ilford and the Death of Film

Agfa
Disruptive Innovation and AgfaPhoto

Polaroid
Disruptive Innovation And The Bankruptcy Of Polaroid


Best,

Chris

 

[ann]

ilford is still alive and doing fine.

if film is dead what will the new folder camera being introduced this year use

 

[Moonlighter]

film photography is exellent to begin with) it teaches attention, patience, accuracy - you think while you photograph, and that is hard for beginners with digicams. It is basics, in my opinion.
and you know many are in this hobby, those who's even gone digital.
when in a darkroom i develop my images i think - that is Art

 

[planar]

Hey! I was just wondering why you guys use film. I have nothing against it! I was just wondering if there is anything about film that is keeping it alive. For instance, Walmart and other stores still sell film and develop it and many people say it is a dead medium. I've used film before and I like it (But don't know why...lol). Just wanting your input! Thanks!

I don't want to start a war by saying that film is better. So I won't say film is better.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Happily, Ilford is, as said, alive and doing fine:

The demand for traditional monochrome films and papers remains strong. With Agfa no longer in the black and white photographic market, and Kodak pulling out of manufacturing black and white papers the future of ILFORD PHOTO products looks good for years to come.

 

[blash]

My view is that Agfa made some really spectacular film - you can still buy Agfapan APX 400 from B&H (expiration date in 2011) and the grain is virtually impossible to see even under the grain focuser - and it's a 400 speed film! Absolutely amazing. Unfortunately it's a little expensive and as Agfa is no longer around... so I'll settle for Ilford HP5+, for which the grain may be visible to be sure but it's a wonderful structure with lots of character.

So long as there is B&W film to be bought, we will buy it. The B&W film process is easy, forgiving, and Ilford film produces some truly great images. Simple as that. Ilford is going pretty strong now that they've downsized to meet the (so far as I'm concerned), stable "new market" for B&W film.

 

[KevinDks]

I love to project slides, and last year I bought a brand new slide projector (yes, they are still made, mine is a Braun from Germany), so we have family slide shows quite often. I was using Fuji E6 films, Velvia and Provia, but then I started buying vintage slides on eBay, like this one from 1963, which is how I discovered Kodachrome. As long as they are kept in the dark and not in high humidity the colours fade extremely slowly, more so than any other film. My oldest Kodachromes are 50 years old now and look as fresh as those I took myself last month.

Now around 95% of what I shoot is on Kodachrome, and it probably will be until Kodak stop selling it, or I die, whichever is sooner. My money is on Kodachrome going first, by around 40 years, in which case I'll go back to E6 films. For now I would urge anyone who has a 35mm camera to shoot at least one roll of Kodachrome while you still can. For those of us in the UK it is the cheapest process-paid slide film you can get, as long as you buy it from 7dayshop.com.

I have just started a personal project, in which I am going to attempt to re-shoot most of the 280 or so London photos taken on Kodachrome in 1960, '61 and '65 by Charles Cushman, whose archive of 14,500 images you can find on this website. Obviously I'll be doing it on Kodachrome too.

Kevin