Recently, Jeremy posted:

I was merely pointing out that, for many less-critical applications,
today's digital cameras meet the needs of users just fine. I did not
mean to suggest that digital would replace all film, or that film was
doomed--jut that the mass-market appeal of film was probably going to
be supplanted.

I understand, and agree, for the most part. Digital is just another
medium, and it has benefits and caveats, like any other media.

There was a time that MF was the mass market film used by amateurs,
but 35mm supplanted it.

Those of us that have multiple formats can pick and choose which
format best suits our particular application. I have found that
digital, with its shortcomings, remains suitable for certain uses.

No doubt about that! I am only pointing out that *this* thread addresses
"MF future...", and as such, begs the question as to the impact of other
formats on the MF shooter. No question that digital has impacted 35mm,
but, as you've pointed out, the impact of 35mm on MF is only of historical
interest.

As for achievability, I agree with you that it will be a problem, but,
considering that most casual film users probably lose their negatives
anyway, I do not see digital archiving being much worse for them.
Careful users will always find a way to properly store their source
images, whether they are digital or negatives.

I don't think that it's as easy a matter as you may think. I've had to
store client data in digital format for over 20 years, now. I believe it's
safe to say that I'm a bit more exposed to the issues involved than the
casual user. ;-) In that light, I'll go so far as to say that the casual
user of digital will have almost no access to the images they take today
after a period of only 5 years. Casual film users are likely to fare
better than that, even if by accidental fortune. ;-) If they stumble
across their negatives, chances are good that they'll be printable. The
same is not necessarily true of their discs (if they even keep their
discs).

What seems clear is that film in virtually all formats is headed
toward being somewhat of a niche product. As digital imaging
improves, it will probably take over the consumer market, and that
will impact the rest of us in terms of prices headed higher for both
equipment and film processing.

As has been discussed at length, it is significant that most people don't
print out their digital images, anyway, so I'm not sure that any issues of
improvements in digital quality, etc. are of concern or relevance. The
question that impacts the MF shooter is whether film will continue to
improve. So far, we have seen new and better product introduced every
year, and I don't see a reason why that will cease any time soon.

Regards.

Neil