35mm film, how much longer?

Tom Williams wrote:
I have a D70s digital SLR, but recently I'm finding an attraction to going
back to film. I'd like some professional estimations on how long 35mm film
will still be available, and used in the U.S. Not necessarily main stream,
but still fairly common?

Let's see...

On foot.

Heading North:
Supermarket 5 min away, consumer color negative. Supermarket 10 mins
away, consumer color negative.

Heading West:
2 Supermarkets 10 min away, consumer color negative.

Heading East:
Nothing within 20 min.

Heading south:
Supermarket 10 mins away, consumer color negative. 2 Supermarkets 15 min
away, consumer color negative.
Drugstore 15 min away, consumer color negative & slide.
1 - hour lab 15 min away, good choice of negative, slide and B&W (only
35mm though).

For 120 format film or more specialized films (infrared, tungsten light
or orthochromatic), I need to ride my bicycle or take a bus for 25 min.

Film sure is dead!

"Tom Williams" wrote in message
. ..
I have a D70s digital SLR, but recently I'm finding an attraction to going
back to film. I'd like some professional estimations on how long 35mm film
will still be available, and used in the U.S. Not necessarily main stream,
but still fairly common?



Probably another ten years on shelves in at least some stores.

But, with ready availability of goods via online shopping, inability to buy
locally will not be an issue. I haven't been able to get a replacement
diamond stylus for my stereo cartridge for well over two decades, but I can
get them online from several sources, and have them delivered overnight if
necessary.

Don't listen to all the Chicken Littles that predict that the sky is
falling.

Consumer film applications will shrink, simply because most consumers will
go digital (and, for consumer applications of photography, digital has
compelling advantages over film. Switching is the right thing for consumers
to do.) But there will be film and processing available for a long, long
time. It just may be that it won't be available at your local store.

Go ahead and buy yourself a good film camera outfit. If it ever becomes
obsolete (doubtful within our lifetimes) it'll be worth money as a
collectors' item. Besides, even if you got 5 year's use out of it ("worst
case scenario") how many digital cameras would you have purchased in that
same period of time?

Tom Williams wrote:

I have a D70s digital SLR, but recently I'm finding an attraction to going
back to film. I'd like some professional estimations on how long 35mm film
will still be available, and used in the U.S. Not necessarily main stream,
but still fairly common?

Thanks,
Tom



Until there's no more demand for it. If there's enough shooters, there
will be someone who will provide the film. Probably Fuji.

Chris Loffredo wrote:

Tom Williams wrote:

I have a D70s digital SLR, but recently I'm finding an attraction to
going back to film. I'd like some professional estimations on how
long 35mm film will still be available, and used in the U.S. Not
necessarily main stream, but still fairly common?


Let's see...

On foot.

Heading North:
Supermarket 5 min away, consumer color negative. Supermarket 10 mins
away, consumer color negative.

Heading West:
2 Supermarkets 10 min away, consumer color negative.

Heading East:
Nothing within 20 min.

Heading south:
Supermarket 10 mins away, consumer color negative. 2 Supermarkets 15 min
away, consumer color negative.
Drugstore 15 min away, consumer color negative & slide.
1 - hour lab 15 min away, good choice of negative, slide and B&W (only
35mm though).

For 120 format film or more specialized films (infrared, tungsten light
or orthochromatic), I need to ride my bicycle or take a bus for 25 min.

Film sure is dead!

I live in a somewhat better location then, inside the beltline in
Raleigh, NC.

From my house there are two good local camera stores within 10 minutes
walking distance. Both stock consumer color negative, consumer
transparancy and pro film (Polaroid type 55 P/N; B&W, color neg &
transparancy in 35mm 120, 220, and 4x5).

They both also stock darkroom supplies, lighting, all sorts of
accessories, digital stuff AND have fairly good selections of used &
trade in merchandise.

One has a good on-site repair shop (not sure about the other, it's a new
location - I think they have a consolidated repair shop for several shops).

One's reachable in 5 minutes or less on foot, and the other would almost
be if I didn't have to pass a Krispy Kreme donut shop on the way if I
choose to walk there, instead of just stopping on my way to somewhere else.

"Gordon Moat" wrote in message
news:2EJDg.3530$W01.1472@dukeread08...
I think a true worse case scenario is that you would need to buy film
through mail-order or internet sources. In other words, your local
drugstore or department store might not carry them. If you live in a big
city, you should still be able to find several choices, but I think more
rural dwellers will need to go to sources that will ship film to them.

The lack of local film sources could at some point mean shipping off
your film for processing. Another option would be processing at home,
simple for B/W and slightly involved for colour films. There will
probably be several processing choices always in North America,
though if you do not live near one you will need to arrange shipping.

So basically, your D70 will give you instant gratification. If you
really want to continue using film, at some point in the future your
"gratification" will be greatly delayed, at least by a few days time.


I've been shipping my film for several years, since there is no pro-lab near
me (still a number of places with minilabs). I don't find the delay
frustrating, and it has just become a part of my workflow. It actually
takes less of my time to take a package of film to the post office and then
get them back to my door than it did to drive to a lab. anyway, and there
are always motorcycle couriers for really urgent jobs. I'm just used to it
now, and it isn't a problem.



Peter

"jeremy" wrote in message
news:Br_Dg.29934$zc2.10018@trnddc06...
"Tom Williams" wrote in message
. ..
I have a D70s digital SLR, but recently I'm finding an attraction to going
back to film. I'd like some professional estimations on how long 35mm
film will still be available, and used in the U.S. Not necessarily main
stream, but still fairly common?



Probably another ten years on shelves in at least some stores.

But, with ready availability of goods via online shopping, inability to
buy locally will not be an issue. I haven't been able to get a
replacement diamond stylus for my stereo cartridge for well over two
decades, but I can get them online from several sources, and have them
delivered overnight if necessary.

Don't listen to all the Chicken Littles that predict that the sky is
falling.

Consumer film applications will shrink, simply because most consumers will
go digital (and, for consumer applications of photography, digital has
compelling advantages over film. Switching is the right thing for
consumers to do.) But there will be film and processing available for a
long, long time. It just may be that it won't be available at your local
store.

Go ahead and buy yourself a good film camera outfit. If it ever becomes
obsolete (doubtful within our lifetimes) it'll be worth money as a
collectors' item. Besides, even if you got 5 year's use out of it ("worst
case scenario") how many digital cameras would you have purchased in that
same period of time?

In my case, I will have to wear out my film scanner to the point where it
would be cheaper to buy a good digital camera rather than get it repaired.
Since it only cost $600, I am sure that this will take several more years. -
(Digital cameras would have to drop a lot in price before they are
comparable to that.)

Accord to Al Gore 10 years is all you need to worry about. Buy all your
film now and put it in a deep freezer, it will last 10 years.

"Tom Williams" wrote in message
. ..
I have a D70s digital SLR, but recently I'm finding an attraction to going
back to film. I'd like some professional estimations on how long 35mm film
will still be available, and used in the U.S. Not necessarily main stream,
but still fairly common?

Thanks,
Tom

For me, the real question is: how long will there be quality film
photofinishing and printing? Film will be available indefinitely, but
more and more retailers are experiencing poor returns for the
square-footage they've dedicated to film processing. They can use the
floor space more profitably. And there will be fewer lab techs who know
what they're doing.

Stockpile all the film you want in your freezer. But be sure there's a
lab around that can process it.

-CD


Tom Williams wrote:
I have a D70s digital SLR, but recently I'm finding an attraction to going
back to film. I'd like some professional estimations on how long 35mm film
will still be available, and used in the U.S. Not necessarily main stream,
but still fairly common?

Thanks,
Tom

Stockpile all the film you want in your freezer. But be sure there's a
lab around that can process it.



The shift toward mail-order photofinishing for film is all but certain.
Frankly, there haven't been many decent one-hour processors out there
anyway. They tended to use cheap enlarging lenses and the ones I tried here
in Philadelphia did not have the greatest temperature control on their
chemicals. Colors were often washed out.

It has always been frustrating for me to have used excellent quality
equipment and fine lenses, only to see the final results look like they were
taken by an inexpensive camera--the kind that are sold in blister-packs. So
I've limited my print processing to only Kodak (Qualex), where there is
courier in-store pickup and delivery daily, and my mail order business has
always gone to Dale Labs (www.dalelabs.com) which still prints optical
prints (their Nikkor enlarging lenses cost over $10,000 apiece!) and has
always given me excellent results, albeit at a price substantially higher
than the one-hour labs. But one gets what one pays for.

I'm going to try Dwayne's Photo for some Kodachrome work. They sell the
film and process it, too. Their web site listed a number of interesting
services, including hi-resolution scans of Kodachrome slides (15 MB) for
only $4.00 per roll.

With today's superior mail options, it isn't the big deal to send film out
for processing that it once was. More people should try it. After a few
rounds, it becomes second nature. If all those inferior drug-store labs
disappeared overnight, would it really have a negative impact on us? I
think that it might actually result in better quality images, as it would
require us to have our film processed by folks that really knew what they
were doing, not by some high school kid.

"jeremy" wrote in message
news:aY0Fg.13025$Z1.11371@trnddc03...

I'm going to try Dwayne's Photo for some Kodachrome work. They sell the
film and process it, too. Their web site listed a number of interesting
services, including hi-resolution scans of Kodachrome slides (15 MB) for
only $4.00 per roll.


That's a great price but 15 MB for a 35 mm film scan isn't exactly
high resolution. It's less than 2000 dpi, in fact.

A 4000 dpi scan using 24-bit color is just under 60 MBytes.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com