larger formats being phased out ?

Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?
Thanks
AL

Quest0029" wrote in message
...
Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?

Yeah, sure it's true. Bet your bottom dollar. Spend all your money on the
Latest and Greatest DSLR available. Then do it again, over and over for the
next ten years. Count your money at the end and come on back and ask again.

Meanwhile, we are a happy bunch while your poor life is in some kind of
catch-up limbo looking for a clue.

Digital cannot equal MF, let alone LF, so I'd bet that the 35mm will feel it
long before MF. I'm one of those who believe that only the current
full-frame cams (Canon and Kodak) can equal *scanned* film, and can rival
traditionally printed negative film. I guess I'm a retro-grouch.

In the meantime, I'll continue to suffer with a Mamiya 7II. Oh, the agony of
those huge negs and chromes! So heavy!

"Quest0029" wrote in message
...
Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?
Thanks
AL

On 28 Dec 2004 00:32:54 GMT, (Quest0029) wrote:

Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?
Thanks
AL


I could argue this one either way.

Pro: 35 mm has a huge installed base,
and is used in disposable film cameras
as well. Lots more of it in the market
than MF or LF film. On that basis, it
will live forever.

Con: Digital capture will replace 35 mm
well before it replaces MF or LF. Lots
of 35 mm SLRs and even nice Point & Shoot
cameras are probably being quietly retired
these days.


rafe b.
http://www.terrapinphoto.com

Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?

What makes you think that anyone here (or anywhere else for that matter)
could possibly answer a question like that? Large format photography
provides a lot of benefits but the ability to predict the future isn't one
of them.

"Quest0029" wrote in message
...
Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?
Thanks
AL

rafe bustin wrote:

On 28 Dec 2004 00:32:54 GMT, (Quest0029) wrote:

Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?
Thanks
AL


I could argue this one either way.

Pro: 35 mm has a huge installed base,
and is used in disposable film cameras
as well. Lots more of it in the market
than MF or LF film. On that basis, it
will live forever.

Plus I know lots of "old folks" who just like their film cameras. Many
aren't that computer literate, don't like the shutter lag most P&S digitals
have and since they use MAYBE 1-2 rolls a film a year, there isn't enough
money spent on film to save anything.


Con: Digital capture will replace 35 mm
well before it replaces MF or LF. Lots
of 35 mm SLRs and even nice Point & Shoot
cameras are probably being quietly retired
these days.


I think as time goes on people will be buying digital rather than film P&S
cameras, especially the younger generations who want to e-mail pictures
etc. Still like you said, there is a large installed base of film cameras
so can't see film going away anytime real soon.

--

Stacey

"Stacey" wrote in message
...
rafe bustin wrote:

On 28 Dec 2004 00:32:54 GMT, (Quest0029) wrote:

Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?
Thanks
AL


I could argue this one either way.

Pro: 35 mm has a huge installed base,
and is used in disposable film cameras
as well. Lots more of it in the market
than MF or LF film. On that basis, it
will live forever.

Plus I know lots of "old folks" who just like their film cameras. Many
aren't that computer literate, don't like the shutter lag most P&S
digitals
have and since they use MAYBE 1-2 rolls a film a year, there isn't enough
money spent on film to save anything.


Con: Digital capture will replace 35 mm
well before it replaces MF or LF. Lots
of 35 mm SLRs and even nice Point & Shoot
cameras are probably being quietly retired
these days.


I think as time goes on people will be buying digital rather than film P&S
cameras, especially the younger generations who want to e-mail pictures
etc. Still like you said, there is a large installed base of film cameras
so can't see film going away anytime real soon.

Perhaps if the 1-hr processing labs begins to target digital processing over
film processing at a more favourable charge-out rate, we may begin to see
the demise of film (esp 35mm) at the consumer level.

Cheers.

Stacey wrote:

Plus I know lots of "old folks" who just like their film cameras. Many
aren't that computer literate, don't like the shutter lag most P&S digitals
have and since they use MAYBE 1-2 rolls a film a year, there isn't enough
money spent on film to save anything.

At one to two rolls a year, they aren't going to keep the businesses
making film in business. As I and many others have pointed out in this
NG, the major profits for the film companies were in
industrial/commercial products, such as photolithography, medical and
dental X-ray, etc., etc. All this either has or is rapidly converting
to digital.

I like my film cameras too, and as I just got a Nikon 9000 scanner, I
hope that film (both 120/220 and 35mm) will continue to be available
for a few more years. But I suspect that by 2010, my film scanner, my
FM3A, and my Mamiya 7II will be relics, about on a par with my Intel
286-based computer (now resting in a landfill somewhere).

Tim Smith

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 23:57:39 -0500, Stacey wrote:

rafe bustin wrote:

On 28 Dec 2004 00:32:54 GMT, (Quest0029) wrote:

Is it true that medium and large format films
will be the first to go and that 35mm will continue
long after they have gone?
Thanks
AL


I could argue this one either way.

Pro: 35 mm has a huge installed base,
and is used in disposable film cameras
as well. Lots more of it in the market
than MF or LF film. On that basis, it
will live forever.

Plus I know lots of "old folks" who just like their film cameras. Many
aren't that computer literate, don't like the shutter lag most P&S digitals
have and since they use MAYBE 1-2 rolls a film a year, there isn't enough
money spent on film to save anything.


Con: Digital capture will replace 35 mm
well before it replaces MF or LF. Lots
of 35 mm SLRs and even nice Point & Shoot
cameras are probably being quietly retired
these days.


I think as time goes on people will be buying digital rather than film P&S
cameras, especially the younger generations who want to e-mail pictures
etc. Still like you said, there is a large installed base of film cameras
so can't see film going away anytime real soon.


Market forces will answer the OP's question.
And 35mm film profits are taken from a very
diverse market.

I'd guess MF film profits are 90% from
pros vs 10% from consumer/hobbyists/
noncommercial. 35mm is... probably much
more complicated.

Each of these market segments may have
their own multi-variable take on the
film/digital thing.

Digital capture will need to get a *whole*
lot better and cheaper before it kills off
either MF or LF film. Eg., ad agencies will
insist on a reasonable level of quality
at any cost.

There is OTOH a general cultural tilt
towards immediacy and away from "classical"
notions of quality which bode ill for the
larger film formats. Does f64 appeal to
Gen X or Gen Y? Does it matter?

Vast profits to be made selling miles
of 35mm to the masses. But the folks
who still *need* LF/MF are from the
commercial/corporate world, and there's
good money there, too -- for now.



rafe b.
http://www.terrapinphoto.com

Tim Smith wrote:

Stacey wrote:

Plus I know lots of "old folks" who just like their film cameras. Many
aren't that computer literate, don't like the shutter lag most P&S
digitals have and since they use MAYBE 1-2 rolls a film a year, there
isn't enough money spent on film to save anything.

At one to two rolls a year, they aren't going to keep the businesses
making film in business.

Given the millions of film camera users that do use 1-2 rolls a year, that's
still a lot of film. These types of people buy WAY more of the film than
"power users" do. Think about how many disposable cameras are sold (isn't
most film sold as disposables?) and how few of these each user buys in a
year.


But I suspect that by 2010, my film scanner, my
FM3A, and my Mamiya 7II will be relics, about on a par with my Intel
286-based computer (now resting in a landfill somewhere).


Maybe the scanner but I highly doubt film will disappear in 5 years. I
suspect my newest OM E300 digital will be a relic long before my rolleicord
is!

--

Stacey