Re: [Leica] Future of film

[Byron Rakitzis <leica@rakitzis.com>]

> Bryan,
> Well, you may be right, but, 20 years ago I was told to embrace video
> because film would be dead in 5 years. But now 16mm, Super16mm Aaton and
> Arriflex cameras have a 3 to 6 month waiting list for a camera package that
> runs about $150,000. Same thing with 35mm cameras. And Aaton is about ready
> to introduce a new design S16mm camera at about $16,000 the back orders will
> be huge.Kodak's motion picture division is extremely profitable and 70% of
> prime time television is shot on film. The 9 years of Seinfield shows were
> all shot on Panavision 35mm. Most young people want to shoot on film and the
> competition to get into schools like UCLA or NYU film schools is intense.
> More evidence is that the sales of old Arri's, Eclair's and even Bolex's is
> brisk. I was at a press conference a few years where Larry Thorpe, VP of
> Sony HDTV stated that HDTV would NEVER overtake 35mm film. A coupkle of
> years later at a Wildlife Film Conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming the same
> Mr. Thorpe was in tears because wildlife filmmakers even rejected HDTV over
> 16mm. As far as Lucas goes the word is that his digital EFX's in the
> entertainment and TV commercial world have become stale. But, I do agree
> completely that the days of distribution to movie theaters on film will soon
> be over (a few more years). Yes it is true that with the dumbing down of our
> culture film will eventually fade away but not in my lifetime. As far as
> Leica and their survival, I really don't know what will happen but it seems
> to me they have done a dreadful job of marketing their very fine product. In
> Washington, DC where their are over 300 news services you will find nary a
> Leica anywhere amongst the pros so they are kidding themselves when they
> claim to be the camera of the professional. Maybe once opon a time, but no
> more. And try going to one of the handful of Leica dealers in DC and ask for
> a lens cap and see what happens. So that makes me worry about the future of
> Leica but still very bullish on film.
> Steve
> Annapolis

Steve, thanks for the balanced post.

I think this whole issue resists analysis because film is used in so many
different ways. So let's agree that film will be around for a while in
one form or another.

My question is (a) what fraction of the 35mm market will turn to digital
in the years to come, and furthermore, (b) what is Leica going to do
about it?

If you'll let me inject a little bit of personal history, I can let you
know what motivates my comments:

About 15 years ago I got an Olympus OM-4 solely because of the spot
metering feature. It was great, but the electronics were unreliable
so 3-4 years later I got a Nikon FM which I used for a number of years
after that.

Even at the time, my choices were nonrepresentative. Autofocus was coming
onto the market in the mid-80s and early 90s, and that was making cameras
like the Nikon FM obsolete.

These days, one of my favorite cameras to use is a 40yr old Rolleiflex
2.8F.  But what makes breathe an (internal) sigh of disappointment
is that when I go about using this camera for the most part the first
question anyone will ask, old and young alike, is "can you still get
film for that camera"?

Similarly, the M6 marks me among my non-photographer friends as somewhat
of a crank: namely, someone who is actually willing to put the time and
effort into learning how to FOCUS and METER MANUALLY. Imagine that!

So perhaps my intuition about the film vs. digital business (because
I freely admit I have no hard facts) is not the fact that I live in
Silicon Valley, but that I'm brought into contact on a daily basis with
what you call the "dumbing down of our culture".

Byron.