[Leica] B&W the dodo?

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

Les Bonser>>>>
In my humble opinion, digital will get bigger in the marketplace and
amongst users at all levels. But film will never go away entirely,
particularly in the hobbyist market. Radio didn't totally replace live
music, movies didn't totally replace plays, TV didn't totally replace TV
or plays, and video/DVD hasn't totally replaced TV. The web hasn't
replaced the written word--people still buy books and magazines.

Digital cameras are just another possibility for capturing and creating
images.
<<<<<



The situation is probably more analogous to what happened to earlier
methods if image production, such as stone lithography, intaglio, and
woodcuts.

Ron Wisner, of Wisner Classic Manufacturing (the wooden, leather, and
brass view-camera maker, for those of you who never venture out of 35mm)
believes that the status and prestige of photography will actually
INCREASE as it is replaced by digital and as fewer and fewer people
practice it. His view makes sense to me--because most of the occasional
and happenstance users will be swept away, and only those who love it
and are committed to it will remain. Also, it will get rarer.

I think it's unlikely that black-and-white materials will ever go away
entirely. At the very worst, if the major manufacturers cease production
totally (an unlikely scenario IMHO), it's wise to remember that film and
paper manufacture is just not very high-tech or capital-intensive--which
is why we have easter European and third-world manufacturers of
sensitized products. As long as there is even a small niche market,
somewhere in the world there will be a country that will think the
manufacture of sensitized products is appropriate for its
industrialization plans.

- --Mike