Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/06/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Ulp. Don, you're scaring me. I used to think that the "film is dead" talk was just digifreak triumphalism. That film would shrink to a much smaller market, but that it would still be around. You're making a pretty good case for the imminent collapse of the entire infrastructure of film. Do you really think that in two or three years that's going to happen? That the C-41 B&W I've come to love will be a thing of the past? That I won't be able to get Tri-X from my local pro shop here in Seattle, or from B&H? That I'll be ordering it at $20 per roll from Svetlana's Film Magazina in Sverdlovsk? If I have to, I suppose I can break out the old developing tanks and stuff--they're still in a couple of boxes in the garage. I could mix up D76 from scratch if they stop making it. But please, don't take my Tri-X away, don't take my BW400CN away, and don't take my film scanner away. Possible saving grace: There are large portions of the world where digital is just too expensive to get into for most people. There are going to have to be a few factories churning out film for those folks. If they make it for them, they'll make it for us, too. Or at least I would think. --Peter Don Dory wrote: > My personal thoughts are that the whole minerature film thing will come to a > screeching halt fairly soon. Disposable cameras are keeping local amateur > labs open and as the price of digital falls then that niche will fail pretty > quickly. In the U.S. there is major talk from the drug chains of dropping > C-41 capability and the other large retailers are downsizing their processor > capabilities as machines fail. > So, for film lovers, have a couple of freezers full of your favorite film. > Learn to love stable developers that you can mix yourself. Know the > critical parts in your food chain and have several spares. Try to think of > some options should a key part of your work flow die. In my case that would > be the film scanner: if I upgrade operating systems then the scanner I > presently own will not migrate. So, I probably will wait for the new stuff > and then for Nikon to upgrade their software on the 5000 to buy one. That > should carry me for six or seven years.