plasticman Posted May 28, 2011 Share #1 Posted May 28, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Picked-up my developed films at TeamFramkallning in Stockholm on thursday, and Veikko (the owner) was complaining that he's overloaded with work and has to come in weekends at the moment. This is the second time he's been moaning like this the previous month - which cheers me up no end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 28, 2011 Posted May 28, 2011 Hi plasticman, Take a look here More meaningless anecdotal evidence about health of film.... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
pico Posted May 28, 2011 Share #2 Posted May 28, 2011 Perhaps he should hire some help, although that does not always work. Aside: a colleague exclaimed with joy that his work has been cut in half since he got a computer. I said, "Then you should have bought two." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted May 28, 2011 Share #3 Posted May 28, 2011 "Then you should have bought two." That's what I once told a former boss of mine who boasted that he'd just doubled his reading speed by taking a course in speed reading. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted May 28, 2011 Share #4 Posted May 28, 2011 Well, I'm not going to rain on anyone's parade. Our shop sold a couple of film SLRs last week (Nikon F100 and a Canon T90) - and one Canham 5x7/4x5. We've taken in about a dozen M film bodies and sold half of them in the past month. A 20-ish woman bought a Pentax Spotmatic and 50 f/1.8 lens (older than her by 20 years!) to replace one stolen. Of course, (distant thunder) we are now one of only 2 stores that stock film cameras (all used) in a metropolitan area that had probably 30+ stores doing so 15 years ago. No, I lie, there are 4 stores that do sell Holgas and Dianas as their sole "film cameras." So it's sort of a case of the total market shrinking, and us getting the lion's share of it. Our lab is very busy - about 1/3 of the film market is for processing and CDs only (no prints). A surprising amount of that is 120 (Hassy, Rollei, and fine-art students' Holgas). We have kiosks for prints from CD-ROMs, USB drives, or camera cards, and those get 2-3 customers a day. I'm really happy to be selling in a mixed film/digital environment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin_d Posted May 30, 2011 Share #5 Posted May 30, 2011 Perhaps he should hire some help, although that does not always work. Aside: a colleague exclaimed with joy that his work has been cut in half since he got a computer. I said, "Then you should have bought two." Haha, nice, the problem is you are expected to do twice as much, no it's more than that. Because technology gives us so many choices and options and capacity to monitor and report and search and find and create and multi task, we're actually time poorer, and we didn't even notice it happening to us. Back on topic, my processor has no plans to ditch film processing, and that goes for E6 too. Big W will do C41 processing here as well, which is symbolic for a big multi national profit driven goliath. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin_d Posted May 30, 2011 Share #6 Posted May 30, 2011 Well, I'm not going to rain on anyone's parade. Our shop sold a couple of film SLRs last week (Nikon F100 and a Canon T90) - and one Canham 5x7/4x5. We've taken in about a dozen M film bodies and sold half of them in the past month. A 20-ish woman bought a Pentax Spotmatic and 50 f/1.8 lens (older than her by 20 years!) to replace one stolen. Of course, (distant thunder) we are now one of only 2 stores that stock film cameras (all used) in a metropolitan area that had probably 30+ stores doing so 15 years ago. No, I lie, there are 4 stores that do sell Holgas and Dianas as their sole "film cameras." So it's sort of a case of the total market shrinking, and us getting the lion's share of it. Our lab is very busy - about 1/3 of the film market is for processing and CDs only (no prints). A surprising amount of that is 120 (Hassy, Rollei, and fine-art students' Holgas). We have kiosks for prints from CD-ROMs, USB drives, or camera cards, and those get 2-3 customers a day. I'm really happy to be selling in a mixed film/digital environment. Hi Andy, that's interesting stuff. In Melbourne Australia there are also a number of shops that sell film alongside digital cameras, albeit film is second hand. As I think out loud, I wonder if there are some countries where film is stronger than others. For instance I would expect in the land of the rising sun and home of Canons & Nikons, you would struggle to find a trace of film. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted May 30, 2011 Share #7 Posted May 30, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Well, I'm not going to rain on anyone's parade. Oi! And I was in Denver just a week ago. What's your shop address. I still visit from time to time! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticman Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share #8 Posted May 30, 2011 I would expect in the land of the rising sun and home of Canons & Nikons, you would struggle to find a trace of film. tokyo camera style Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted May 30, 2011 Share #9 Posted May 30, 2011 I'm sure film has a very healthy furture, you only need to look at the catelogue of one of the UK's leading suppliers 'Silverprint' to see there are things available now off the shelf that were harder to source in the heyday of film. Film camera sales on Ebay are booming (try and buy anything decent nowadays for a bargain price!). I put it down to one dirty word 'Lomography'. Just about the time digital was going to totally destroy the film market for ever the Lomo movement introduced a new and young generation of photographers to film, something nobody could have foreseen. And the spirit still lives on as those photographers have got older and now use real cameras (like Leica's), and they have infected other people with an enthusiasm for film. Even my local Pro lab now advertises that they welcome Lomography (presumably by not trying to correct colour casts etc!). A new Lomo Lab has opened in London. So I think film is now at a level where its going to roughly stay, a very healthy niche market with lots of opportunities for companies to make money. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted May 30, 2011 Share #10 Posted May 30, 2011 you only need to look at the catelogue of one of the UK's leading suppliers 'Silverprint' to see there are things available now off the shelf that were harder to source in the heyday of film. That may be true, but I bet there are more things that were available off the shelf in the heyday of film that are far harder to source now - and I don't just mean Kodachrome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted May 30, 2011 Share #11 Posted May 30, 2011 That may be true, but I bet there are more things that were available off the shelf in the heyday of film that are far harder to source now - and I don't just mean Kodachrome. I don't think there is any proof that it has stopped falling in the total consumer market but maybe there is a sub group or two where it is picking up a bit and that is what some are seeing. The highpoint for home darkrooms in the US was the late 1950s I believe. It was a very popular hobby in the 50s and 60s and is a very tiny hobby today. The highpoint for amateurs shooting color slides was a long time ago. It was relatively common for commercial photographers to have at least b/w darkroom capability until about a 10-20 years ago. 15-20 years ago I could go to my local store (Industrial Photo in Silver Spring, MD - outside of Washington DC) and pick up large quantities of Cibachrome chemicals or just about any type or quantity of chemicals or photo sensitive material. Even if that was something as unusual as a 50 sheet box of 8x10 Ektachrome duping film. This store is long gone but still shows up on web searches. I guess nobody cleans up these listings. There is no local supplier for the materials and equipment used by processing labs. Industrial Photo supplied a lot of government and other labs that shut down some time ago. Film is still being propped up by the motion picture industry and X rays. I'd expect to see declining use in those markets over time as theaters digitize and digital X rays make greater inroads. I think overall film sales will fall to a plateau where eventually it will mostly be used by artists/enthusiasts and stay steady for a while. Thinking usage by artists and enthusiast would pick up in the future is pretty speculative but anything can happen I guess. Perhaps trendsetters such as Lady Gaga will make a difference but this isn't traditional film either and I have no idea if it is having much impact on the market. http://www.polaroid.com/en/press/2011/1/6/polaroid-and-lady-gaga-announce-grey-label http://gizmodo.com/5727101/this-is-what-happens-when-polaroid-lets-lady-gaga-design-something Consider that the chemical photo process of photo lithography forms the sensors, circuit boards, and ICs in digital cameras. So there is a form of traditional photography in all electronics. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted May 30, 2011 Share #12 Posted May 30, 2011 "Perhaps trendsetters such as Lady Gaga will make a difference....." Or Flo in the Progressive Insurance ads - nice Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, BTW (wonder how she gets 10 pictures out of one flashbulb, though. ) Strike a Pose with Flo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted May 31, 2011 Share #13 Posted May 31, 2011 "Perhaps trendsetters such as Lady Gaga will make a difference....." Or Flo in the Progressive Insurance ads - nice Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, BTW (wonder how she gets 10 pictures out of one flashbulb, though. ) Strike a Pose with Flo I didn't know her name is "Flo?" Talk about a throwback name but no trendsetter I suspect. I bet companies could make little electronic flash units that fit in place of flashbulbs. There's got to be a big market for that. I'm calling the Polaroid GL20 glasses "GaGoggles" I actually think this is a pretty creative idea that justifies her being the "creative director." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin_d Posted May 31, 2011 Share #14 Posted May 31, 2011 Counter intuitively, the digital age is helping prolong, and possibly will save, the future of film. The ability to digitise images and share them across the web must surely be inspiring some traditional film addicts to continue their habit, and wooing the next generation of film users to jump on board for the soul satisfying ride. The introduction of digital photography was revolutionary and turned all R&D away from film, film can co-exist with digital, but what it needs is something to revolutionalise it, to lift its status again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted May 31, 2011 Share #15 Posted May 31, 2011 . The introduction of digital photography was revolutionary and turned all R&D away from film, film can co-exist with digital, but what it needs is something to revolutionalise it, to lift its status again. Such as....??? I don't see Polaroid sticking a tiny motion picture film camera into a pair of sunglasses. I always thought it would be pretty neat if you could make prints grow and shrink as needed but I don't see that happening anytime soon either. Have you seen how popular the Go Pro Hero and similar cameras are with active sports enthusiasts and others. That is pretty evolutionary and this is only the beginning. Consider that a lot of people are also much more enamored with video+sound than with stills. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/152808-more-meaningless-anecdotal-evidence-about-health-of-film/?do=findComment&comment=1687759'>More sharing options...
colin_d Posted May 31, 2011 Share #16 Posted May 31, 2011 Such as....??? I don't see Polaroid sticking a tiny motion picture camera into a pair of sunglasses. Have you seen how popular the Go Pro Hero and similar cameras are with active sports enthusiasts and others. That is pretty revolutionary and this is only the beginning. Aha, Barbie advertising film, that will get the juniors on board, and even the dads, just think how many barbie dolls are sold each year, clever product marketing, that is exactly what I am talking about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted May 31, 2011 Share #17 Posted May 31, 2011 Aha, Barbie advertising film, that will get the juniors on board, and even the dads, just think how many barbie dolls are sold each year, clever product marketing, that is exactly what I am talking about. You are just so late to the party I'm afraid. Even Barbie is way ahead of you. Video Girl - Home - Barbie.com And those hip young UCLA kids are entering a Barbie Video Girl film festival. So much for Lomography. The Daily Bruin :: The 1st Annual Barbie Film Festival will feature clips shot entirely with the video camera on the doll and this digital camera: Amazon.com: Barbie Digital Camera: Toys & Games They had a film still camera. Amazon.com: Barbie 35mm Camera with Built in Flash and Film: Toys & Games and this one is gone: Amazon.com: Polaroid Barbie Pink Instant 600 Film Camera: Electronics And the FBI warning: FBI Warns Video Camera Barbie Could Be Used For Kiddie Porn - The Consumerist Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/152808-more-meaningless-anecdotal-evidence-about-health-of-film/?do=findComment&comment=1687771'>More sharing options...
JBA Posted May 31, 2011 Share #18 Posted May 31, 2011 Hi Andy, that's interesting stuff. In Melbourne Australia there are also a number of shops that sell film alongside digital cameras, albeit film is second hand. As I think out loud, I wonder if there are some countries where film is stronger than others. For instance I would expect in the land of the rising sun and home of Canons & Nikons, you would struggle to find a trace of film. Not quite the case. Though labs have closed and consolidated, and the big box stores have less on offer (obviously no Kodachrome, and now no Astia or Neopan 1600), you can still get everything offered by Kodak, Fuji, and Ilford. This includes 8x10 Velvia and everything in between, including processing chemicals, enlargers, papers, etc., etc. tokyo camera style He's a friend of mine and has featured me a couple of times. Really nice guy with no pretenses. He's devoted to film and shoots these photos with a cheap digital P&S. I'm about to move from Tokyo to coastal Maine, where the nearest photo shop is at least 45 minutes' drive away and a delicate septic system precludes home development. At least sending film away for processing will be cheaper there than sending my Kodachrome from Tokyo was. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Markey Posted June 1, 2011 Share #19 Posted June 1, 2011 Still plenty of film and film processing in my area. Traditional holiday coastal resort in the UK frequented by the older holiday maker. I can still get cheap offers on film in the big stores and get it processed for £1.98 with a 20 minute turnaround. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBA Posted June 2, 2011 Share #20 Posted June 2, 2011 I found a trove of Astia today. First time I've seen it in months. Bought 5 rolls. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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