Is the film camera dead? Discussion and poll.

[Blox]

Who cares?! Photographers used to be a bit like tennis players. A lot of people could smack the ball with a racquet, but only a few won Grand Slams, and they could do it hitting with frying pans. But just as racquets went from wood to graphite and aerogel, thereby decreasing the depth of competition, the abandonment of film in favor of fool-proof technology will make EVERYONE a Pro!
With a little visualization and talent - ANYBODY with a nice digicam can produce professional quality stuff! So in 10 years the world will be full of billions and billions of beautiful images with none enjoying an especially exalted status. Long live visual democracy! Power to the picture people! Who needs the wedding photographers anymore?! Do it yourself, i.e. let Photoshop create the world IN YOUR IMAGE!

So, erm, are you saying everyone's a Tennis pro?

[gidgit]

lol

Hmm... perhaps there are some who feel tech is replacing jobs... and to a point, that is true, however, on the other side, tech has also created just as many jobs... so I would suppose that just certain adjustments are required by some individuals, and then onward it goes...

Also suggested, that it takes more than some fancy smancy camera to be a good photographer... I would agree with that...

I also agree that the decline to use film has already hit hard... digital is just too durn convenient... we went to see our son play a gig, and we used his new cell phone to record some footage of them playing... and like now you are watching the whole thing over and over again... sound quality sucked, but the colors are fantastic... too rad, too convenient

[Terry]

Digital photography has become the gold standard of photography, but the film camera is by no means dead - not until Boots start selling disposable digital cameras!

Last week it was my girlfriend's 21st birthday, and - rather than risk losing an expensive digi camera in the mayhem - people had disposable 'film' cameras. Like I said, until they start selling disposable digi cameras, film isn't dead.

There are lots of disposable digital cameras available. They've been available for quite a while.

http://www.disposabledigitalcameras.org/

[Blox]

There are lots of disposable digital cameras available. They've been available for quite a while.

http://www.disposabledigitalcameras.org/

Have you actually looked at the cameras featured in the "Disposable Digital Cameras" section? Strange that they all seem to be 35mm film cameras, lol.

[Jovenbob]

I bought a medium format camera about a year ago. Thanks to digital in the commercial world, these are being dumped for next to nothing prices. I guess in the buisnies of photography for mags, digital is the way it's going. But for me, the big clear, beautifull blow ups, (30X30) can't be beat with these film cameras.
Large format excluded of course.

[Malcom Lyons]

Film can be scanned in at high resolution using scanners that cost less than a good extra lens for a top of the range digital camera. Then a good old 35mm SLR kit can be used digitally with all the flexibility of a digital camera at the processing stage but at a fraction of the capital outlay. Running costs are higher (film + processing). One has to weigh up running costs vs capital outlay.
After 2010 as Peak Oil will hit manufacturing and transport,so goods will become much more expensive to manufacture and transport. The era of cheap computers and digicams will come to an end. Film will also become more expensive to manufacture and transport.
What will count in the long run will be the longevity of the camera and the ease with which local manufacturers can produce film and digital storage media.
Think outside the box.

[ankhor]

What will count in the long run will be the longevity of the camera and the ease with which local manufacturers can produce film and digital storage media.
Think outside the box.

Hmm locally means that the material for producing it would be local too,
otherwise that would be expensive too. That also needs to be shipped
and distributed.

[Unregistered]

OK, here's the thing. Unless you are going to develop and print your own, pay a serious amount of money or do a lot of research to find a good lab that still using the real negative, you will not get the same results you used to get with film. I found this out the hard way after shooting medium format, 35mm and digital for a job. The best images shot were all in medium format. The lab messed them up, they were scratched from one end to the other. So then there was the 35mm film, well the 8x10s i had printed were horrible. I found out later that the lab had switched to digital printing and the film was scanned at a resolution equivalent to a 3 megapixel image. So hands down the best results were from my digital camera. I think with any tool, you just have to know its limitations. Just like when you first learned film you have to learn how to shoot digital. You can get really awesome results if you know how to shoot it. Learn to use whatever tool you have. I have sold most of my film cameras, I kept some items for nastalgia but i never use them.

[Unregistered]

I voted no. Film and Digital both have their places but with technology advancing so fast was is the standard in, say 10 years and are you current CD and DVDs still going to be readable?

I am sure the answers is Yes, but are you sure?

What is the purpose of photography? Showing off your images - Right. What does it matter if it came from a digital image or a film image. Film will eventually get harder and more expensive to find and process, but die hard film shooters will pay the price and enjoy their time in their dark rooms.

[thegiftmallonli]

i will still not give up a disposable camera picture to a digital camera picture