----- Original Message ----- From: "Henri Toivonen"
Subject: Re: Film may not be dead.....
I think it IS partly due to the hype that is going on right now that film is dead and soon you won't even be able to buy film.
Simply because beginners, or people that are thinking about buying a camera, do some research on the net. People do that nowadays alot before they buy something, and read all these hundreds of pages saying that film is dead, film is worthless, all hail digital.
Nobody buys new analog slr's anymore, and the general attitude is turning now amongst beginners that film is really crap, simply because it's old. So even less people buy film cameras.
"Wow, what are you doing with that old dinosaur, throw that in the trash and buy a DIGITAL camera!".
I've even heard some sales clerks at photoshops say that when a customer comes in with a film camera.
I think all this is for the worse. Speeds up the death of film even more.
The manufacture of photographic equipment is, for the most part, driven by consumer fads.
We gave up glass plates for sheet film.
Was sheet film better? At the time, I strongly doubt it.
We gave up sheet film for roll film.
Why?
Was it better?
It was an era when image quality was, to a greater extent than today, driven by square inches, so I'd say not.
We gave up roll film for small format 35mm.
Is 35mm better?
Knowedgable film users will assure you it isn't.
In every one of those examples, we have traded ultimate image quality for convenience, to a certain extent.
Digital is another step, a logical step, in that trend.
It's evolution.
William Robb
