For that reason, I expect that b&w film may survive, kept alive by darkroom aficionados. Personally, though, I would never go back to the frustrations of colour printing (which I have dabbled in) or of opening a packet of prints to find that the colour balnce is all wrong, again! So, I don't hold out much hope for colour. Digital is so much more reliable, convenient, and cheap.
John
On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 12:47:00 +0100, Steve Larson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
That is the same thing the guys at my lab are saying.
Digital is just a fad :)
----- Original Message ----- From: "Shel Belinkoff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <pentax-discuss@pdml.net>
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 10:34 AM
Subject: Re: Film is dead...
We have many professional and high-quality labs in the area, some with
international reputations and others known and respected throughout the US.
I'm on good terms with many of the people who work in and run some of these
labs. A few days ago I was talking with a woman at the lab that does some
of my film processing. She was saying that, at least in her lab and a
couple of others in the area with which she's most conversant, many
photographers, both pros and advanced amateurs, are migrating back to film
from digital.
It's also interesting to note that the number of labs specializing in
conventional B&W has not diminished in the last few years, and some are
doing even more business (in B&W) than before digital became such a strong
force in the market place.
What does this mean in the overall scheme of things? Probably not much, but, OTOH, it does at least show that, in this market, film is not dead, nor does it seem to be dying.
Here's a quick figure from the kast issue of a local photo lab directory
that I have - dated 2004: within an hour drive of my house there are 77
pro-quality labs, 27 of which handle custom B&W processing and a few of
which specialize in custom B&W processing. In some areas there are more
labs working with film than there are with digital. I'm not talking about
the one hour mini labs - I'm mean full tilt pro labs that can handle the
full gamut of a photographer's needs and requirements.
Shel
[Original Message] From: Steve Desjardins
We teach several courses at my college based on traditional film photography. They are inevitably overfilled with long wait-lists. The funny part is that the camera of choice is (still) the K-1000. (I have let student borrow lenses and even gave my old Tak 135 2.5 to I student I knew.) I think we are seeing digital becoming the main stream method of choice and film becoming an artistic alternative. Since many amateurs treat photography as an art from, film should continue to do well.
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