Yesterday, while driving to work I heard a small news segment on NPR about Kodak discontinuing Kodachrome, citing increased use of digital cameras and a decline in demand for film.
My first thought was: is film on the way out?
Along those same lines, when my Dad came out a week ago we talked about his old Minolta a little bit (note to self: borrow Dad’s Minolta the next time I am in NY) and he mentioned that a number of camera shops closed down in his area and the local grocery store, Wegmans, no longer does film processing.
It is just a matter of time before digital cameras become cheap and ubiquitous enough that the only people using film are professionals and quirky used camera enthusiasts…
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Ok, maybe that’s a little strong.
Mass market film won’t disappear any time soon. Kodachrome, while discontinued, is 74-year-old technology with a very difficult development procedure, even for professional labs. While it is sad that such an iconic film is disappearing, it is not a film used by many and it seems like Kodak is making an intelligent choice. Yet, Kodak, the in Rochester, New York, company that employed my grandfather (he always seemed to have a Kodak camera and Kodak film with him), is sending mixed messages to the media about film. One side of Kodak’s mouth claims that film sales are growing while the other side admits to large losses and institutes layoffs. All companies are hurting in this economy, but the digital side of Kodak was impacted the least last year.
You can only assume that the side of the company dealing with film took a beating. And let’s be honest, when you think of Kodak, you do not really think of digital, you think of film.
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Oddly enough, as time goes on I find myself more drawn to film. One of my goals for this summer is to get my hands on an old film camera (preferably medium format, maybe a TLR) and run some film through it. I’m also interested in developing some of that film myself, since I last developed film in high school but I still remember the magic of the process.
I doubt film will disappear or even significantly increase in price over the next decade. But, it is impossible to deny that photographic film is in decline, and digital is the way of the future. Film, slowly and surely, will become a niche market.
