WOW!! People really do still use film

Scott Sanders · May 22, 2002

I was at my freinds sons graduation earlier today and i was surprised at the number of people still using film. I would say about 95% where using film cameras, which was a bit of a shock to me. I havent bought film since i bought a CoolPix 950 3 years ago. I thought everyone was on to the digital revolution, i guess thats what i get for thinking.

David R Stout · May 22, 2002

I use both film and digital. There are pros and cons for each and as a professional I have to suit the medium to the subject matter and application as well as client's wishes.

David

Scott Sanders said:
I was at my freinds sons graduation earlier today and i was
surprised at the number of people still using film. I would say
about 95% where using film cameras, which was a bit of a shock to
me. I havent bought film since i bought a CoolPix 950 3 years ago.
I thought everyone was on to the digital revolution, i guess thats
what i get for thinking.

Jeffrey Lazo · May 22, 2002

A lot of people, my girlfriend included, still feel that digital is too expensive. (everyone has their own hobbies and priorities). She shoots with a film SLR and wouldn't want anything less as far as control. A P&S would not do it for her, but the Dxx's are still too expensive. Some people also like to be able to hold a stack of photos in their hand and share them in a physical album. It will change when camera coslts continue to decrease, and the cost of film processing continues to rise.

--
Jeffrey Lazo
-Check out my D60 Galleries-
http://homepage.mac.com/lazoj
Lens Information/Prices
http://homepage.mac.com/lazod/lenses.html

KenEis · May 22, 2002

Its better then your experience shows. Pictures at graduation brings out cameras that are not used very much. If you were to poll the folks you saw you would probably find they all had images on the film in their camera from a trip a year ago. So you were with a group of non-photographers.

If you were to weight by total number of frames shot in a year I'd bet digital would win.

Scott Sanders said:
I was at my freinds sons graduation earlier today and i was
surprised at the number of people still using film. I would say
about 95% where using film cameras, which was a bit of a shock to
me. I havent bought film since i bought a CoolPix 950 3 years ago.
I thought everyone was on to the digital revolution, i guess thats
what i get for thinking.

--
Ken Eis

GreenArcher · May 22, 2002

For an event like graduation, I expect film will dominate. The reason being is most likely, you will want multiple print copies to send to relatives. Would you really want to print lots of the graduation pictures to send to relatives?

When I shoot important events that has the possibility of making multiple prints, I would pick film camera. I just don't like to print digital images myself to send to relatives. Plus, who knows how long those digital prints lasts.

That's just me.

GreenArcher
--
Canon Elan 7e, 420ex
Canon 24 f2.8, 50 f1.8, 100 f2.8 usm macro
Yashica T4 Super, Canon A50 digital, Sony DCR-TRV900
Gitzo G1128, Acratech Ultimate Ballhead
----------------------------
Wanting a DSLR

Scott Larson · May 22, 2002

Plus a lot of people don't want to spend time in front of a computer learning how to download and print their pictures when all they want is a stack of 3x5's to send to family.

mark kay · May 22, 2002

I live in Silicon Valley and when i go to major school functions for the kids, I would say that the film/digital is about 50/50. However, when i was in italy last summer, most of the tourists were using film. Very few digitals. Even the asian tourists were using more film. mark

Chris Clark · May 22, 2002

GreenArcher said:
For an event like graduation, I expect film will dominate. The
reason being is most likely, you will want multiple print copies to
send to relatives. Would you really want to print lots of the
graduation pictures to send to relatives?

When I shoot important events that has the possibility of making
multiple prints, I would pick film camera. I just don't like to
print digital images myself to send to relatives. Plus, who knows
how long those digital prints lasts.

That's just me.

GreenArcher
--
Canon Elan 7e, 420ex
Canon 24 f2.8, 50 f1.8, 100 f2.8 usm macro
Yashica T4 Super, Canon A50 digital, Sony DCR-TRV900
Gitzo G1128, Acratech Ultimate Ballhead
----------------------------
Wanting a DSLR

--
Chris Clark

In the UK a lot of labs are using the Fuji frontier photo printer which makes real photo prints from you're files. For pro photographers who set up their own files and so the labs have no colour correction to do, the savings are huge.

Chris Clark · May 22, 2002

mark kay said:
I live in Silicon Valley and when i go to major school functions
for the kids, I would say that the film/digital is about 50/50.
However, when i was in italy last summer, most of the tourists were
using film. Very few digitals. Even the asian tourists were using
more film. mark

--
Chris Clark

I think the main problem for people on holiday, is being able to store enough photos. A lot of the consumer digital cameras have pitiful amounts of memory space, and when you're away for 2 weeks you don;t want to have to stop taking pictures just because your camera is full.

Fazal Majid · May 23, 2002

Jeffrey said:
Some people also like to be able to hold a stack of
photos in their hand and share them in a physical album. It will
change when camera coslts continue to decrease, and the cost of
film processing continues to rise.

If you get your digital prints made on a Fuji Frontier minilab by Wal-Mart or Costco, they are already more cost-efficient than film.

I found my D30 actually rekindled my interest in film photography, after many years of slumber.

Fazal Majid · May 23, 2002

GreenArcher said:
For an event like graduation, I expect film will dominate. The
reason being is most likely, you will want multiple print copies to
send to relatives. Would you really want to print lots of the
graduation pictures to send to relatives?

Actually, you can upload your photos to an online photo sharing site (Wal-Mart is pretty good and cheap as well), and they can order (and pay for...) their prints in the sizes and quantities they want by themselves online.

vpera · May 23, 2002

Nice to see you landed on the earth surface safely...

If we think about the benefits of digital to an average
person they are very few, instant feedback being the
biggest. Cost factor may well be against digital among
the non gadget freaks. Where I live the cameras cost
3-5 times what film P&Ss cost and to get photos from
a lab you need to pay 2-4 times the film print prices
(ignoring the film development). If you are not a computer
user/owner you need to go in the photo shop anyway.
It is easier to give the camera or film roll to the salesperson
than go to your computer and burn a CD or copy the
JPEGs to a floppy. When most photostores have download
capabilities for every camera or media and when they can
do it fast enough then digital may compete successfully
among those photographing only few rolls a year. If you
take your camera out of box less than ten times a year
you really don't want to worry about (rechargeable)
batteries as the first thing when you get the camera in
your hand. And if thefts are a problem
many prefer to carry a cheaper film camera.

But I agree that will change as new cameras are bought
especially by younger people who don't feel 100,- E/USD
is the max. budget for a camera. They usually are more
gadget oriented anyway.

Also,
if digital was more common I'd be worried about storing the
photos ("negatives"). A friend at work who is young and likes
digital told how cheap it is to take digital photos. Then I asked
how does he manage the backuping process and he said
he has been thinking the same, what to do with it.
Currently all photos are still on his computer harddisk...
If that's the case then box of unorganized negatives and
photos is maybe the better alternative in long term.

Digital is nice but not for everyone.

Vesa

vpera · May 23, 2002

Fazal Majid said:
GreenArcher said:

For an event like graduation, I expect film will dominate. The
reason being is most likely, you will want multiple print copies to
send to relatives. Would you really want to print lots of the
graduation pictures to send to relatives?

Click to expand...

Actually, you can upload your photos to an online photo sharing
site (Wal-Mart is pretty good and cheap as well), and they can
order (and pay for...) their prints in the sizes and quantities
they want by themselves online.

And how do they take care of negatives, i.e. files?
They don't care, right?
Vesa

alfred_schiele · May 23, 2002

Hi

vpera said:
Nice to see you landed on the earth surface safely...

Definitely!

vpera said:
Where I live the cameras cost
3-5 times what film P&Ss cost and to get photos from
a lab you need to pay 2-4 times the film print prices
(ignoring the film development).

Yes! And every year better new models!

How cheap is it to buy the next generation film and use it in the camera you already have!

vpera said:
If you are not a computer
user/owner you need to go in the photo shop anyway.

An if you hav no computer you need to buy one!

vpera said:
It is easier to give the camera or film roll to the salesperson
than go to your computer and burn a CD or copy the
JPEGs to a floppy. When most photostores have download
capabilities for every camera or media and when they can
do it fast enough then digital may compete successfully
among those photographing only few rolls a year.

I like this idea but terminals are not too reliable and they often dont work when YOU need them 8)=

vpera said:
But I agree that will change as new cameras are bought
especially by younger people who don't feel 100,- E/USD
is the max. budget for a camera. They usually are more
gadget oriented anyway.

That's ok, but I dislike the quick innovation cycles which increases cost as well... Not everybody can spent a lot more frequently

vpera said:
Also,
if digital was more common I'd be worried about storing the
photos ("negatives"). A friend at work who is young and likes
digital told how cheap it is to take digital photos.

I recognized a different behavior in shooting digital myself. While I cared a lot how a shot should look like in the past when using film, I experiment a lot more with digital because there is no need to print the stuff to examine the quality... It is difficult to see quality on a small piece of 35mm neg strip... and scanning is mostly too much effort just to see...

vpera said:
Then I asked
how does he manage the backuping process and he said
he has been thinking the same, what to do with it.

A common problem in computing...

vpera said:
Currently all photos are still on his computer harddisk...
If that's the case then box of unorganized negatives and
photos is maybe the better alternative in long term.

Yes, archiving needs any (personal) strategy, otherwise things can get lost soon...

vpera said:
Digital is nice but not for everyone.

That's the main point! I bought a P&S for my parents some years ago, a simple 1MP Camedia. It is difficult to tweak out anything good looking for standard prints... It took me days to create a PS action to manage the most common problems... In the end I have the work, my parents are no computer geeks but still want prints!

Regards

aaron53665 · May 23, 2002

Scott Sanders said:
I was at my freinds sons graduation earlier today and i was
surprised at the number of people still using film. I would say
about 95% where using film cameras, which was a bit of a shock to
me. I havent bought film since i bought a CoolPix 950 3 years ago.
I thought everyone was on to the digital revolution, i guess thats
what i get for thinking.

funny you used the 95% figure, that's exactly the number pop photo quoted recently from an industry survey stating that 95% of all photos printed in the world, (printed or shot? i forget) in the last year were film images. i mentioned that in one of the big film vs digital threads a while back.

think of the hundreds of millions of film cameras that people own already which are working perfectly and getting them sharp clear well exposed pictures on neg film with very little effort or learning curve, and without the expense of digital cameras, batteries, memory cards, or computers. you have to shoot quite a bit of film for those costs to start balancing out. and the time and effort will never balance out for the casual snapshooter

the people predicting the imminent demise of film are just not thinking. as long as it's a gold mine for kodak and fuji who can sell rolls repeatedly to point n shoot owners the world over film will live on. the industry is not as incestuous as the music industry and there is no one who can force the change down the consumers throats for their own benefit the way it was done with cd's/vinyl. the people who pressed records were just vendors to the music industry and had no power, they just fulfilled orders at the discretion of the record companies. when the record companies found they could get cd's made more cheaply then vinyl while doubling the retail prices and cutting the artists cut in half to boot they simply dictated the change and stopped ordering vinyl (and tapes)

it's not up to the camera makers or memory card makers to do the same, they can't control kodak and fuji and stop them from making film as long as all those film cameras are still out there able to use film. not to mention that film cameras are still being mass produced and sold, and that camera makers are still making money on selling those cameras. film is like razor blades, you always need more. once someone has a few large enough flash cards that's the end of it pretty much

mark kay · May 23, 2002

If the 95% figure was referring to printed photos then there is a problem in their analysis. Many digital shots are never printed but for most people who shoot with film they get a single print of each shot when they process the flim. mark

aaron said:
Scott Sanders said:

I was at my freinds sons graduation earlier today and i was
surprised at the number of people still using film. I would say
about 95% where using film cameras, which was a bit of a shock to
me. I havent bought film since i bought a CoolPix 950 3 years ago.
I thought everyone was on to the digital revolution, i guess thats
what i get for thinking.

Click to expand...

funny you used the 95% figure, that's exactly the number pop photo
quoted recently from an industry survey stating that 95% of all
photos printed in the world, (printed or shot? i forget) in the
last year were film images. i mentioned that in one of the big film
vs digital threads a while back.

think of the hundreds of millions of film cameras that people own
already which are working perfectly and getting them sharp clear
well exposed pictures on neg film with very little effort or
learning curve, and without the expense of digital cameras,
batteries, memory cards, or computers. you have to shoot quite a
bit of film for those costs to start balancing out. and the time
and effort will never balance out for the casual snapshooter

the people predicting the imminent demise of film are just not
thinking. as long as it's a gold mine for kodak and fuji who can
sell rolls repeatedly to point n shoot owners the world over film
will live on. the industry is not as incestuous as the music
industry and there is no one who can force the change down the
consumers throats for their own benefit the way it was done with
cd's/vinyl. the people who pressed records were just vendors to the
music industry and had no power, they just fulfilled orders at the
discretion of the record companies. when the record companies found
they could get cd's made more cheaply then vinyl while doubling the
retail prices and cutting the artists cut in half to boot they
simply dictated the change and stopped ordering vinyl (and tapes)

it's not up to the camera makers or memory card makers to do the
same, they can't control kodak and fuji and stop them from making
film as long as all those film cameras are still out there able to
use film. not to mention that film cameras are still being mass
produced and sold, and that camera makers are still making money on
selling those cameras. film is like razor blades, you always need
more. once someone has a few large enough flash cards that's the
end of it pretty much

aaron53665 · May 23, 2002

mark kay said:
If the 95% figure was referring to printed photos then there is a
problem in their analysis. Many digital shots are never printed
but for most people who shoot with film they get a single print of
each shot when they process the flim. mark

there's no problem either way because all they did was state the figure and they either said it one way or the other. any analysis here was mine not pop photos, and i stand by it no matter what the exact figures are. it's the overall logic of it that's important. however as i remember it they actually said all photos taken, i just don't remember it clearly enough to say that for certain and i'm certainly not organized enough to find or remember which issue it was. although i'd say it was in the last 6 months or so

David R Stout · May 23, 2002

With Internet printing, I still get the 'stack of photos'. Just because you shoot on digital you aren't confined to producing your own prints voa computer or just viewing them on-screen.

Agreed that digital is more expensive but I think it offers proportionally that much more than film in terms of instant feedback and no film costs.

David

Jeffrey said:
A lot of people, my girlfriend included, still feel that digital is
too expensive. (everyone has their own hobbies and priorities).
She shoots with a film SLR and wouldn't want anything less as far
as control. A P&S would not do it for her, but the Dxx's are still
too expensive. Some people also like to be able to hold a stack of
photos in their hand and share them in a physical album. It will
change when camera coslts continue to decrease, and the cost of
film processing continues to rise.

--
Jeffrey Lazo
-Check out my D60 Galleries-
http://homepage.mac.com/lazoj
Lens Information/Prices
http://homepage.mac.com/lazod/lenses.html

David Kieltyka · May 23, 2002

Scott Sanders said:
I was at my freinds sons graduation earlier today and i was
surprised at the number of people still using film. I would
say about 95% where using film cameras, which was a bit
of a shock to me. I havent bought film since i bought a
CoolPix 950 3 years ago. I thought everyone was on to
the digital revolution, i guess thats what i get for thinking.

The people who present "digital vs. film" as an either/or scenario have it all wrong. The "revolution" is IMO mostly marketing BS. Each medium has strengths the other lacks. I use both, and intend to go on using both, as do most people I know. In the not-too-distant future economics will weigh heavily in favor of digital photography and at that point film will become a niche medium. But it won't go away...people who value the look of film will continue to use it.

-Dave-

Bob Reim · May 23, 2002

Why print, I just put them on a CD and give them to people (or I just email them to people if they are small enough). They will last a lot longer on a CD than film will.

GreenArcher said:
For an event like graduation, I expect film will dominate. The
reason being is most likely, you will want multiple print copies to
send to relatives. Would you really want to print lots of the
graduation pictures to send to relatives?

When I shoot important events that has the possibility of making
multiple prints, I would pick film camera. I just don't like to
print digital images myself to send to relatives. Plus, who knows
how long those digital prints lasts.

That's just me.

GreenArcher
--
Canon Elan 7e, 420ex
Canon 24 f2.8, 50 f1.8, 100 f2.8 usm macro
Yashica T4 Super, Canon A50 digital, Sony DCR-TRV900
Gitzo G1128, Acratech Ultimate Ballhead
----------------------------
Wanting a DSLR

WOW!! People really do still use film

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