You mean "consumer film is dead", I think.
The mass market for film and processing is definately dying rapidly. However,
the enthusist market is actually growing a bit, but it is too small a market to
have outlets in towns like Boone (but that has been so for the past 20 years),
or probably Regina either.
graywolf
http://www.graywolfphoto.com
"Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof"
-----------------------------------
William Robb wrote:
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Waterson"
Subject: Wow, Canvas "is" dead (Was maybe film *is* dead!)
I think regardless of cost, film will survive. When the first Black
and White
photos became comercially available I can almost here the artists
screaming...
There are a couple of key differences at play here.
Few people can paint well, it's always been that way.
Most people can take a decent photograph, providing they have a camera
of some sort.
Photography was not really competition for painting as an art form so
much as a democratizer, in that all of a sudden, most anyone could make
good "art".
Digital imaging is a direct competitor to about 98% of film's customers,
and is becoming very widely accepted by that customer base, and is being
pushed very hard as a desirable alternative to film by both
manufacturers and the service industry.
Painting is still being taught in most every art school, photography
schools are abandoning film entirely.
The people aren't buying it anymore, the artists aren't being taught
with it anymore.
Every lab operator I talk to is saying film processing volumes are in
freefall.
We've dropped another 10% since Christmas, and film processing is less
than 40% of it's peak volume of 3 years ago, which was our busiest year
since we started doing photoprocessing in Canada.
Further, half of our film processing is now single use cameras, which
eventually will be the only film available, I am betting sooner rather
than later on this one.
You might want to learn how to optimize Kodak Max800, it's what you are
going to be shooting in a couple of years from now.
Unless you are shooting digital, that is.
I know this is an unpopular outlook, but it is what I am seeing, working
within the industry. I don't like it, but I have to be realistic about
the trends I am seeing in my industry.
William Robb
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.9.0/50 - Release Date: 7/16/2005
