Digital cameras not the end of film — yet
By Peter Svensson
Associated Press
With everybody seemingly switching to digital cameras, will there still be film in the future?
Many photo enthusiasts are asking that question, especially after Eastman Kodak Co. said two months ago it would invest more heavily in developing digital technology, an announcement that some misinterpreted as meaning the Yellow Giant would abandon film.
In fact, Kodak is still developing new films, and has no plans to abandon the market, according to spokesman Gerard Meuchner.
"In no way will we stop supporting film — quite to the contrary," Meuchner says.
Sales have been falling for a couple of years, but film is still a profitable business. Just two months ago, Kodak invested $100 million in a 20-year deal with a Chinese manufacturer.
Fuji Photo Film Co. of Japan also says it remains committed to film. The technology still has "tremendous room for improvement," according to Paul D'Andrea, general manager of Fujifilm USA's Photo Imaging Division, noting that they introduced two new professional slide films this year.
With all the advertising for digital cameras, it's easy to forget that most cameras out there are still film cameras, and many consumers are quite comfortable with them. Also, the movie industry still shoots on film, with a few exceptions.
William DuBois, chairman of photographic arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, is 58 years old, and says he's not concerned that film will disappear in his lifetime.
"My age group, the baby boomers, have grown up with film, and I don't think we're as adaptable to change as our grandchildren. I think it's going to take two generations to switch completely to digital," he says.
In the long term, however, it seems clear that film is destined to be a niche of the photography business. While it will probably be made for decades and decades, it may not be available as widely as it is now. Also, it will likely be more difficult to get it processed.
Even as a niche, however, film photography may be quite viable decades from now. A lot of photographic technologies have stuck around long after they were forgotten by the mass market.
Black-and-white film, for example, still has a lot of users. Video supplanted home movies about 20 years ago, but Super-8 cassettes and processing are still available from large photo stores. The iconic Kodachrome slide film is still available. Sensitized glass plates, which lost out to film in the '20s and '30s, were still made by Kodak until a few years ago.
However, some film formats might fall by the wayside earlier than 35 mm film. Several compact-camera formats have disappeared. Remember Kodak disc film? It was discontinued in 1998. There is only one kind of Instamatic film still made.
