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The End of Film?
By Richard Martin, NYI Contributing Editor
Film's death has been proclaimed ever since digital became a
practical (and affordable) proposition. But recent shocking announcements
in the media force us to take a closer look at this prediction. On January
11, Nikon, long a "big gun" in film cameras, informed the world via their
UK web site that they will discontinue almost all 35mm SLR models and focus
on their digital products. The two exceptions represent the cheapest and most
expensive models — the FM10 (actually built by Cosina but Nikon branded)
and the recently introduced F6. Their press release is quite frank as to where
Nikon believes their future lies. Here are some excerpts:
"Following the success of our digital line-up over the last seven
years, which has resulted in more than 95% of Nikon's UK business
being within the digital area, Nikon Corporation has made the decision
to focus management resources on digital cameras in place of film
cameras. This decision will allow Nikon to continue to develop products
that match the demands of an increasingly competitive market place.
As the film camera market shrinks and the popularity of compact
digital cameras increases, demand for products that offer advanced
features and extra value is continuing to grow. High performance
digital SLR cameras are performing well as users shift from film-based
SLR cameras or upgrade from compact digital cameras to digital
SLR cameras.
As a result of the new strategy Nikon will discontinue production
of all lenses for large format cameras and enlarging lenses with
sales of these products ceasing as soon as they run out of stock.
This also applies to most of our film camera bodies, interchangeable
manual focus lenses and related accessories. Although Nikon anticipates
that the products will still be in retail distribution up to Summer
2006.
In recognition of Nikon's commitment to professional photographers
we will continue to manufacturer and sell the F6, our flagship
film model, as well as a number of manual interchangeable lenses.
Sales of the manual FM10 will also continue outside Europe."
Nikon USA posted a similar announcement with different wording but the message
is essentially the same. It's the end of an era, at least for Nikon. Here
are links to the two press releases:
UK: Press
Release — January 11, 2006
USA: Press
Release — Reshaping Nikon's Film Camera Assortment
The push to digital is not confined to Nikon. According to Kodak "For all
of 2005, digital sales represented 54% of total revenue, marking the first
time in the company's history that digital revenue exceeded traditional." That
info highlights their financial
report dated January 30th.
What about overall sales of film cameras? Well, the Photo
Marketing Association reported rather severe declines last year in their January 6th news release
(up to 50% for October 2005, a critical pre-holiday month). APS cameras posted
the worse losses — almost 75%. No real surprise there since the APS
format had the misfortune of appearing on the scene just about the time digital
became practical and economical. Who needs a film format even smaller than
35mm? On the other hand, digital sales continued their upward spiral. You
can read the full report here.
InfoTrends, another market research outfit, reported last October that amongst
professional photographers "the switch to digital has already transpired,
with nearly 80% of pros owning a digital SLR and 52% planning to purchase
a new one within a year."
Power has always been the Achilles heel of the digital camera industry. Digital
cameras require a fair amount of power to operate.
A further development, though not exclusively about film, is Konica-Minolta's
withdrawal from the camera and photo business altogether. Here's a pertinent
quote from that announcement:
"…we have been negotiating with Sony, and as a result,
we have reached an agreement with Sony to transfer a portion of assets
regarding digital SLR camera system to Sony. In this relation, we
have decided to withdraw from camera business, such as film cameras
and digital cameras, within Konica Minolta Group as of March 31,
2006."
Is there any good news for film users? Maybe. Fuji, perhaps in response to
all the gloom and doom about film's demise, expressed their continued commitment
to traditional materials. Here's a quote from a January 19th news release:
"Silver halide photography, which is fundamental to photography,
has advantages over digital in such areas as power of expression,
long term storage capability, reasonable prices, easy handling and
a highly established and convenient photo development and print infrastructure.
We intend to continue our silver halide photography business and
to further cultivate the culture of photography, and in so doing,
continue to support our customers and retailers and all those who
enjoy photography."
I assume the term "silver halide" here refers to all their films, not just
the Neopan black & white emulsions. After all, color film contains silver
halide too. Fuji's stance is somewhat reassuring to photographers like me
who have used their products for years, especially since Velvia came on the
scene. However, I find some of the wording in their statement curious and
perhaps a little silly. Film "has advantages over digital in such areas as
power of expression" (?) The PR geek who wrote this confuses materials and
tools with creativity and personal vision. As for "reasonable prices", the
economics of film can't compare to digital. Ask any consumer why they bought
a digital camera and they'll tell you, "no film to buy or develop", and of
course the instant feedback digital provides. Finally, the reference to film's "convenient
photo development and print infrastructure" is misleading. Every lab I've
seen can print from digital files. Furthermore, most labs nowadays print digitally
regardless of whether the initial capture was digital or film. Still, it's
a hopeful sign from Fuji. I wonder if Kodak will make a similar commitment.
However, in another press release on
January 31st Fuji announced it planned to cut 5000 jobs from their
"imaging solutions segment" and shift some production to China. That doesn't
sound so promising.
What does all this portend for the future? Obviously digital will continue
to capture more and more of the photo market as new products are introduced
almost every month. Personally I think we've seen the last new 35mm SLR from
any major manufacturer. However, there are still plenty of models out there
in the distribution channels and used cameras and lenses are easy to obtain.
The big question is film itself. There is still a core of 35mm SLR users who
are serious amateurs. They prefer the look of film and feel more comfortable
with it. Will Fuji and Kodak keep making it?
Of course, some folks shoot both digital and film and I am one of them. It
doesn't have to be an either/or question. Different tools for different situations.
In my opinion film still performs better than digital in certain areas, like
low-light photography. And I like having a camera that will continue to function
even if the batteries die, albeit sans metering (Nikon FM3a).
I mentioned 35mm but what about larger formats? Well guess what? Plenty of
wedding photographers still shoot color negative film (black
& white too). Why? The wider exposure latitude makes it easier to deal
with the contrast between that blazing white wedding dress on the bride and
that coal black tuxedo on the groom. Then too, the proportions of the most
popular medium format, 645, work better, composition-wise, than the 3/2 aspect
ratio of digital SLR's.
But it's in the most common large format, 4 x 5, that
film really shows its superiority over digital. For landscape work
it's unsurpassed, whether in color or black & white. Furthermore,
you can easily scan a 4 x 5 transparency on a decent flatbed scanner
and make a really great print yourself, digitally. No darkroom necessary.
On the other hand, you could mortgage your house and get the new
39 megapixel Hasselblad H2D-39. It's a steal at $30,000 or so.
Well, I guess it's time to take out my crystal ball and have a go at predicting
the future. Film will stick around for some time but as a kind of niche product,
especially 35mm. APS will disappear altogether, as will single-use 35mm cameras,
the latter replaced by cheap digital point &
shoot models. There are a couple of digital single-use cameras out there but
I see no advantage in these for the user. It's more of a marketing ploy on
the part of certain retailers.
Film is dead? No, I don't think so. Personally I'll keep using it until I've
reached the last frame on the last roll.
