[LRflex] Re: Something somewhat different
- From: David Young <dsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:12:18 -0800
Dave Simms wrote:
Steve; I'm sorry if I came across as condescending, phew ! Just
trying to explain my thoughts re. film becoming a more cultish art
form but, nevertheless surviving.
G'mornin' Dave!
Film will, of course, survive - in the same way that vacuum tubes
have survived. Tubes (valves in the UK) have long since ceased to be
manufactured in Europe and North America. Their makers sold their
equipment, in job lots, and the factories were set up, once more, in
places like the Ukraine, Belarus, Vietnam and Cambodia. Here,
because of very low costs for capital, rent and labour, they can
survive in a very small, niche market. Quality control is not what
it once was, but prices are low enough that you simply buy two!
Film will probably follow the same pattern. Eventually Kodak, Fuji
and others will abandon the field. They'll sell their equipment and
it will get moved to some country with exceedingly low manufacturing
costs. (These days Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and some of the other
"stans", spring to mind, though their will be other choices by the
time this happens.)
As with tubes, innovation and advancement will be a thing of the
past, and only a limited variety of the most popular emulsions will
continue to be made. As with tubes, quality control will become more
problematical - a more serious problem for colour shooters.
You can, of course, do what one of my friends has done. He has a
freezer full of b&w 35mm movie stock - a little over 10,000 feet of
it, as I recall. He has also stockpiled enough chemicals to mix his
own developers for the next 30 years. Given that, like me, he's in
his early sixties, he'll have film and developer in his 90's ... and
it's not likely he'll need more!
Colour shooters can do likewise, though out-of-date E6 films don't
survive as well as b&w, even when frozen.
Cheers!
---
David Young
Logan Lake, Canada.
Wildlife Photos: www.furnfeather.net
Personal Website: www.main.furnfeather.net
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