Get The Feeling The Analog Camera Business Is Dying?
from the a-few-data-points... dept
Just a week or so after Nikon said they were mostly getting out of the analog camera business to focus on digital, we find out that Konica Minolta is getting out of the camera and film business entirely, selling off some assets to Sony. Apparently, the company is "the world's third-largest maker of photographic film" following the giants in the space, Kodak and Fuji. The company has also done very little in the digital camera space, which explains why they're exiting the photography market completely. It's interesting to see the analog film market die, because people have been predicting it for so long (I remember reading an analyst report in 1996 saying it was imminent), but it hung on for much longer than some people expected. And, of course, it's not dead yet and there are still people who use film cameras for very good reasons -- but with major companies pulling out of the market, the message is pretty clear.
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another abandons film business
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Re: another abandons film business
A good friend of mine is a professional photographer, he used to tow the same company line as you do, however his "film is better for x" senerios are getting fewer and far between.
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Re: another abandons film business
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Diehards
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Re: Film Diehards
I have a Minolta and a Nikon 35mm at home... interested, anyone???? :)
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Fun factor...
However, it is still fun to use our Nikkormat (ca. 1969) to take film pictures. The experience of actually taking the picture with a great camera is fun, and waiting for the pictures to come back is a lot like Christmas, waiting for the surprises.
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Re: another abandons film business
I just don't see that with film. I could be wrong, but I don't think the film industry has "home brews" and the production of film will become more and more difficult, and costly as the demand for it dies off (and thus, companies with the ability to produce such products), and that is what will end that era.
The only saving grace might be some executive at a major imaging corporation like Kodak who is willing and able to sell the company, and its stock holders on
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Re: another abandons film business
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Re: Film Diehards
My point is that consumers who mostly use cameras for pictures of the kids and Uncle Leo's 80th birthday party will eventually find film to be too cumbersome and go completely digital, just as they abandoned home movies for video cameras. Professionals, however, will be some time before chucking film. Just like 8-track lived on for years in the radio and recording industry, long after consumers dumped it, film will be around for all of our lifetimes, just in more of a niche environment.
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No Subject Given
1) they can last forever if you keep safe backups
2) you can edit out red eye, or more if you're good
3) you can email them
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Texas DPS finally allows me to use digital camera
--
Texas Concealed Handgun License Classes
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Re: Film Diehards
Movie production is a different story. It's one thing to make a 6-12Mpixel still sensor. It's quite another to make a sensor that can achieve high-resolution per frame and output at least 24 frames per second. You also require the ability to store and transmit the data, which is voluminous even when good compression algorithms are applied. Finally, for maximum end-to-end quality, you also need to retrofit theaters with projects that are equally capable. This all adds up to quite an expense, which is the key factor keeping the film industry from moving digital in a bigger way. However, as costs come down and as theaters increasingly compete with higher and higher quality home theater setups, these upgrades will take place.
Equating modern digital film technology with home video is a bit ridiculous. VHS home video is approximately the equivalent of less than 0.1Mpixel per frame. DVD quality is still only about 0.25Mpixel/frame. By the time you're up to full-resolution HDTV at 1920 x 1080, you're at about 2Mpixels/frame ... an order of magnitude more data compared with VHS. For digital movie projection, we're talking 4Mpixels/frame. Home movies have nothing on this and are not really an appropriate point of comparison.
David
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Re: Film Diehards
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Correction: 35mm is Dying
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Re: another abandons film business
Even the high end digital cameras can not come close to film quality 8x10's. But I can't get an 8x10 within minutes form a film camera
Cameras:Fuji Pro S2 Digital, Nikon N70 Analog, Nikon coolpix 930 Digital, Yashica T4 Analog.
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Re: No Subject Given
concerns about the longevity of CD-Rs and similar
media and of course there is the concern about
playback. Will there be a CD drive to extract your
pictures of Johnny's 2nd bday in 20 years? Or will you
be caught in a never ending cycle of having to
backup to new media and new devices ever 5 years?
Digitial only has one advantage and that is convenience -
something that would only get top billing in our current day
where even 30 seconds is too long to wait.
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Re: Fun factor...
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Indoor Photography
Apart from the proffesional photographers how many digital prints do you see? real prints that you can hold in your hand and show people without having to turn on the tv and dvd player for a slide show or turning your computer on.
Most people seem to be happy looking at the pictures on their lcd and I can gaurantee 95% will never be printed.
Now that is a shame!
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