OT: Film cameras and photography comeback?

[merckxman]

Seems to be some new interest in these. Pentax has announced a new film camera that is coming out mid year, stories about it landed in my news feed.
Lots of photography buffs here....what's going on?

[jamesdak]

News to me, I can't see returning back to film. With digital I can control every aspect of the process.

Including easily doing stuff like this shut where I used a telephoto to shoot a bunch of frames and then stitched them together in the computer. Real size the image is freaking huge and so detailed you can see the individual skiers on those background mountains.



I still have a bunch of my old film camera's and a stash of Velvia in the freezer. Haven't touched it in years.

This beauty is in top of my bike stash cabinet and get "exercised" frequently to keep it working but I don't actually load film in and use it.

[CTracer]

I don’t know but I’m not going back to film! I’ll stick with film simulations

[alexihnen]

I have several film cameras and know some photographers who use film in addition to digital. I learned using film and the very different process can be fun at times.

Here’s more on the new Pentax: https://petapixel.com/2024/02/29/pen...h-this-summer/

[Bob Ross]

I just hope it comes back enough so that I can find a buyer for my >50-year-old Nikkormat 35mm body with assorted Nikon and Vivitar lenses...I think the last time I shot a roll of film in that camera was 1986.

[Alistair]

I bought a new-to-me film camera a few weeks ago. It's a mid-70s Olympus 35 DC. I won't be using it as my main camera (I have a pair of Olympus mirrorless bodies for that), but I think it will make a fun toy.

https://randomphoto.blogspot.com/202...e-delight.html

Film is too expensive to ever be my main photography fix. $10+ for a 36 exposure roll and another $10+ to develop/scan. Ouch.

I don't see it ever becoming a mainstream thing again. More like a niche hobby, like collecting watches or making espresso. Old cameras are engineering marvels (well, some are) and the chemistry of film/developing is easy to geek out on.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I just hope it comes back enough so that I can find a buyer for my >50-year-old Nikkormat 35mm body with assorted Nikon and Vivitar lenses...I think the last time I shot a roll of film in that camera was 1986.

Depending on which body and which lenses, you might be surprised.

I know the Olympus OM SLR bodies go from $100-$500+ and the more desirable lenses are usually $200+.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by alexihnen

I have several film cameras and know some photographers who use film in addition to digital. I learned using film and the very different process can be fun at times.

Here’s more on the new Pentax: https://petapixel.com/2024/02/29/pen...h-this-summer/

Interesting selection of features. Zone focus, fixed lens, manual wind. Should help keep the price down. Makes me wonder - will they be marketing against the disposables, or as a premium offering?

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by Alistair

Interesting selection of features. Zone focus, fixed lens, manual wind. Should help keep the price down. Makes me wonder - will they be marketing against the disposables, or as a premium offering?

This makes no sense to me. IF I did want to go back to shooting film it would be for a camera much, much more capable than this one. Why buy something like this when there's a gazillion used options out there that will give you better bang for the buck than this, even if the Pentax is dirt cheap. To me this is the equivalent of the $50 turntables you can buy on Amazon.....why?

[charliedid]

Photography is Dead.

[Jeff N.]

I own two Nikon FA's with motor drives (and several Nikkor lenses to go along with the cameras) plus an FE2 and a FM2, all in mint condition. You can't GIVE this stuff away on Ebay.

[jtakeda]

I pretty much only use 1 camera that is a medium format film camera.

If I found a digital that mimicked it I’d switch but film is mostly dead

[.RJ]

Film has indeed made a big comeback. The price and availability of film during covid was really bad - fortunately things have settled down a bit.

I've been dabbling in photography for a long time and picked back up with film a few years ago. It all started with buying older film (Konica) lenses to adapt to my Fuji mirrorless camera, and I figured I'd get a 35mm SLR to use them too.

Originally Posted by jamesdak

This makes no sense to me. IF I did want to go back to shooting film it would be for a camera much, much more capable than this one. Why buy something like this when there's a gazillion used options out there that will give you better bang for the buck than this, even if the Pentax is dirt cheap. To me this is the equivalent of the $50 turntables you can buy on Amazon.....why?

Why? Because the used 35mm 'point and shoot' style options are all old and getting fragile, prices have gone through the roof, and a lot of them are generally not repairable - or if they are its not cost effective. Or they have a Leica badge on them.

I would really like to see autofocus on this camera, that one really misses the mark for me. I really really want a nice 35mm 'point and shoot' AF camera but the nice ones are coming up on $1000 and the cheaper ones are a roll of the dice and some of the lenses on them are just atrocious. At $20-30 per roll by the time its done I'm not wasting time with ****ty plastic lenses.

[benb]

My interest in photography has been relatively low the last few years.. have not been using my digital cameras much.

For a long time I took a ton of photos. If I am really into it I have no desire to go back to film as over the longer term digital has been WAY less expensive.

But I also have little interest in buying any new fancy cameras. I have a Canon 5D MkIII that is now 12 years old. Some of my lenses are now 20 years old. Prices on new stuff is bonkers insane for diminishing returns. There are itches I have never scratched like using a T&S lens or a view camera but I don't really have the time to do so in a satisfying way.

I am exceedingly not interested in P&S anything at this point because smartphone cameras have literally gotten better than P&S cameras.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

This makes no sense to me. IF I did want to go back to shooting film it would be for a camera much, much more capable than this one. Why buy something like this when there's a gazillion used options out there that will give you better bang for the buck than this, even if the Pentax is dirt cheap. To me this is the equivalent of the $50 turntables you can buy on Amazon.....why?

Yeah, I had that thought. What's the Venn diagram of people who want a film camera, don't want a disposable (which are still available), and must have a new body? Gotta be pretty small.

That said, if they build it right (high quality) and price it well (<$200?), it might have a market. The prices of good-condition vintage cameras are going up. And the (non-premium) P&S from the 80s/90s aren't known for durability or repairability.

The only downside to my 35 DC is it's not quite pocketable. It's small enough that I don't mind carrying it around, but somebody who is used to using their phone camera and wants to try film? Pocketable might be a requirement.