End of a glorious era - film camera's no more from Nikon!

[Quadophile]

I saw the announcement from Nikon and 35 years of being involved in this hobby just flashed in front of me in a split second. Nikon finally decided that they will no longer produce the film camera's and would concentrate on the digital side of things from 2006 onwards. The writing was already on the wall but this announcement was the last nail in the coffin for the film camera's.

This thread is more like an Obituary for the film camera, I hope all those who used a film camera would not hesitate to express their opinion on this thread which will be a sticky for sometime.

Nikon prepares to strengthen digital line-up for 2006

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.

Despite this growing competition Nikon Corporation has continued to outperform the market, and has recently reported positive financial results which saw group net profit climb by 20% in the fiscal first half which ended in September. Group sales also increased by 9.8% to 342.85 billion yen in the same period. Sales of high end digital SLR cameras and the success of products like the D70s and D50 have helped contribute to these positive figures.

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.

 

[TriplexDread]

Alas technology moves on. Remember the Betamax recorder, Commadore 64 and Spectrum 48k. Oh well

I do wonder what it will be like in 15 - 20 years from now. I'm sure we will all be horrified and bewildered

 

[crazylegs]

End of getting ripped off more like, yes Its a sad day but The amount of money I paid out over the years getting my films processed must run into many thousands of pounds, now i just select the frames i want and do the rest in an instant, no waiting god knows how long to get my photo's back....


Going Digital for me was the end of an era alright....

 

[TriplexDread]

You do have a point

 

[Frodo]

My first entry into photography many years ago was limited by the cost of developing and the dissapointment of getting back 5 decent images out of 24,now i print what i want and manipulate my images at home.I love digital

 

[floppybootstomp]

Surely, it's about time?

And isn't the biggest deciding factor in quality the lens?

 

[Rush]

How battery companies must be rubbing their hands with ££££££££££ signs

 

[crazylegs]

Not me i use rechargeables....

 

[ChristopherP]

Nothing can beat the moment when you collect your phots and go through them when you have opened that packet though...

 

[PotGuy]

i like film simply because you have lovely glossy photos, whereas with digital (if you do it @ home) you either use up half your ink printing an massively high resolution, or get a crap looking printout to save ink

 

[Quadophile]

i like film simply because you have lovely glossy photos, whereas with digital (if you do it @ home) you either use up half your ink printing an massively high resolution, or get a crap looking printout to save ink

The Photoshop around the corner is still cheaper and better for printing. Home printing is still exclusive and expensive not to mention dependant on the quality of the printer one has. Your best bet is to shoot at highest resolution your digital camera is capable of, copy them on a CD-R and get them developed from a lab nearby.

 

[CITech]

Its interesting to note that the majority of professional photographers around my way are still using film for things like weddings etc.

A friend of mine who has a professional lab told me that the general feeling is that digital is "not quite there yet", but I guess for the amateur and even pro-am market Nikon feel that the time has come to swap the market over.

It also gives the an excuse to bring out a whole new range of products and force us to buy them! Or am I just being cynical?

 

[TriplexDread]

As we all know technology continuelly progress's so anyone that thinks that "its not there yet" is being a bit daft imho. It will never "be there" due to everlasting developement. If some pro photographers are still using film then I guess that is their choice, however I personally believe that with the storage costs and development costs they are literally throwing their money away. It's not like you can erase a negative after already taking the photo if you dont like the results.
Also this cost is passed down to the consumer which in turn as we all know can work out very expensive indeed!

To each their own I guess.

 

[Quadophile]

Its interesting to note that the majority of professional photographers around my way are still using film for things like weddings etc.

A friend of mine who has a professional lab told me that the general feeling is that digital is "not quite there yet", but I guess for the amateur and even pro-am market Nikon feel that the time has come to swap the market over.

It also gives the an excuse to bring out a whole new range of products and force us to buy them! Or am I just being cynical?

First of all, you are not being cynical. That is the case, the decision to switch technology is not something the consumer decides its always the manufacturers, the consumers eventually help them achieve their goals by jumping on the bandwagon and buying new stuff like crazy, that creates a competitive environment. I do not blame Nikon since someone had to be the first to officially switch from one technology to another.

If you recall same thing happened when vinyl was dropped in favour of CD, I will not go into a debate which one at that time was better, but, the decision was imposed on the consumer by Philips/Sony. Look where we are today in terms of digital music, could anyone back then imagine we would be having a tiny device like iPod shuffle to play music on?

 

[CITech]

As we all know technology continuelly progress's so anyone that thinks that "its not there yet" is being a bit daft imho. It will never "be there" due to everlasting developement. If some pro photographers are still using film then I guess that is their choice, however I personally believe that with the storage costs and development costs they are literally throwing their money away. It's not like you can erase a negative after already taking the photo if you dont like the results.
Also this cost is passed down to the consumer which in turn as we all know can work out very expensive indeed!

To each their own I guess.

I hear where you are coming from Triplex, but as a professional photographer for over 20 years, owner of the largest and most respected professional lab in the Islands and having had his professional work widely published across the UK, I as a humble amateur would find it very difficult to argue with his knowledge and experience.

It would be wrong of me to question his judgement as I am not on a level "playing field", and as a result bow to his superior knowledge and opinions on this point, but not necessarily everything else.

Thankfully we do live in an ever evolving world, and as with everything which evolves, time will tell ....