Are SLR cameras coming back?

I've got an old nikon film slr and I love it, so I looked around to see if film is coming back. Some say it is, some say it isn't.So, what do you think?

Film will most likely never come close to regaining the commercial success it had in the past but, there has been a bit of a resurgence among younger photographers who may or may not have grown up with film. The problem commercially boils down to operating costs. Every time you press a shutter with a film camera, you've permanently exposed a frame of film that can't be reused. In essence, you've spent some money and the cost per exposure can be as little as 25-cents (US) or as much as $15 if you're shooting a big 8x10inch, view camera that uses sheet film. Do keep in mind these costs don't include the cost of processing/developing and/or printing these images which brings up another problem. The number of labs setup to deal with film keeps shrinking.

The big photo labs that used to process millions of rolls of film are going away as a result of the public's en masse shift toward digital cameras. Smaller labs are going away even faster if they don't have a large local client base or haven't been able to adapt to digital clients. One local lab in my area has survived only because its competitors all went out of business and to a lesser extent, because it's part of a large local camera store. Still, the days of labs that only process film are numbered and as films are discontinued, the shops that are able to process those films are also going away. Kodak's Kodachrome is a great example because if you find any rolls of it it a freezer somewhere and decide to shoot them, you are out of luck when it comes time to develop and print using that film. Why? Because the last shop in the world that could process it stopped doing so at the end of last year. All that said, the C-41 process that is common to most film today will probably be widely available for the foreseeable future even as the number of people offering such processing continues to decline. Worst case, it's a process that can be done at home with the right tools and equipment.

Unfortunately, I see no signs of film making a reappearance. When I first read about digital photography, everybody thought that digital was only going to be good enough for cell phones. Where people use their cell phone in an absolute emergency, like a traffic accident. And then the expected quality would make it barely acceptable. The idea that digital cameras could reach the quality of film was unheard of! However as we all know digital has taken over! Us pro's on this web site keep preaching for people to use the maximum pixel quality on their cameras in order to get the best quality prints. Eastman Kodak has missed the boat. Their stock is very low and the company is almost gone.
Kodak in my opinion should have geared up to make today's memory cards, which has replaced film of yesterday.

In a world where everyone looks for instant gratification, a camera system that requires you to wait for your pictures will never again regain popularity.

35mm SLR:

Nikon continues to manufacture the F100 and F6, they hire Cosina to make the FM10

Vivitar makes the V3800N

35mm Rangefinder:

Leica makes the M7 and MP

Cosina Voigtlander has a hit series going on with the Bessa's

Zeiss hires Cosina to make their Ikon

Other:

Horseman, Lindhoff and Seagull all make medium and large format cameras

And we can't forget about Lomo and their super popular toy cameras!

Meanwhile incredible companies like FreestylePhoto.com KEH.com and The Impossible Project continue to feed the imaginations of us film lovers.

Then of course there's Kodak destroying its competition with Ektar and Portra series films.

So film is going nowhere. But it is a shrunken market and it is a changing market. Once we accept that for what it is and just keep shooting what really makes us happy instead of copying it with the latest technology, we will keep film alive and inspiring for generations to come.

I'm glad you're loving your Nikon. If you have not used them yet, try a Nikkormat FTn, FT2, Nikon F, F2, FM, FM2n. I highly recommend them all!

Metal & Manual! Film Forever!