(Was: Re: [OM] Bad processing of film driving people to digital)
To take the question of film's remaining lifespan off on another
tangent, I recall a book from the early 70's called "The Limits to
Growth" produced by an organization called the Club of Rome. Its
thesis was that civilization was using up critical resources at a
rate that some resources would run out in relatively short times,
forcing major changes to the way we lived.
The book was later discredited, with its authors conceding that
consumption rates were much slower than what they had put in their
computer model.
I recall that the first resource to run out was going to be
silver, in about 8 or 12 years from when the book came out. The
book noted that silver was being consumed faster than it was being
mined, with the difference coming from reserves.
At the time, the only substitute I knew of was a non-silver
reprographic film with a single-digit ASA speed. I recall thinking
that things could get very interesting if the predictions
were true. But of course the predictions weren't.
Digital photography (and videotape) have probably cut significantly
into silver consumption for photographic uses - or at least limited
its upward curve. I would be curious to know if statistics are
available on present-day silver production, consumption, and
reserves, and if they indicate any end-of-life point for photographic
film as we know it beyond the current speculation about it becoming
obsolete for reasons of convenience or uneconomic because of low
volume.
Is silver used in any film except black and white? Color film
replaced black and white in mass use before the 50's. It sounds like
their data was bad in more ways than one. Black and white is a niche
use product now and there are dye based black and white films as
well. Silver is recycled in commercial silver based film processing.
It seems that many of the premises were wrong or have been outdated.
Until digital gets as simple to use by the technologically
challenged, which is the majority, as current film it will stay
around. It may not be available in the variety and the pro emulsions
we have now though.
--
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California
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