Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

[OM] [OT] The future of film

Subject: [OM] [OT] The future of film
From: "Grigorov, Boris" <BGrigorov@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 07:29:55 -0400
Hi all,
I have been reading with interest the postings about film and digital media.
I originally posted this message yesterday, but did not see it coming back
to me, so I am resending it.  
This is an editorial from the electronic version of BJP photo in UK.  Most
of you would find it very interesting...
Cheers
Boris



------------------------------------------
BJP PROFESSIONAL NEWS - 25 September 2002 
--------------------------------------------
Please forward to a friend and ask them to subscribe:
<http://www.bjphoto.co.uk/sign-in.shtml>
Please see foot of newsletter for unsubscribe requests
------------------------------------------
COMMENT - Quick and cheap is not a great epitaph
------------------------------------------
Remember film? 

The major manufacturers still do. For despite the enthusiasm that
surrounds most things digital, this year has already brought a number of
significant new advances in the world of silver halide; Fujifilm's
Acros, Agfa's Ultra and revamped professional colour negative family,
Kodak's Portra 400UC and, most recently, Ektachrome E100G and E100GX.

While it is undoubtedly true that there is a certain amount of momentum
in the manufacturers' R&D machinery, it is certain that these things
would not be being brought to market if there were not a commercial
advantage in doing so. 
Note also that the aforementioned examples are all
professional/enthusiast products, not mass-market offerings that could
be buoyed up by the demand for single-use cameras (which are themselves
always excluded from digital-versus-film comparisons because they would
so massively shift the balance back in favour of silver halide).

On the one hand the photographic industry shouts loudly about an
exciting digital future, while on the other the major players know that
silver halide products still deliver the vast majority of their profits.
So the message to the world at large is "photography is looking
forwards", while this year's shareholders are being reassured that
"traditional revenue channels are not only holding up, but actually
still growing".

The reasons for film's popularity are self-evident, but low operating
costs are not one of them. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suggest
that the silver halide side of things will in time become associated
with higher calibre, higher priced and more considered aspects of
photography. If you want a passport photograph, then by all means get it
done in a digital photo-booth, but if you want a picture to frame and
put on the wall, then for many people (both photographers and their
clients) the notion of film is still more appealing.

In reality, there are only three factors in favour of digital; speed,
cost and "creativity". The last is qualified by quotation marks partly
because the most extreme applications of Photoshop can actually ruin an
image (a point made in BJP earlier this month by the judges of this
year's Institute of Medical Imaging awards) and partly because much of
what is offered is not new, just easier to do. Which leaves speed and
cost. So a digital photographer is somebody who is saying to the world,
I'm quick and I'm cheap. A great sales proposition no doubt, but hardly
a desirable epitaph.

Jon Tarrant
Editor



]Boris Grigorov
]
]Avionics Integration Engineer
]UH-60M Black Hawk
]
]Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
]
]6900 MainStreet*P.O.Box 9729
]Stratford, Connecticut 06615-9129
]Mail Stop: 340A
]Tel: 203.386.4796*Fax:203.386.3045
]http://www.sikorsky.com
]end



< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz