35mm film disappearing?

**Brian Ellis** · 7-Aug-2005, 10:32

I have no idea what the future of any film will be, anyone's guess is certainly as good as mine. But nobody seems to have mentioned disposable cameras. These things still seem to sell pretty well, at least I see a lot of people using them in tourist places like Disneyworld and I've read that they remain very popular in less affluent countries. Even before digital caught on I remember reading that sales of 35mm color film in disposables constituted something like 50% of all sales of 35mm color film. So my totally uninformed guess is that we'll continue seeing color 35mm film as long as sales of disposable cameras are good enough and when they aren't we won't.

**Nick Morris** · 7-Aug-2005, 20:19

Once upon a time a number of people thought that photography would replace painting and drawing...well, I don't really know this, but I willing to venture that painters of the day foresaw the demise of painting and the disappearance of the tools and materials of their media.

Yet, unbelieveable as it must seem, the painting and drawing supply business seems to be thriving. In most, if not all, large, medium, and small communities around the country - and I'd further venture to say - the world, painting and drawing supply houses exist. Cooperatives exist that countinue to provide instruction in painting and drawing, not to mention public and private educational facilities. This some 150 years after the advent of photography.

So to the "sky is falling" folks I say that it is reasonable to assume that the tools and materials of film based chemically processed photography will be available for at least another 20 or 30 years. That would be enough to satisfy me.

**Anne Williams** · 8-Aug-2005, 07:00

At our Costco, the 1 hour lab people told me that half of their printing comes from film and half from digital. They keep hiring more lab people, so it appears that they are doing a good volume. I buy a lot of 35mm film for snapshots, but not from Costco. I just don't like the type of film they sell, so I either order it or buy it elsewhere.