Hi,
I'm just wondering about the production of most Films and darkroom and analog camera equipment. Is there a good chance this will become extinct in the near future? I'm hoping it doesn't, but some people would say otherwise. Is there any chance of this? Maybe some professionals out there may have an opinion.
Most B&W films are easier to obtain now than in the 1970s due to the internet, though quite expensive. A sheet of 8x10 film will cost from 2 to 10 dollars. Shutter production and most lenses are out of production already, but there are plenty on the used market. Plastic film holder production has ceased, but high quality wooden film holders have taken their place in the new-production market. Of course old plastic holders are quite plentiful these days.
There are plenty manufacturers of new cameras. Shen-hao, Chamonix, etc.
Equipment is abundant, some of it more affordable than ever on the used market, some of it more expensive, depending. Same with cameras and lenses. Lots of this gear was built to last a long time in the first place. But it all depends on the specifics. Film cost is relative; you can get quite a bit of it for what some people spend to eat out once a week. But realistically, 4X5 film costs about what 8X10 film did 20 years ago, and therefore it's gone up about 400%. But large format photography need not be about machine-gunning. One really good shot is better than a hundred near-misses. It tends to me a more contemplative act.
Ignore all the doomsayers out there. Most of them are just ignorantly babbling. Right now, the remaining film and paper manufacturers are struggling to keep up with all the demand. No, it's never going to be as strong as the market was in pre-digital days, and is basically a niche industry; but plenty of people are still interested in the advantages of real film, and are dedicated to darkroom work too, and prefer that methodology. It's even on an upswing. Plan your budget, ask relevant questions, and dive in!
I studied photography (as a technical trade, not art) in the late 1980s and even back then we we all amazed that ILFORD managed to stay in business, being solely b+w and competing with the Goliaths of Kodak and Fuji. Yes, there was Cibrachrome/Ilfochrome colour positive material, but that was probably the most profitable division and was sold off several times.
It is with some irony that ILFORD are now looking pretty solid financially with both b+w film and paper, maintaining a healthy business in volumes that back in the 1980s and 1990s was rounding error for the big companies.
To get an idea of the magnitude of the reduction in scale of the (analog) photographic industry, I just purchased some Ferrania P30 and have been learning how the company is set up around equipment that was designed for research and development volumes of production.
Toyo, at least, still appears to be making new 4x5 plastic film holdersOriginally Posted by ic-racer
I have been operating a silver gelatin fibre printing business since 1991 (after quite a few year working at other labs learning the tricks) - from 91-99 the silver business ie neg, process contact and print was very active and one could make a reasonable living. At that time I used about 6- 8 enlargers when we printed shows and would have assistant set up negatives in glass carriers for each image and during the first 4 hours would make 6-8 prints , then lunch then set up another round of negs and make another 6-8 prints , all prints were then washed , squeegeed and set to dry naturally.
Between 2001 - 2016 the inkjet phase came in and I reduced my enlarger platform to 3 enlargers and in 2016 one of the very last shows I made was a series of 46 negatives of Vivian Maier's work form the Goldstein collection that was in Canada. For that show I used two enlargers and one for flash
and over a month worked my way through the show. It seems that working with older negatives these days puts fear in the owners of the collections, as they do not want the original negative handled by others. Then there are those who want an historically correct negative/enlarger/ print .
During all this time 2009 - now I. have been working on digital negs for alt printing and today we are making silver prints from digital negs. I now have two enlargers 11 x 14 Devere and 5x7 Devere and we do contact Silver Prints using the big enlarger and using enlarged negs/ and split contrast printing . My Assistant Anam and I are very busy with Alternative Printing using this method and I can say silver printing is very robust these days. We do occasionally do enlarger prints when asked . These days a lot of work is high resolution scanned in the photographers home town and sent to us or we work from direct digital capture. So to answer the OP's question , hang on to your enlarger as you will need it if you want to stay current and have fun.
I get asked a lot about the difference between a silver print from and enlarged negative and the same image printed on same from an contacted enlarged to size digital neg . all I can say is I love both methods of printing, I am pretty sure a large group of photographers would not be able to tell the difference (Drew W would undoubtably be able to see from a mile away) . But I would suggest it is a FEEL that one who has seen a lot of printed work would get. ( Vinyl/digital movie film/digital ).
I think they are both very beautiful ways of making prints .
We are betting on silver printing for the future and to date get a monthly request to teach how to print so to the OP don't worry , and if the manufacturers dump the process, you can still make your own emulsions and film plates on glass , or move to PT and Gum like I did which when combined IMHO is the ultimate process.
I didn’t realize plastic film holders were still in production from Toyo. I do see B&H offering them brand new at $300 each.
New enlarging equipment is pretty much doomed. Few manufacturers left, some niche players making very expensive gear. The used market will eventually shrink, too. I see/read about so many film shooters scanning their negatives, leaving little incentive for such darkroom equipment manufacturers to keep going. Plus the fact that one needs a dedicated (maybe dual-use) space that can be blacked out vs the convenience of an inkjet printer or outsourcing.
Try buying a bulb for a Durst 138 5x7 enlarger. It will be exhaustion of such consumable items that will lead to their complete obsolescence.
There are non photo specific light sources that can completely replace the old Durst opal bulbs. In fact LEDs work better for black and white in my experience, and I hope to get a color capable LED source tested soon. But it’s entirely likely that some less adaptable enlargers will not be so easy to update. Most color and VC heads like Ilford’s come to mind.
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