Last night, I went to a meeting of our local Portland Photographers' Forum, and someone who works at a well-known color lab said that the scuttlebut last year a t PMA was that color film had about 10 years before it disappears. He said that , at his lab, everything is going digital.

While I didn't attend PMA last year and can't offer my own version of the "scutt lebut", this touches off a whole series of questions in my mind.

o Is this true -- will a way of life for large format photographers come to an end in 10 years?

o What is the potential of taking LF digital (aargh!) into the field?

o What is the future of large format B&W? The same person commented that, beca use of print longevity, B@W will last longer.

o Will it no longer be possible to obtain the kind of rich textures in a print that can be achieved in LF silver?

Last weekend, I purchased three rolls of Kodak 24 exp. 35mm color film for my da ughter with ASA's 100, 200, and 1000. The cost was over $18! It won't be long before these kinds of prices drive the inevitable change in the 90% of the mark et that does a lot to drive advances, etc., in the remaining 10%. (LF.)

I know about paradigm shifts. I just don't do a very good job of accepting them .