[pathdoc]

I would choose the first full calendar year in which what I recognise as the historical major players - Pentax, Minolta, Olympus, Nikon and Canon - all no longer offered a new 35mm film single reflex camera, and were either producing DSLRs instead or had got out of the SLR market altogether.

Nikon skews the statistics somewhat as it has gone on producing (or allowing to be produced, under its name) new-build film cameras until very recently. IIRC Ricoh got out of the SLR game before digital was a thing, and I think Chinon exited at about the same time. And of course Leica have kept on keeping on, but Leica is that peculiar historical oddball that everyone reveres from a distance and would love to own if only they had the spare money.

Note that what I am specifically NOT discussing here is "the death of film".

[aslyfox]

I would choose the first full calendar year in which what I recognise as the historical major players - Pentax, Minolta, Olympus, Nikon and Canon - all no longer offered a new 35mm film single reflex camera, and were either producing DSLRs instead or had got out of the SLR market altogether.

Nikon skews the statistics somewhat as it has gone on producing (or allowing to be produced, under its name) new-build film cameras until very recently. IIRC Ricoh got out of the SLR game before digital was a thing, and I think Chinon exited at about the same time. And of course Leica have kept on keeping on, but Leica is that peculiar historical oddball that everyone reveres from a distance and would love to own if only they had the spare money.

Note that what I am specifically NOT discussing here is "the death of film".

can you draw a distinction between the two

without film

what is a film camera other than a curio?

[travelswsage]

For me, the death of the film era was when the editors I was working with refused to accept my 4x5 and 6x7 transparencies for review and would accept only digital files.

[pathdoc]

can you draw a distinction between the two

Yes, you can. Film is still being made and sold; therefore film cameras are no longer curios. Until we get to the stage where ALL manufacturers of 35mm film have ceased production and non-expired emulsion is going for stupid prices on ebay, the death of film will not be a thing. This is why I am talking about the end of the film era.

To draw a comparison: ships are powered by steam, diesel and nuclear, but sailing ships still exist and I believe the Greek Navy even maintains a trireme for historical purposes. That doesn't mean we are in the trireme or sail eras.

[photoptimist]

That seems like a good definition to me for the end of the SLR film camera era.

One question is whether the "end of the SLR film camera era" should coincide with the "beginning of the DSLR camera era" or whether those two eras overlap by some years.

If we look at the cross-over point between film cameras and digital still cameras in the CIPA data (http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/common/cr200.pdf), we see unit sales of digital cameras beat unit sales of film cameras in 2002 but by value in Yen, new (presumably very expensive) digital cameras outsold film cameras back in 2000. Those same statistics probably peg the end-of-film-cameras at around 2007 and the beginning of digital in 1999 -- a 9 year overlap if both eras can be running simultaneously.

[aslyfox]

Yes, you can. Film is still being made and sold; therefore film cameras are no longer curios. Until we get to the stage where ALL manufacturers of 35mm film have ceased production and non-expired emulsion is going for stupid prices on ebay, the death of film will not be a thing. This is why I am talking about the end of the film era.

To draw a comparison: ships are powered by steam, diesel and nuclear, but sailing ships still exist and I believe the Greek Navy even maintains a trireme for historical purposes. That doesn't mean we are in the trireme or sail eras.

that is my point

I think that film camera era is not dead as long as 1 of two things are still happening

1 film is being produced or

2 film is still available

although I no longer use the film camera I have, I don't consider film camera era to be over since those cameras are available to the members of the general public who wish to use them

as opposed to only being a " historic " example like the Greek trireme or the tall ship the US Coast Guard uses to teach seamanship skills -

Eagle: Tall Ship Eagle

of course, my opinion and $ will buy coffee at your local diner

[IgorZ]

It's not the end of the film era yet - movies are shot on film still. I guess "end of the film era" in photography - you are probably right

[CarlJF]

I would say it was 2003, when digital cameras outsold film cameras for the first time. Of course it depends on the meaning of "the end" but I think we can all agree that it was at least "the beginning of the end"...

An "end of an era" for a technology doesn't mean it stopped being use after that era. Bus simply that it's no more the dominant technology for a specific purpose. Like the end of the "railroad era" is defined somewhere in the fist half of the XXth century. This doesn't mean that railroad isn't used today, and in fact it's still an important mean of transportation, but just that it's been superseded by cars and trucks for most land transportation needs.

[honey bo bo]

How would you define the end of the film era?

I don't think the Film era has ended. I think it is still running parallel to the digital SLR's with some differences in it's appearance of course. The new SLR's manufactured are few and far between but there is a vibrant used market that I can attest to. I sold my Flock this year ( 4 K1000's) within a month to film buffs through out CUSA & Alaska. The lens were M50mm f2.0 and some release cables etc combined so it had to be the cameras they were after and they were fully functional. I still have an ME super & Bronica ETR that I'll probably send off some time within the next year. The film era has come to an end for ME but thats just me. Here's a thought what if the NEW SLR's are like Vinyl Records that went into a dormant state for years( A Vibrant Used Market) and now have made Serious NEW Come Back. Was the Vinyl Era ever really over?


P.S. I have a complete Dark Room - Colour & Black & White (up to 36" prints) anchored by a Super Chromiga D and it unfortunately will not fit in the Post Box that I would like to dispose of somewhere other than the local Land Fill. Any ideas?

[Bob 256]

Personally, I have to agree with the idea based on the end of film availability. As long as film is being produced, film will be in use and the "film era" continues. Even though printing has taken on a new meaning, capturing the initial image can still be done on film which can be scanned to produce a "digital equivalent".

I still have my film cameras and will use film from time to time, considering it to be a viable media. One of the reasons I moved to a DSLR is that I see the handwriting on the wall, and when profits for manufacturing film don't make the bottom line for some bean counter, film production will cease. That day is coming though it might be two years or twenty years down the road, it is coming.

For me, that will spell out the end of the "film era", and I will put my film cameras on the shelf for good (I might be 6 feet under by that time so someone else will have to shelf them).

[pathdoc]

Was the Vinyl Era ever really over?

I think it was, at some point in the 1990s, but then again it would be foolish to say that it ended with the sale of the first audio CD. But as with film, there came a point at which another medium became absolutely and overwhelmingly dominant. Until 2005 I was dating someone whose father built valve amplifiers for sale, but that doesn't mean the valve era is still going; IMO that ended with the widespread manufacture of pocket transistor radios.

If technological civilisation ever collapses, we will still have gramophone players and will still be able to play vinyl. Whether we would still be able to take pictures depends on how far back the collapse took us; 35mm B&W film is easily the province of a late 19th century tech base that knew exactly how to make it, but a collapse back to the pre-industrial era would be a different matter.

I thought film was imminently doomed in late 2010, and I am not at all sorry today to have been proved wrong.

ETA: The more film we use, the more profitable it remains to manufacture it and the longer we will have it. I think the current resurgence has probably extended the life of film by a few years yet; this was not something that had been expected, and for Kodak (for example) to even TALK of bringing Ektachrome back means (to me) that it perceives a future for the medium as a whole. As it is, we currently have Kodak producing both Tmax and TriX in 400 speed, Ilford (in the broadest sense, as Harman Technologies) producing two separate brand lines of film (Ilford and Kentmere), Foma producing its films under two separate brands... to me this indicates strength and a good future, at least in the black and white world. Colour is perhaps more problematic, and I think slides will probably go before print film does.

If there is any era that is almost certainly dead beyond redemption or revival, it is the Kodachrome era. And I dare the film companies to prove me wrong.

[Ontarian50]

Well, Nikon still lists the F6, which might actually make it the very last 35mm SLR in production, unless some of those kickstarters get those Russian things off the ground.

And I do hear that you can still buy new disposable 35mm's, especially the underwater ones, which sell well at resorts.

[baro-nite]

I don't think the Film era has ended. I think it is still running parallel to the digital SLR's with some differences in it's appearance of course.

Sure, it's an argument, but I think for most people the notion of "era" is either-or, as pathdoc and CarlJF argue. There was the film era, and now we are in the digital era. Of course there's no sharp dividing line demarcating the two eras, which is what makes this topic fun to contemplate.

[timw4mail]

I still have my film cameras and will use film from time to time, considering it to be a viable media. One of the reasons I moved to a DSLR is that I see the handwriting on the wall, and when profits for making film don't make the bottom line for some bean counter, film production will cease. That day is coming though it might be two years or twenty years down the road, it is coming.

I can't really see that happening too soon. Medium format, at least, is more affordable to get into with film than digitally. Not to mention large format, which digital is unlikely to match in the near future (in terms of sensor size, let alone affordability).

[pathdoc]

Well, Nikon still lists the F6, which might actually make it the very last 35mm SLR in production, unless some of those kickstarters get those Russian things off the ground.

And I do hear that you can still buy new disposable 35mm's, especially the underwater ones, which sell well at resorts.

I thought of the F6, but I didn't see it in B&H's latest catalogue so I didn't want to speak for it. Then again, the F6 design dates back to when? There is no doubt that it has become the K1000 of high-end film cameras, in that it has remained in production long after you'd think it should have gone away forever, but it certainly isn't a new design. (Though if I were a NIkon shooter I would almost certainly have bought one by now.)

I was seeing the 35mm disposables as late as last year in my local Walmart, which discontinued sales of colour print film in the latter half of that year and the disposables vanished from its shelves at about the same time. That may not be the case elsewhere, of course, and my Christmas present request from my mother in law and her dog continues to include any 35mm colour film she can find going cheap in her town. A pharmacy near me still sends it out to be processed, and I intend to keep shooting a roll here and there to keep the demand up for as long as they sustain the service.