Originally posted by RioRico We in the industrialized world, flooded with Chinese- and otherwhere-made digital imaging gear, may see film as a vanishing species. But other worlds exist. The last time I was in Guatemala the country still had big tariffs on Chinese imports. Digital products were rare and expensive and often smuggled-in; film was EVERYWHERE. And if you're off-the-grid anywhere for more than a couple weeks, you're best off with a hand-crank camera, a solar light meter, and a crate of film.
Yes, Kodak-Fuji-etc will keep producing film as long as WalMart keeps stocking it, as long as tens or hundreds of millions of people keep buying it. And if the 'majors' ever stop producing it, boutique film-labs will churn it out to meet the demand.
You are right in a lot of Ways Rico, but the main determining factor for Kodak and Fuji on colour will be the motion picture industry. the economies of scale come from them. When (if ) they get out of film for projection and production then I imagine Kodak and Fuji may well kill film production, whether boutique guys can produce quality colour film remains to be seen, b/w is largely a boutique market already with more films from the small guys than the big guys. there is still probably a decade or so at minimum for the colour (though processing is getting harder all the time), the b/w could go on indefinitely i would think since it's easy to home process and many of the film manufacturers make the chemicals as well (not to mention you can mix your own easily enough)