Gast
Hello,
Does anyone know what proportion of film stock worldwide – particularly black and white film – is still being used by professionals? That would be interesting, as that’s likely to be the area seeing the sharpest decline.
Roland
FrankJBeckmann
Hi,
I imagine a great deal of film is still being used around the world. After all, there are plenty of places where not every home, or even every office or publishing house, has a modern high-performance computer.
Bye
Frank
Gast
Hello!
That’s going to be very difficult to determine, as the term ‘professional’ is quite broad...
Press photography (i.e. daily newspaper photojournalists, sports, current affairs, local news, etc.) is now probably 99% digital.
However, in the field of reportage photography (i.e. not photojournalists working under time pressure on current affairs, but those producing photo essays for major monthly magazines such as Geo, Mare, National Geographic, etc. photojournalists creating photo essays), there is still a relatively large proportion of people who work in a very traditional way with Leica and TriX (or at least similar gear and materials) – and not just the big names (Salgado, Nachtwey, etc.) but also many lesser-known ones.
Similarly, in calendar photography, fashion photography and advertising, there are still people who work in analogue, using medium or large format; however, many in these fields are already working digitally or in a hybrid way (I have acquaintances working in this sector who decide, depending on the nature of the assignment and the desired end product, whether to use the Pentax 67 / Mamiya RB67 or a digital SLR); Architectural photography is still almost exclusively analogue (though mostly in colour), as large-format cameras with digital backs simply aren’t portable enough.
In the US and the UK, there is currently quite a trend in wedding and high-end portrait photography away from digital and back towards traditional black-and-white photography – which is partly due to the fact that black-and-white photographers working traditionally can charge far higher rates than those working digitally (this has more to do with supply and demand – this was one of the first sectors to switch to digital; but now that a traditional black-and-white look, right down to lith prints, is currently very ‘in’ and trendy again – having, in a sense, replaced the cross-processed look of the 1990s – take a look at relevant lifestyle magazines, especially from non-German-speaking countries, which are once again lagging behind – as many professional photographers had switched to digital in the meantime, the remaining traditional photographers are in double demand); consequently, a scene has developed around schools, courses and specialist magazines that impart expertise to newcomers to black-and-white photography; but I don’t think that will catch on here, the princely salaries of American wedding professionals have never been available here – it’s simply a cultural difference.
I’d say there are niches where traditional, analogue black-and-white photography still holds its own, even among professionals, but in most areas the work is done digitally; on the other hand, however, I’m seeing a constant influx of young black-and-white photographers, particularly among amateurs; VHS darkroom courses are constantly overbooked, second-hand darkroom equipment is selling well, and there’s definitely interest among people in their early 20s (I know quite a few myself; I’ve already set up a few darkrooms for them and taught them the basics).
Gast
Roman,
are you sure that 99% of press photographers are already working digitally? Until a few days ago, when I saw a North Korean TV reporter on *Tagesthemen* using a 16mm Arriflex film camera, I thought that this hadn’t been seen in current TV news coverage for 20 years, even in developing countries.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are still newspapers that are printed using lead type.
Mario
Gast
OK, but North Korea isn’t really a fair example...
Otherwise, though, I don’t think the developing world is necessarily lagging behind either.
FrankJBeckmann
Hi,
Wephota does most of its business in the developing world. Sales of black-and-white products are still very high there.
Bye
Frank
Gast
Dear photographers!
What film do the Koreans use?
Could the legendary trade secret, Classicpan 100, perhaps be ‘Made in DPR Korea’ and go by the name of Kim-Pan 21 over there?
In the best light
Knipsbert Lichtbildmann
cfb_de
Dear Knipsbert (nice name :-),
No. The "Kim" films are colour films. Black-and-white films are called "Jo-Mei-Pan" there, but due to the constant progress in the state-owned economy, they are of course not Western-style "classic" films.
All clear?
Best regards,
Franz
Gast
Franz,
We’ve already discussed this in the other forum – would you call that technological progress?
Test colour image:
http://www.kdvr.de/bilder/landwirtschaft/l...irtschaft04.jpg
Gast
Hmm,
there isn’t a film, but they do have something to help digital photographers preserve their images – and it doesn’t even come with baryta paper.
Namely a lithographic press, proper high-tech.
Have a look here
http://www.dprkorea-trade.com/stoneimg/stoneimg01.htm
Handbags and suits in socialist style – and don’t forget a Kalavier
with internationalist greetings
Enno
Gast
... perhaps there are films available on special request, comrades (we rarely enjoy a day like this so much)
Gast
Hello,
I’ve just returned home from a business trip to South Korea, where I visited an industrial exhibition.
Among other things, there was a stand representing North Korea. As I was naturally curious to see what was on offer there, I had a look around. At first, there was nothing that particularly caught my eye, though I did spot a wooden tripod that looked very sturdy and ended up buying it for 50 euros.
When I enquired about the photography industry there, it turned out that there is actually a factory that produces paper and film.
What really astonished me, however, was that they called over the photographer who had been brought along and, as proof of sorts, he pressed three roll films into my hand: one colour roll film and two 35mm films.
All wrapped in rather garish, eye-catching colours – dark red on blue – with chewing-gum-paper-like wrapping inside; the 35mm films are in cardboard cartridges.
Somehow curious, like pretty much everything about this country.
Incidentally, the colour film has a speed of a whopping 13 DIN, whilst the black-and-white films are 16 and 26 DIN respectively.
I don’t think I’ll develop any of it, but as for the black-and-white films, might it be worth a try with Supergrain?
I’ve written this because you were joking about it, so there you go again.
In any case, our supply should be secure in an emergency, given that this is such a vital war material!
Karl
Gast
Karl,
Let's be honest, what on earth is all this nonsense about?
Roland
