Opinion: Film Renaissance

A hundred years ago, film was in the realm of enthusiasts, artists and professionals. With the introduction of the Kodak Brownie and, later, colour 35mm roll film, film photography marched into the mass market and exploded into a multi-billion dollar per year business. Times have changed and phones are now the most popular form of photography for the masses, leaving film photography to the enthusiasts, artists and professionals engaged with film.

This market is not small, and many products are being introduced, maintained or expanded. For example, Bergger released Panchro 400 for large format last year, and is now rumoured to be releasing this film in 120 and 35mm format soon. The Impossible Project casually mentioned selling a million packs of film last year, and it introduced the new I-type instant film camera for instant film. Adox, Arista, Cinestill, Foma, Ilford, Kodak, Lomography, Fujifilm, Rollei and more continue to produce film today. Japan Camera Hunter is reviving a film emulsion and the FILM Ferrania project hopes to be producing E6 slide film this year.

There may be issues, such as with Fujifilm discontinuing pack film, but Fuji's Instax instant film was the top seller on Amazon for the photography department last Christmas.

There is no shortage of items to report on film or alternative process happenings around the world, a lot of it positive. As an example, successful Kickstarter campaigns for art lenses based on early designs, darkroom equipment such as affordable development tanks, photography log books and more.

It is certainly exciting to be reporting on the progression and new position for silver halide in the world today.