A look at the history of why the film photography scene in the US and Europe are different, even though they are similarly sized markets. This hopefully clears up some of the needs for the industry and helps the community to play by its strenghts.
Background:
I was asked to join the superb film photography paideia by the Darkroom in California, but I was not able to make it. Hence I sent my thoughts in video format and here they are for you to see also!
The paideia:
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You bring up valid points. However, I'm more concerned that there are less qualified techs able to fix and repair film based cameras. There are rogue shops and repairmen here in the USA that simply experiment on cameras brought into them by unaware customers – and very few skilled repairmen who actually know what they are doing (but they're super expensive – that exceeds the value of the camera itself). Electronic based analog plastic cameras are slowly showing signs of death more so than the pure mechanical ones. Lastly, hyped up pricing on analog cameras doesn't help younger generations access to film photography either – which is really sad if the goal is to keep analog film photography alive for the future.
It's good to see someone care about keeping film/analogue photography alive for future generations to enjoy. Keep up the good work, Juho!
Glad you uploaded this! I saw on someone's IG story that you had sent a video to that conference (meetup?) and I was curious to see it. Great vid!
Film is fairly easy to shoot in the UK, if you just want your photos on a DVD, its as little as £3 from a major supermarket, getting negatives are around £5 a roll. There is a huge market for disposable cameras, as they're used at weddings a lot, where they are given to guests. Point and shoots are dirt cheap in charity shops and even Minolta SR-7 with a lens are typically around £10 to £20. No real reason not to shoot film to be fair.
You are incredible guys,?!! Do you have plans for South America? Probably is a gold mine for you
Thanks for making the video Juho, too bad you couldn't make it out here to California, I wasn't able to make the show either but at least I still got to hear your thoughts on the current standing of the analog industry. One thing I have witnessed and continue to witness in the US besides the huge renewal of analog photography in the youth is the desire to preserve the industry. I hope we can do our part in diligence to also support our friends and com-padres in Europe and around the globe. We have a major surplus of cameras, lenses, parts and film. But one thing that is looming over us is the generational gap in technicians unfortunately. While more and more developing and enlarging labs are indeed opening around the US and other North American countries, the rate of new technicians entering the field is not offsetting the number of technicians leaving the field, either by retirement or unfortunately passing away. While I do not thing it is an immediate concern, it will become more and more apparent in the next few years. I am hoping for a reversal in this trend sooner more than later as the number of technicians is starting to dip. There is some silver lining in the field of makers of brand new analog cameras but, it still isn't enough to slow the decreasing numbers. Hopefully the US and Europe can come together and find solutions to our individual regions' shortcomings and issues. I look forward to more news from you all at CR and the industry at large. -Shane
Thank you and your team for helping to keep the industry alive and thriving.