Approaching Film’s Last Stand

The Associated Press has a story out looking at some of those folks who are still shooting film. And there are … a few.

Kodak may sell 20 million rolls of film this year … which seems like a lot, until you realize that just a decade ago it was selling, ahem, one billion rolls a year. (All of us with lead index fingers, fess up – how many of those were to you?)

“The beauty with film is a lot of wonderful properties are inherent and don’t require work afterward” whereas digital can involve heavy computer manipulation to get the same effect, (Kodak’s Scott) DiSabato says.

“In the extreme, they call it ‘stomped on,'” he said. “But a lot of photographers want to be photographers, not computer technicians. And some prized film capabilities – grain, color hues, skin-tone reproduction – can’t quite be duplicated no matter how much stomping goes on.”

(Thanks to NPPA President Sean Elliot for the link.)