----- Original Message -----
From: "Gonz"
Subject: Re: Pentax lens test on DIGITAL? All Pentax DSLR same imagaing?
Medium format is primarily a professional photographer's camera. That
they are dumping the stuff in droves is not going to help the pricing of
it on the used market, nor is it going to do much for keeping manufacture
of film viable.
OTOH, I suspect that processing will be available for some years to come
yet, so if the format interests you, be aware that you may want to buy
enough film to keep you happy sooner rather than later.
And probably the chemicals for processing. Its been a long time. Can the
chemicals for processing keep for a long time like film, under cold
storage?
Chemistry, no, not really.
You can get black and white chemistry in powdered form that will last pretty
much forever, but colour chemistry does have a shelf life of a few years at
most, and can be harmed by cold storage.
I expect that film processing will be available for many more years, perhaps
as little as five, as long as ten.
If you can live with that short a time for your investment to become a
gamble on usability, definitely the quality of your photography will improve
for using the large camera.
William Robb
