Tom C. wrote: >One hindrance slowing digital down, is that it's closely associated with >computers. Not everyone wants or cares about them. Probably an *extremely* >high percentage of people who buy digital cameras, also have computers. The >rest, also a significant number, don't care and will continue using film >cameras
Anyone who works in an office or goes to school MUST use a computer. I don't know the statistics, but I think around half of the people in the US and other industrialized countries have access to a computer. It's true that consumer digital cameras have been promoted as computer peripherals more than as photographic tools. But that's changing. As their prices come down, they are being marketed as superior substitutes for 35mm point & shoots. Ritz and others promote this idea already, by making prints from "digital film" just like they do with 35mm. For non-photography business use, digital has been preferred over film for several years already. If you don't need great resolution, it's wonderful to have the immediacy and easy image storage of digital. For high volume professional photography or photojournalism, I can't imagine anyone starting out today choosing film over digital. Digital image quality (using professional digital SLRs or medium format digital backs) is excellent, and I'm sure the the equipment cost is easily justified by savings in film & procesing. 35mm film has only one market that digital has not yet dominated - the single-use camera. I see this as the last bastion of film. I really don't know the demographics of single-use camera buyers, but I suspect they are mostly people who have NO interest in photography, and don't take many pictures other than the obligatory Christmas morning or family vacation photos. Since they have so few photos, image storage isn't much of an issue, and a photo album is just as easy (or easier) to use than a CD, etc. And since they have so little interest in photography, they will use whatever tool is cheapest, which for the moment is the 35mm single-use camera. Single-use camera buyers are not necessarily lacking in spending money or computer literacy, so whenever a digital camera appears that is as cheap as a single use film camera, and can produce decent 4" x 6" images, digital may take over this market, too. However, being the most popular film size, with a large number of cameras in use, I'm sure 35mm film will be around for a long time. But as the market shrinks, there will of course be fewer different films available, and processing will become more expensive and less widely available. If I only cared about the final image, didn't already own TOO MANY cameras, and didn't have any budget restrictions, I'd be using a digital SLR. However, I'm a collector as well as a photographer. I use 35mm SLRs because they're FUN. I plan to continue doing so, without worrying about whether or not my technology is outdated. Jeff - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
