Canon ends film camera sales
Even though I haven't shot film in decades, it's still sad. I do miss my AE-1.
Even though I haven't shot film in decades, it's still sad. I do miss my AE-1.
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No more Canon film cameras
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Leica just announced last week the end of the film versions of the numbered M series. https://petapixel.com/2018/05/25/the-leica-m7-has-been-discontinued M7 was their last, but they have two M film cameras left (MP and M-A). I'm currently shooting a roll of film in the Leica M3 my dad bought right before I was born. First film I've shot in close to 25 years and probably the last roll I'll shoot.
It has been an interesting experience. Everything is manual. I'm checking settings two or three times for each shot.
It has been an interesting experience. Everything is manual. I'm checking settings two or three times for each shot.
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tshelfer
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Well, I figure the "golden era" ended when Kodak quit making Ektachrome 64. I have a box full of old film cameras from a $10 Korean Rollaflex knockoff to my 90s-era Nikon 6006. Sad as it is to see an era pass, the reality is I haven't shot film since 2002.
Passing of film is doubly sad for me. Worked at the camera shop and the movie theater. I have no idea how many miles of film have passed through my hands. Gotten some chances to thread projectors in the years since I left and I can still almost do it with my eyes closed and every bit of it is still just as satisfying.
Downs
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An emotional end but not an unexpected one. Same as the horse and buggy. I'm sure some niche company will come in and start building film cameras in the future for a premium for those who prefer such. But the ease and simplicity of transferring digital copies of film/photos around into computers and printing the same meant that the future of physical media was sealed long ago.
Jeff S
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Sorta amazing that Canon stopped MAKING film cameras 8 years ago, but just finally ran out of stock now.
Kodak re-opened one of their film factories late last year. ektachrome first, and then I think Portra, too, IIRC.
Kodak re-opened one of their film factories late last year. ektachrome first, and then I think Portra, too, IIRC.
Sure makes a guy feel old. Just seems like yesterday I was riding the back roads and taking pictures with my Minolta. My wife use to joke with me that the only pictures I took was of my BMW R75/7 and some wide spot along a country road. kenray in Katy.
jqueen
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I spent several years running movie projectors as well. It is weird how satisfying that was (threading the film through the "brain" in the platters to the projector and back).
And I did do it with my eyes closed just to see if I could....
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M38A1
Admin
Was it true you had two films running at the same time so if one broke you just switch the bulb on the other one for a seamless show to the audience? Always wondered about that 'wives tale'.
RT_Slim
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The AMC projectionists at the theater where I worked as an usher in the late 70's we union. They were forbidden to patronize non union theaters.
RIP Canon film.
jqueen
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We didnt, and I can't imagine that many people would've at the time. I would think the cost to have an extra film for each theater would be prohibitive. The older theaters that still used reels would have two projectors, and they started the next reel when the dots appeared in the corner for the previous reel. The theaters I worked at used platters where you combined all the reels together and ran through in one piece.
When we had a film break we had to go untangle it, cut out as little of the film as we could, splice it back, thread it through the projector again, etc. A good protectionist can usually do that in a minute or two, but sometimes the platters keep running and you get a really big mess.
Viewers won't notice a frame missing here and there, and even 5 or 6 frames isn't annoying (as long as it doesn't happen every 5 minutes).
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M38A1
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Thanks for the scoop!
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The old arc light projectors at the palace theater in georgetown used carbon arc lighting to project the image. You ran two projectors, film was in sections, watch for the dots and switch from one projector to the other, then while that one was running, reload the next platter on the "down" projector. I was there in the 80's, was one of only a few people that knew how to run them and how to fix them. They used to call all the time for help. Good times.
This was actually the reason for the projectionist union. Carbon arc lamps right next to very flammable film. In the old old days being a projectionist was somewhat dangerous as there were fire doors that would slam shut over the windows and doors to seal off the projection room from the auditorium. Remember the old auditoriums crammed a ton of people into them. My first theater was an old one that had been divided into three auditoriums of 750, and two 350 seat auditoriums. Do the math and add in some more where the walls went and you can see that's a lot of people and a lot of liability in the event of a fire, so the projectionist and projection room were expendable. Thus, they had a union to make sure they were well taken care of. As far as I know, the union still exists up north, or did when we lived in Ohio, but like many of the unions, they've outlived their usefulness as the job isn't what it once was.
jqueen, we'll have to swap stories one day at a pie run. I'm sure you've got plenty to match mine. Loved that job, wish I could have made real money doing it.
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