The Passing of Film

CNet News reports today on another milestone in the passage of film. Nikon has announced plans to all but abandon it’s film cameras and shift focus almost exclusively to digital.

In the most recent fiscal year ended March 2005, Nikon said that film camera bodies accounted for 3 percent of the 180 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in sales at the company’s camera and imaging division. That is down from 16 percent the previous year.

Having taken photography classes to learn how to shoot with film, develop the film and print the images, this actually makes me kind of sad. Granted it’s been years since I was in a darkroom, but there is an art and a science to film cameras. Now that we have the instant gratification of shooting digital, seeing if it’s a good image, deleting those that aren’t and printing straight from the PC, that science is dead.

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