Re: Imaging

Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Wed, 25 Sep 1996 00:05:27 -0400 (EDT)

On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, Beakman wrote:
> I still use good old-fashioned Kodak
> Tri-X, and have absolutely no plans to stop doing so. In fact my fear is
> that the people shooting 35mm have hastened the demise of films like Tri-X
> in favor of T-Max films.

I guess I should have been more specific -- what is disappearing even as I
write is sheet film, or anything larger than 8x10 in sheet film,
especially orthochromatic sheet film. These are the graphic arts films
which are being abandoned in favor of digital methods... so today there is
about one contone large sheet film available in this country, and it is
imported from Europe (N31P).

> I print on my own homemade paper, so perhaps I might be blamed for
> furthering the decline of commercially available papers, but we on this
> list are all equally culpable in that regard. Therefore, I am doing
> nothing more to hasten the demise of film, than you.
>
Sheet film you are surely hastening demise of -- guilty!

> If anything, perhaps I may be *helping* the situation. If, as a result of
> having programs like Photoshop available, some people find new inspiration
> and become excited by their photography again, or perhaps some new people
> are encouraged to try their hand at it, then sales of traditional film
> will increase. I'm certainly doing my part. :)

35 mm perhaps, but that isn't the problem; if worst came to worst you
could even enlarge from slides. The problem is that large sheet film
other than lith becomes increasingly non-available and expensive..

Judy