Contrary to what the film "Chicken Little" doom and gloomers say, film is not dead, nor is it dying in certain areas of photography. It has been my experience from participating on photography forums for over the last 12 years or so, many of the doom and gloomers have either never shot film and are basically talking to hear themselves talk, or they were only casual film shooters who never took film photography serious in the first place. If you look at the casual consumer, then I think you could say it is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. But these are usually the kind of people who would have photos from Christmas, Easter and another Christmas on the same roll of film. Not people who are really serious about photography. Digital is very cheap compared to film for them so there is no motivation to use it any more. This is exclusive of the people who still use the Kodak disposable 35mm cameras. If the numbers of disposable cameras you still see in stores like Walmart, Target and the drug stores is any indication, they are apparently still pretty popular.
But amongst many serious photographers and working professionals film is not dead, not by a long shot. I know several working professional who still shoot a lot of film, my self included. Most of it is medium and large format but if Kodak would make T-Max 100 in 100 foot rolls like they do Tri-X, I would still shoot 35mm black and white a lot more than I do. I still shoot my Hasselblad all the time, and for black and white it is still my go to camera. The only time I go to my 35mm cameras is if I have a lens in 35mm that I don't have an equivalent for in 120. There is just something about a medium format print in 11x14 or 16x20 that against which digital just cannot measure up. You could place a 16x20 silver halide print next to an identical digital one and I could spot the digital 100% of the time, with one eye closed and my hand convering the other one. It just has no character compared to a conventional print. Black and white digital has come a long way, but from my 40+ years of film experience, it still has A VERY LONG WAY to go to compete with film when it comes to fine art work. I know a professional photographer here in town who sold all his darkroom equipment when he switched to digital and now he is really kicking himself in the butt when he saw just how short it really falls. I have offered to rent out my darkroom to him as long as he brings his own paper but so far he has not taken me up on it!
