Film Sales Statistics - How Much Has Digital Cameras Affected Film Sales?

Question

Film Sales Statistics - How Much Has Digital Cameras Affected Film Sales?

Answer 1

I can provide a personal reference. Eight years ago I opened a photolab in a new store. Our roll volume averaged 50-6o rolls per day this time of year, and about 100 rolls per day in December. We are in a small town/rural area, in a chain drugstore. When we opened, we had a twelve foot peg backwall filled with film, B&W, slide, even a few rolls of 120 in the refrigerator. Out front, we had a ten foot island with film on one side, Polaroid and disposacams on the other. We carried Polaroid, Kodak, Fuji, Agfa and Ilford.



Today the film and camera section is on a two foot section. That includes the digital camera cards, disposacams, tripods, camera cases, and MP3 players. Oh, and the film, too. No Polaroid at all. No Kodak, only Fuji and our store brand (which is actually Fuji as well). No B&W. No slides. No med format. We carry multipacks in 200, 400 and 800. Singles in only 400. Last week, my film roll volume was 20 per day. Of course, we do about 20,000+ digital prints a month on three dye-sub printers. And I am probably getting a new minilab printer/processor to replace my aging optical system. Which will be great for digital output, but now my film will be digitized as opposed to optically printed, using a lens and lightbulb. Progress marches on.

Answer 2

Just call it what it is - a camera. Give the nomenclature of the camera and you will be understood, for example - if you want a Leica M4, ask for a Leica M4 and they will understand you. All cameras are both analog and digital. The term analog represents the signal of a mechanism which measures a continuous physical variable, as either a voltage or pressure. The term digital represents a device which can generate, record, process, receive, transmit, or display information that is represented in discrete numerical form. When you use a film camera that has a light meter, it uses a device which measures the light, representing the measurement as a voltage (analog), then converts that signal into information that can be understood by a microprocessor, in discrete numerical values of either 1 or 0 (digital), so that it can set or indicate the appropriate exposure value. Though you may think that the terms describe opposite functions, they are mostly associated with one another in the operation of complex devices like cameras. Even my 25 year old Nikon FE2 manual focus film SLR contains an analog/digital conversion device which serves as its light meter. The two words are not to be used to differentiate between cameras which are exclusively digital and cameras that use film, the distinction is that one uses film and the other does not.

Answer 3

Globally statistics vary as the "digital revolution" hasn't taken over the world just yet, China for example is seen as a growth area for film more than digital.

For a guide to how western consumers are reacting this 2008 company report from Kodak might be of interest - http://sec.edgar-online.com/2008/02/27/0001206774-08-000374/Section9.asp

Answer 4

I have posted a link below to a fairly recent article regarding the relationship between film sales and digital cameras.



In summary, it appears film sales have declined 75% since the peak of film sales in 1999. The drop has been between 20-30% every year over the past four years.



I too can offer personal experience. We *were* a professional photo lab - but have since moved into a related online business model and away from retail. In 1998, our average roll count per day was 65, with a peak between 90-130 the Monday after Easter and each day of the week after New Years. By 2006, that number had dropped to 15-25 a day, with no peak at all after holidays - as there is a huge delay from taking a digital picture, to actually printing it, if ever.



Fortunately for us, we saw the tide well in advance, and were able to shift our business away from the retail model.



If you are doing professional research, for more information, you may want to contact the Photo Marketing Association.



Hope this is helpful!