What future for film ?
- David
- Jun 1
- 4 min read
Film photography can be loosely defined as a light sensitive that is exposed to light usually using a camera and then processed to create a negative or positive image. The positive image is largely ‘instant’ film like polaroid or Fujifilm Instax with some photo positive paper and paper negatives usinxdarkroom papers. Negatives are generally made on a coated plastic sheet from very small (16mm) up to 8x10”. Other traditional processes use similar techniques with different chemicals and reagents.
The world's oldest surviving photograph is View from the Window at Le Gras. It was captured in 1826 or 1827 by French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépc. From this point photography saw exponential growth and technological development using a myriad of techniques and processes.
Those with greatest longevity were images made on glass plates using a wet or dry process, and the plastic film base in a variety of sizes in rolls and sheets.
The adoption of digital cameras in the late 1990’s saw 150 years of tradition eroded for most although traditional photography was kept on life support by those who preferred the aesthetic and often superior performance at larger size. Major manufacturers like Kodak, Fujifilm, Ilford, Polaroid and others saw mass market sales slump but managed to downsize or adapt to survive while other household brands vanished.
Leap forward to 2026 and the unthinkable has happened - film photography has seen a large scale resurgence.
There are around 42 Million active film camera users worldwide. The number of cameras in circulation is difficult to establish. Some will not work and others will be mass market of course but better quality cameras have more chance of survival.
There were 150,000 Original Brownies sold in 1900 alone with 2.5 million Model No 2 sold by 1921. There were 125 variations of the Brownie over a 70 year period. More than 50 million Kodak Instamatic cameras made over 7 years. Some 350,000 Kodak Retina variants were sold
There were 21 Million Soviet Smena 8 and 8M cameras made, 5.4 Million Olympus Trip cameras, 2 Million Argus C3 cameras, 5.7 Million Canon AE-1 variants, 3 million Pentax K1000, 0.8 Million Nikon F2’s, 2 Million Olympus OM-1, Hasselblad 500 series cameras around 160,000, Leica M3 233,000 over a ten year period, Nikon F 862,000.
The analogue revival is more than a trend and can be seen in huge resurgence in non digital music formats, book sales and clothing. Sustainability is also a consideration - while film processing is a difficult point the redundancy of digital cameras and manufacturing impacts are incredibly wasteful. Film cameras from the 1960’s and 1970’s are popular with little to no electronics and ‘point and shoot’ cameras through the 1980’s and 1990’s remain very popular. There is a very strong sense that film photography is a community and this is played out on social media, photo walks etc.
The global photographic film market is estimated at USD 613 million in 2026, projected to reach USD 724 million by 2035. Over 25 million rolls of film are consumed annually, with film usage up 35% since 2021. More than 2.5 million film cameras were sold globally in 2024, up from around 1.8 million in 2020. Some 60% of the film market remains with 35mm film.
After being caught out on the inexorable demand for film, manufacturers like Kodak and Ilford are investing on new plant and equipment to increase and diversify production. Kodak cinematic stocks are being re-packaged as specialist or boutique film and smaller scale makers like Fomapan and Adox - Film Ferrania are also seeing growth. The return of polaroid film followed by cameras and the popularity of Instax cameras to a young audience has built a new ground level of future analogue photographers.
The challenges
Repairs and refurbishment - Skills
While high end makers of large format cameras and companies like Leica have continued to make or even make new cameras, the recent manufacture of a 35mm camera by Pentax is a notable step as a major manufacturer explores the potential. For the moment we are using cameras that are usually 30-80 years old. That so many are still functional without designed obsolescence is testament to quality and design. Trained camera technicians in the UK are becoming much harder to find - there are only 2 in Scotland. Factory trained technicians are dying off or properly retiring after usually ‘retiring’ multiple times ! The specialist market for large format cameras with negative size 4x5 up has remained strong.
Repairs and refurbishment - Parts
Salvage and re-use of high quality mechanical equipment fits strongly with a growing repair ethos. Parts that are old ‘new stock’ can still be found for certain models. The use of non working cameras as donors makes a lot of sense but many are still going to landfill.
Electronics
Ironically the electronics introduced to cameras have not always lasted well and in many cases are not viable to repair. We need to accept some cameras are not coming back unless donors are found, and even then latent defects tend to re-surface.
Cost of film
The cost increase of film over the past 15 years has been 20-50%. There is a risk that the audience driving the resurgence might get priced out of the market. Using less film and slowing down does seem to be a major appeal however. Large format sheet film has become eye waveringly expensive and colour in particular is now unaffordable for most. The community is inventive and creative, using non traditional film stocks intended for other purposes and rolling new film into old 35mm cassettes. Film formats are being re-introduced - such as 620 and 110 which instantly bring back millions of cameras back into play.
Like most things the market will respond to demand - the weak point in the chain is the lack of skilled repair technicians to keep our cameras working and stopping those in circulation ending up in landfill...
ps if you want to be wowed with the production figures for various camera models take a look at the excellent website http://knippsen.blogspot.com
David Mitchell
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