Yeah, I know and then EK ate it on the currency exchange. Buggy whips probably had their best year ever right before someone turned out the lights. Photo finishing is capital intensive, high overhead and low margin, it only takes a slow down in growth to put a wrench into profits. They've squeezed as much cost out of it as they can (I know). I don't think real film is going away per se, but there might be enough of a slow down in growth that even a small up tick in the price of silver (as in inflation) will accelerate the switch. In commercial photography (which is not where EK makes it's real $) there is no way film based will be able to compete with digital in a few years cost wise, the savings is just so phenominal when you cut out four-five steps. The last words on every commercial shoot is, when can we see the film. Imagine handing off a CD at the end of the shoot instead of waiting for the lab to process the film and the photographer to edit it and send it to you Fedex. With B&W it's even worse, there is processing and contacts....picking frames with a loop, ordering too many prints,scans, rush charges, delivery charges, etc. Commercial shoots add anywhere from $300-$1000 per day in costs to use film.
My argument for the third world is, if you were going to set up a lab, which would you rather do, spend $150k for a mini-lab and 100 square ft with plumbing and electric, waste disposel or $2k for a desktop and printer that fits on a small desk in a corner of your kiosk....no water needed?
The question isn't if, but when. |
