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Ebony RIP

bab

Active member
Very sad unfortunate these old trusted name companies could never find a way to partner with newer mainstream hardware to make a lively niche for future longevity.
And the shits of it all is that Hassleblad and Phase could also benefit giving flexibility to their systems.
 

JoelM

Well-known member
While Ebony wasn't that old of a company, they filled a niche with high quality and modern functioning cameras. It's too bad that they are going, but that is part of the price we all pay for "progress".

Joel
 

routlaw

Member
While Ebony wasn't that old of a company, they filled a niche with high quality and modern functioning cameras. It's too bad that they are going, but that is part of the price we all pay for "progress".

Joel
Wow! Such a bummer. But is it progress really, sometimes I wonder. I still have my Ebony, but must say I don't use it much these days. I suppose we are all to blame for the "progress".
 

MartinN

Well-known member
I have nothing to say about Ebony because I couldn't afford the luxury cameras.
Still, in my opinon the film producers killed all these classical camera makers.
Kodak, Fuji and Agfa. Prices UP and availability DOWN. No instant film.
Too expensive sheet film.

Thats it.

Martin
 

routlaw

Member
Hmm, I don't know, my perspective is digital killed film. Supply and demand, once demand plummeted and it did, the producers had no choice but to raise prices due to the economy of scale. Back in the 80's and 90's my monthly film and processing cost was anywhere from $800 to $2000. Once I went digital the first year all but one of my clients took the plunge into digital, only one job held out for film in the entire year, and the rest is history.

Still in many ways I miss the simplicity, (sort of or at times) of film.
 

MartinN

Well-known member
Hmm, I don't know, my perspective is digital killed film. Supply and demand, once demand plummeted and it did, the producers had no choice but to raise prices due to the economy of scale.
I agree completely that digital was the prime enemy. But with cheaper film available many more would have continued to use that medium. It's sad that so many professionals and amateurs decided that digital is the way to produce the images. However, LF film would stand up very well against the digital backs resolutionwise but very few can accept the cost per image with LF film.
 

routlaw

Member
A good number of us full time pros not only still use film but in my case, use more than ever. I just did two magazine shoots using large format in the past month and have another lined up at the end of this month. I think price of film is pretty much spot on if not a little low for the times we are in and considering inflation.

Ebony is closing up shop because the owner / founder wants to retire and does not want the same thing to happen to his company's brand as did Deardorff, better to retire the brand on a good note ratter than watch it flop under new ownership. The brand has also seen more pressure from other excellent brands like Chamonix which is currently my 4x5 system of choice and simply an amazing value.

Then you have brilliant 25 year old engineering visionaries like Alessandro Gibellini that unlike the old brands, is taking LF into the 21st century in style. I am having him build me a custom camera and it will be fantastic.

Life is too short to not fully enjoy your hobby / career behind the camera...and it is sure as heck is too short to just settle for digital.
FWIW, I've also been making a living at this for over 30 years. If I brought up the notion of shooting film to any of my clients they would laugh me out of the room. I don't know anyone who has the time, patience or budget for drum scans and film processing. We use to have 3 photo labs in this town, there are none within the state now and its been this way for what has to be some 10 years. So shoot film, send to out of state lab, get results back in a week or so, then send off for drum scans and hope they did a decent job. Its an untenable situation in the 21st century. If that isn't enough many of my clients are in the outdoor recreation industry using synthetic materials with synthetic dyes. I have seen jade green pack cloth turn sky blue no matter what the light source is and no matter the film and we tried every single type of film at the time to in order to correct this. By comparison I can correct it within minutes in PS, if that.

I also work with lots of artist who are always running late and need something shot as in right now. Simply put film is not a distant remote option.

Don't get me wrong I respect anyone using film for their own personal work and have thought about getting back into myself off and on, but for paid commercial its just not worth thinking about. E-6 labs have all but gone by the wayside unless you live in a large metropolitan area, and even many of those have closed. And I don't doubt that in some genre's of commercial photography perhaps film might be a viable alternative but certainly not where I live and work and would guess this is the case for the vast majority of people making a living in this field.

I looked at the Gibellini website, terrible product photography IMO. Really difficult to see or understand how one might benefit over other options on the market, but thanks for sharing. Hope you get what you want going this route.
 

routlaw

Member
Apologies if you took offense or it seemed I was "schooling" you are anyone. Not meant that way, just going by what I know on this end. And I certainly don't have any issues with someone who wants to use film for whatever reasons, be it technical, or aesthetical. Again have considered it myself, but don't relish the thought of scanning film and all that goes along with that, let alone processing it while polluting the water supplies at the same time. Wasn't even aware Jobo was still manufacturing their kits, good to know though.

The only thing I was politely or moderately disagreeing with you on was how many people are using film in this day and age which takes us full circle to the origins of the thread. I suspect and perhaps I am wrong, its probably less than 1-2% even taking into consideration your friend in NYC and others like him or her. Yet I do know of others who have done exceedingly well with film, Nick Brandt comes to mind who only uses a Pentax 6x7 camera with a couple of lenses. The last time I saw one of his shows the large prints were selling for $70,000 each and the smaller ones for $15,000 each. Its my understanding his limited editions usually sell out. And to your point, he apparently invested at some point in a $50,000 Hasselblad digital system and hated it, thought it was a terrible investment and went back to his Pentax 6x7. So as you state there are photographers who do really well with film and prefer it, my contention is its only an extremely minor percentage and most but certainly not all clients will put up with it.

Truthfully, I have always felt many photographers would have served themselves much better by sticking to film. Not everyone is up to the task of properly preparing digital files for press work. And lets not even get into the garish editing so many digital purist subscribe to that seems to be all the rage these days.

Thanks for your response, but again didn't mean to offend.
 

MartinN

Well-known member
Thank you for inspiring me to continue using MF film.

However in my local nature photography club there is none except me carrying a camera using film.
What I hear directly or indirectly is that many of the digital photographers believe that using film inherently always is giving inferior results to digital. This is not simply true and I want to prove it.

But maybe I close up in my photography and just leave others to think what they think.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
The 45SU non-folder was one of my personal favorites -- loved that cam. I often think I'll get back into film and fondly remember using the view cam. But with no labs nearby it would mean building a darkroom and buying a drum scanner... And I really don't have the inclination to do either -- and then the actual thought and memories of wet scanning pretty much kills off the nostalgic buzz :ROTFL:
 

chrism

Well-known member
The 45SU non-folder was one of my personal favorites -- loved that cam. I often think I'll get back into film and fondly remember using the view cam. But with no labs nearby it would mean building a darkroom and buying a drum scanner... And I really don't have the inclination to do either -- and then the actual thought and memories of wet scanning pretty much kills off the nostalgic buzz :ROTFL:
Jack,
You really don't need a drum scanner for a 4x5. I use my X1 and an Epson V850 and it's rather hard to tell the difference.

Chris
 
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