Pete:(posted 8355 days ago)I suspect silver-based photography will be around for quite a while.
For example, I was at my local photo store recently and remarked on the large variety and quantity of films they stocked. The counter man thought there were just too many millions of cameras already out there, in use, for film to go away anytime soon. Many believe if you buy quality equipment it should last a lifetime, so the need to buy a new technology isn't as pressing as the digital camera manufacturer's would have us believe.
The art director at the company where I work, of course, uses digital imaging software and manipulation techniques. Still, most our product shots originate on silver-based film and are then scanned. The photographer uses electronic flash, with multiple "pops". This technique doesn't seem usable for digital imaging, and I don't know if the digital cameras/backs have the sensitivity needed for one-pop flash work.
She (the art director) believes silver-based photography will be around quite a while, too. Her point is that you can capture a high resolution image faster on film than digitally.
Finally, I suspect that all printed digital images have a much more finite life than silver based images, at least for black and white. Simply because the digital prints are based on dyes, where as black & white is based on metal.
I suspect film and digital photography can and will co-exist, and each helping to build the market for the other.
Time, of course, will tell.