In the photography industry, the first generation of analogue films has been almost entirely replaced by a second generation of digital cameras. A third generation, based on smartphones and social networks, was not originally designed for physical printing.
As more and more consumers now use the third-generation, abandoning digital cameras – according to
data by the Camera and Imaging Product Association, shipments of digital cameras have decreased by more than 60% between 2010 and 2019 – the physical dimension of analogue photography seems to have become a useful complement. As a result, photography on film has started to return as a niche product – and discontinued products such as Kodak’s
Ektachrome or
Fujifilm’s black and white films are being reintroduced.
Some consumers, who had abandoned products of the first generation start using them again as a complement to the third one.