Canon issued a heartbreaking statement yesterday that it would discontinue sales of film cameras and pull its final EOS-1v from the sales rack.The rise of inexpensive digital cameras (like the one in your iPhone) has led to a mass extinction of old-school film cameras, and Canon isn’t the only company kicking the canister.
Competitor Leica announced last week that it would discontinue one of its 3 remaining film cameras, while Fujifilm announced it would discontinue several of its remaining film varieties due to diminishing demand.Nikon still makes a film camera — but its cheapest option is nearly $3k, enough to make even the most hardcore filmophile consider taking a Snap instead. Canon produced its last film cameras in 2010, but just sold out of inventory 8 years later — underscoring how tiny the film camera market has become.
Canon maintains a narrow lead in digital camera market share (21%) — slightly more than Sony (20%) and Nikon (14%), but even digital camera sales declined 28% in the first month of 2018. Now, it’s up to hipsters and history books to keep the memories of Canon film in focus.