End of roll for 35mm cameras at Dixons

High street consumer technology retailer Dixons group has announced that it will stop selling 35mm film-based cameras from most of its outlets within the next two months.

While the merits of digital versus film photography have been discussed in photographic circles for some time, with many professionals and purists preferring the 35mm camera, Dixons report that sales of digital cameras are outstripping sales of 35mm cameras by 15 to 1.

According to research group GfK, sales of 35mm cameras peaked in the UK in 1989, when 2.9 million cameras were sold. Since then sales have been in decline, a trend that has accelerated with the advent of affordable digital cameras. Three million (mega) pixel digital cameras are now available for under £100 and the cost of digital cameras has fallen dramatically as image quality has risen since they were first launched in the early 1990s.

A recent test of 100 customers carried out by Dixons revealed that 93% are now unable to tell the difference between digital prints and 35mm film prints. "Statistically, this tells us that there is no real difference in quality between digital and film," said Dixons' Marketing Director Bryan Magrath. "The digital camera, which delivers huge benefits due to its memory, speed, image quality and transferability of images, is a big winner with the millions of customers that shop with us every year."

Dixons, which originally began as a photographic studio, opened its first outlet in Southend in 1937 and cameras were the first products sold in the store.

Industry estimates reveal that around three-quarters of photographs are taken on holiday.

However, Dixons' tax-free airport stores will continue to retail a limited specialist range of 35mm cameras mainly for the professional market.

Last year Dixons moved to pull the plug on VHS recorders also on falling sales of the 1970's technology.

(SP/KMcA)