Canon Has Finally Stopped Selling Film Cameras, Digital Wins

Many professional and even hobbyist photographers still prefer to shoot with film cameras for reasons that perhaps only they can truly understand. Unfortunately, there were apparently not enough of them to make a difference in Canon’s decision to finally stop selling cameras that use film. It seems the digital tide has claimed another victim out of a quickly shrinking population.

Canon recently announced that it was ending the sale of the EOS-1V, the last 35mm SLR camera in its lineup. The message was short and abrupt and seemed like it was just thrown in at the last minute.

“Thank you very much for your continued patronage of Canon products. By the way, we are finally decided to end sales for the film single lens reflex camera ‘EOS - 1v,’” the translated version of the announcement reads.

Launched back in 2000, the EOS-1V is part of a dying breed of cameras that still use film. Canon officially stopped manufacturing the model back in 2010, which was long after DSLRs completely dominated the market. It still sold the remaining units in stock that it had, however, until this recent announcement.

The EOS-1V was also the inspiration for many of the designs of the bodies of Canon’s other camera lineups, so some parts of its legacy will at least survive. What’s more, the company is promising that it will continue to support and repair the EOS-1V cameras that are already out in the wild until 2025.

For those who might have been saddened by this news because they want to buy a professional film camera, there are still options available. Nikon is still offering the F6 and the FM10 models, The Verge notes, which are excellent SLR cameras for fans of film shooting. Considering the trend, though, even those might be gone soon.