the buzz log

Nikon (top 5,000 searches), one of the giants of the photography industry, recently kicked its mid-range consumer line of film cameras to the curb. We thought we heard gasps from millions of backyard photographers around the world. But it turned out to be the sounds of shutterbug ecstasy as they caressed their sexy new multi-megapixel digital cameras.

Sure, svelte silver digicams are hot stuff, and convenient. They let you see immediately whether your last shot rivals an Avedon. But, a film camera -- the mystery and anticipation between the click of the shutter and the final print…call us luddites, but we think that's sexy.

We've unveiled further evidence that consumers have indeed lost their loving feeling for film -- digital photography queries far outnumber film-related ones. "Digital camera," within our top 1,200 searches, holds a very special place in the hearts of searchers. Though we are heartened to see that a few people remain loyal to film, searching for "35mm cameras" (top 300,000 searches) and "35mm film" (top one million searches). These might be freaks with a film fetish, but we suspect they're students and fine artists with a little bit of love left for the grande dame of photography formats. We wish them many more years of happiness, and smiles for the camera.