Is the film camera market really starting to landslide?

Late film era electronic cameras lose almost all value -- no spare parts, limited "classic appeal," plastic build -- everybody knows that no one can fix them and they're useless once little things happen, like a fading LCD screen or a button that can't be pushed in or out any more.

Whereas manual film cameras are actually increasing in price as their rarity and desirability become acknowledged. A Nikon FM-2n is a good example, these are, if anything, selling for more than they were a couple of years ago as they wind up in hands of users who a) know the value b) use them and break them and need another and c) get introduced to a new generation of students. They sell for more than equivalent FE-2, the electronic cousin. Because people know that once those electronics in the FE/FE-2 goes, it's game over. Whereas a repairer can almost always hammer the mechanics of the FM/FM-2 back into shape.

The lenses hold value because they fit on the latest digital cameras. Try buying a 1969 28mm f/2.0 or a 1977 35mm f/1.4. They cost as much or more as always, especially now that the Nikon full-frame DSLRs are finally a reality.

C-41 color atrophying is no surprise. Now that DSLR cameras can shoot RAW fast, and there are excellent plug-ins like Alien Skin Exposure to tweak your files, and cheap Digital-C printing; honestly, most of the raison d'etre of C-41 color negative film has disappeared.

By the same token the survival of B+W is IMHO stable now. Digital no matter what you do to it is a color medium. So with B+W there is something so basic and intrinsic about the chemical technology that it will continue to appeal to certain kinds of photographers, artists, students, and hobbyists. Because you CAN do it yourself, easily. Because it IS different, and in some ways truly unique, such as fiber printing.

Finally, as digital DSLR, P&S, and cellphone cameras really are all ubiquitous now, shooting film has become "COOL." The popularity of the Holga is a good example: a camera which is as primitive as the Brownies of the 1950s as not only survived but thrived beyond all expectations, in a niche market to be sure, but seemingly a stable niche.

Going forward, prices for good manual film cameras will go up. Because nobody other than Cosina and Leica makes them any more. At some point, somebody will start making them again, in small numbers, in popular lens mounts. (This is already Cosina's strategy in some ways.)