I wonder if the increase in quality of smartphone cameras has driven more people back to film cameras. 10 years ago or so, if you wanted to dabble in photograp

I wonder if the increase in quality of smartphone cameras has driven more people back to film cameras. 10 years ago or so, if you wanted to dabble in photography you could spend $500 on an entry-level dslr kit and start taking significantly better pictures than your smartphone or point and shoot. Then you'd quickly hit the limits of the mediocre auto exposure settings and relatively low dynamic range, and be rewarded with even better shots for learning about the exposure triangle and better learning how to control your camera. It still took a bit of work & learning which is part of what makes something a fun hobby. Now days the latest iphone will pretty much nail the shot 8 times out of 10, and for power users you can tweak exposure, focus, and now even low depth of field and extremely low light stills are possible. (This is a bit of a generalization, for some styles of photography like birds and wildlife you obviously still need long lenses. But smartphones can cover the 24-70mm equivalent range really well). It's pretty hard to justify an entry-level DSLR anymore. But a film camera still offers a relatively affordable way to slow things, and make photography more intentional, challenging, and fun.