each pass through a lab process carries the risk of further degrading the quality of the negative by scratching the emulsion. Once an answer print is approved, the interpositives and internegatives are regarded as the earliest generation of the finished and graded film, and are almost always used for transfers to video or new film restorations. The original camera negatives is usually regarded as a last resort in the event that all of the intermediate elements have been compromised or lost. The more popular a film is, the higher the likelihood that the original negative is in a worse shape, due to the need to return to the original camera negative to strike new interpositives to replace the exhausted ones, and thus create more internegatives and release prints. Before 1969, 35mm prints were struck directly from the original negative, often running into hundreds of copies, and causing further wear on the original. Digital cameras Physical film stock is still occasionally used in film-making, particularly in prestige productions where the director and cinematographer have the power to require the extra cost, but as of 2016, it is becoming increasingly rare. In modern cinematography, the camera is usually a digital camera, and no physical negative exists. However, the concept of "camera original material" is still used to describe camera image data. Camera original material that has not yet been ingested, duplicated, and archived is in a similar precarious state to original camera negative in a film process. One of the jobs of the digital imaging technician is to ensure that digital camera original material is backed up as soon as possible. References Film and video technology Cinematography