After Gsell's death in 1879, several successor studios took over his negatives and tried to build successful businesses. Foremost amongst these were those of O. Wegener, Eugène Salin and Antoine Vidal. M[ax] Martin opened a studio in Saigon around 1887, and although he was still operating in Vietnam in 1912 we know very little about his life and work and it has therefore not been possible to assess his contribution fully.

François-Henri Schneider was known more as a printer and publisher than a photographer. Nevertheless, he appears to have produced a large body of photography work during a thirty-year career but very little of it has been positively identified. He operated out of Hanoi and Haiphong from 1888, until at least 1918. Pierre Dieulefils began his career as a military photographer – official or semi-official – and is one of the significant figures in Vietnamese photography, producing an excellent and extensive body of work. He also operated out of Hanoi from 1888 and ended his career at around the same time as Schneider.

The Khanh Ky studio in Hanoi opened its doors in 1892. Its owner and practitioner, Nguyen Dinh Khanh, is today known as the father of Vietnamese photography. He is said to have mastered the art of studio portraiture. His business prospered and was in operation until at least 1941.

Aurélien Pestel was another fine photographer who, despite a relatively short career, produced a considerable volume of work, much of which has survived in album form. He opened in Saigon in 1894 and died there in 1897. Raphael Moreau is something of a mystery figure, about whose life we currently know very little. His studio was based in Hanoi from 1897 and continued until around 1910. Surviving examples of his work suggest he was an outstanding artist.

From the late 1880s many indigenous Vietnamese or Chinese studios sprang up across the country, bringing unwanted competition to the French practitoners. Nevertheless, unlike in neighbouring countries, such as China and Japan, the evidence indicates that the French studios were still able to survive and prosper well into the early twentieth century. When government photography and publishing commissions were handed out, evidence suggests that the French colonial authorities invariably gave preference to their own nationals.