Cheap film for you all :]

[PatrickCheung]

I dont know if this has been posted before, or where to post it... or if this site is even legit, but I stumbled upon this on my quest for cheap film.

I don't get paid very often (just pick up a few jobs here and there when i'm not busy studying) so I'm always looking for deals!

My search lead me to the Four Corners Camera store... it's kinda like photojojo, really "hipster", quirky, has fun items.

Their film (mostly expired) seems really cheap to me

Here's a link to their site: http://www.fourcornerstore.com/

Though the prices seem too good to be true ($20 for 5pack of 36exposure expired 800iso film! and only $10 shipping to toronto... that's pretty much unbeatable for me)... and I can't seem to find a legit check anywhere online.

I don't know of any other store, locally or online, that has film for that cheap so I might just take the risk and get some next week!

Just thought I'd share with you guys 😛

 

[Colin Corneau]

Tri-X and Acros branded film is 2 bucks a roll at Freestyle. Doesn't get any cheaper than that, especially with a strong dollar right now.

You want cheaper, then bulk load and roll your own...sorry, but the hipster thing don't work and it's expired, to boot.

 

[bobby_novatron]

Patrick -- I've ordered from FourSquare before ... they're pretty good. Sometimes they have good deals on stuff.

Colin is right. Ultimately, the cheapest way to save money with film is buy 100' rolls and load your own cassettes. I do it all the time, and it's definitely the cheapest way to go. Plus, you can buy a half-dozen different loaders, and have several different films ready depending on your mood or the shooting conditions.

Bulk loaders are really cheap on eBay ... I bought ten for something like $20, including shipping. The cassettes are actually a bit more of an expense -- freestyle has them as well. Don't get the DX-coded ones, unless that's important to you.

Another cheap way to get cassettes is use Ilford or Fuji ones that you can get for free from a photo developing lab. Kodak ones are a little harder to re-use, if I remember correctly.

Anyways, back to Four Square -- if you decide to order from them, they're decent.

Another good one is:

http://www.ultrafineonline.com/

They're based out of California ... their shipping internationally (ie to Canada) is unpredictable, but if you call them on the phone they'll help set up the cheapest shipping possible. They have cheap film as well.

 

[PatrickCheung]

:O I've read up on bulk loading, and I dont think I have the time for all that right now. Iunno if I had the time, place and money I'd build myself a dark room and bulk load all my film, but sadly I dont!

the problem with Freestyle (i've checked them out too, almost ordered once, but something came up and I forgot to finish my order) is that their shipping is a bit too much for my liking.

Four Corners offers $10 shipping to toronto (living in canada sucks when it comes to online shopping, which is why I get ticked off when americans, mostly on The Photo Forum, complain about how outrageous their 1 day late 24hour $10 shipping is). If I order from freestyle, I might as well just buy the $7 rolls of portra here!

It's horrilble living in toronto sometimes 🙁 our market for film isn't as big!

 

[ZeissFan]

I stopped buying really cheap B&W film, because I invariably ran into some kind of problem.

Plus, after Agfa announced it was ending production, I bought four 100-foot spools each of APX 100 an APX 400.

And after Kodak ended Technical Pan, I bought two 150-foot spools of it.

 

[Chinasaur]

So, to hijack the thread..where is the cheapest place to buy BW400CN, NOT on a roll?

 

[02Pilot]

Fourcornerstore also appears to offer a 16-pack of 36-exposure rolls of Ferrania 100 or 200 for $20, which works out to 0.035 cents per exposure. I'm not sure it gets cheaper than that.

 

[rbiemer]

So, to hijack the thread..where is the cheapest place to buy BW400CN, NOT on a roll?

Not sure if this is the cheapest but it's not too bad:
http://www.ecamerafilms.com/product_p/8598062.htm
I bought from them a few times and will again.
They sell a changing variety of film, mostly Fuji and Kodak with some other brands. 135 and 120 primarily.
Patrick, no idea what they would charge for shipping to Toronto but might be worth checking?
Rob

 

[bobkatz]

BTW I buy the fresh fujicolor 200 / 36 exp. for USD 2.0...
Good price for me...
Bob.

 

[Ranchu]

Thank you very much, I like that shop.

 

[bob338]

Not sure if this is the cheapest but it's not too bad:
http://www.ecamerafilms.com/product_p/8598062.htm
I bought from them a few times and will again.
They sell a changing variety of film, mostly Fuji and Kodak with some other brands. 135 and 120 primarily.
Patrick, no idea what they would charge for shipping to Toronto but might be worth checking?
Rob

This place is great until they send you the wrong film. I ordered a bunch of Fuji print film and they shipped something else. When I called they said something like 'but we DID send you color print film, right?'
I had to file a complaint with Amex to get my money back, and I had to pay to ship their film back to them.

I won't us them again.

Bob

 

[rbiemer]

This place is great until they send you the wrong film. I ordered a bunch of Fuji print film and they shipped something else. When I called they said something like 'but we DID send you color print film, right?'
I had to file a complaint with Amex to get my money back, and I had to pay to ship their film back to them.

I won't us them again.

Bob

That's worth hearing, Bob. How a company reacts to their mistakes is a better indicator of what their customer service attitude is.
I've only bought BW400CN from them; for color film I most often use Ektar 100 lately and haven't seen any available at ecamerafilms so I choose between B&H or Adorama depending on which has the better price.
Which I will continue to do until/if ecamera screws up and then I will see how they react.
Rob

 

[Mister E]

With films like Legacy Pro at $1.50 US a roll why would you ever buy expired film for $20 for 5 rolls?

 

[segedi]

I bought some shortdated from freestyle- $1.50 per roll and got 100 rolls. With shipping to Calgary it was still less than $2/roll. I usually buy from B&H as they typically have the best prices and now have a cheaper purolator option so no surprises in the customs fees. Film here in Calgary ranges from $7-$12/roll...

 

[bellyface]

freestyle has great deals on bulk film. i got 100' of expired (by a month) ilford pan f for $10. That's insane. Bulk loading takes no effort. grab yourself a bunch of empty leader rolls and load all the film, spend about 10 min. doing it and you have yourself 15-20 rolls, bickity bam!

 

[bobby_novatron]

Yeah, I vote for Freestyle ... good prices and good products. I have ordered from them lots.

For colour C-41 film, about $2.00 per roll seems to be the absolute lowest price you can find, unless you roll your own.

I did recently buy (on eBay) some 'generic' C-41 colour film from Ontario ... 50 rolls of Fuji 200 and 50 rolls of Kodak GB200 gold, expiry 2012 ... worked out to $2.00 including shipping to Alberta. Pretty reasonable for us Canadians.

 

[MC JC86]

Thanks for the link Patrick

I recently started considering bulk loading again but can't find any of my loaders. Was "shocked" to find B&H doesn't sell them on their web page and Adorama doesn't list them at all. I think this is the only way I'd try and save money on film as I don't want to cut corners by buying expired or discount emulsions (my pictures are bad enough as it is without introducing any other weak links 🙁); although I wish I did shoot enough to make a dollar or so a roll really add up to much at all. As it is, I'm so irresponsible with money I don't think I'll ever get to the point where it makes much of a difference.:bang:

 

[mooge]

allow me to complain about Freestyle for a moment:
I bought 60 rolls of Legacy Pro 135-36 (mostly 400, a bit of 100), some neg sleeves, and a five pack of some 120 film. total comes to $140. okay, whatever. shipping was $40 (express only!). not cool... but still cheaper than Henry's. and then I got taxed... so another $20. so $60 of the $200 I had to pay went to packing peanuts and shipping and the Canadian Government and this ridiculously oversized box; things I didn't really care for when buying film. grr.

back on subject :
Shoppers has film on sale sometimes. someone else here mentioned that they do that periodically... it's gone down to like $2 a roll over here.

but still, development+ prints are like $7, I'd rather do my own B+W and shoot E6 sparingly...



P.S.-
Toronto sucks but Ottawa is super boring.

cheers,
Eugene

 

[PatrickCheung]

I really appreciate all your suggestions with the bulk loading and self processing, and your price quotes of $1.50 US a roll are all very very enticing, but I think a lot of people are missing the facts here!

I'm not in the position (financially, spatially, and... time-ly?) to bulk load and process my own film.

I live in Canada, so I share the same problems as mooge with the shipping and customs tax. I almost always get border taxed

Freestyle all sounds great, when you don't get border taxed! But i'll look deeper into it anyway!

I wish I lived somewhere where they offer film for cheap, but sadly I dont. Henry's is probably our cheapest supplier ($7ish a roll for 120 Portra). So when it comes down to it, Four corners and Ultrafine offer amazing deals for us. $20 for 5 rolls of 36 exposure 800ISO film + $10 shipping, that only buys us two-three (depending on brand and store) rolls here. The border tax won't be heavy for it, so it's worth it for us canadians.

Anyway, it might not be a great deal for you lucky americans, but it is for some of us Canadians. If anyone in Canada has a better solution, please do share! If not, i'm sorry for wasting your time D:

 

[mooge]

If anyone in Canada has a better solution, please do share!

shoot digital.









...just kidding.


nevermind bulk-loading, but DIY B+W development is well worth looking at- the costs work out to maybe $1.50 to do a roll. takes 45 mins once you get the hang of it. you don't need alot of space or time...

might not be as bad as you think it is.