Giving film the boot

[rayfoxlee]

Boots, the UK's largest high street chemist, has decided to close 160 of it's in-store film processing units with the loss of 200 jobs. So, all those elderly folk who still use a film camera, but cannot cope with the menu-driven digital age, will find it harder to get their films processed. This affects other film shooters, too - I use Boots to process all my C41 stock (colour & chromegenic) and use the 6x4's to decide which to scan and enlarge. So, for me, it looks as if home processing is the only way to go, with silver halide being the easiest and cheapest option. I found C41 processing OK, but just a bit of a hassle - added to the fact that it is best to process fairly large quantities of film at a time. Pity, I love XP2 Super and Fuji 400 CN film.

This also affects the second hand dealers who specialise in film cameras to some degree.

Film shooting is getting more niche all the time - and expensive. I'm hanging on in there for now and will probably end my days still shooting a bit of film, but the inexorable march of digital - and the improvements to kit and output - will make film more difficult to justify.

How long will you hang on with film - and at what stage in £s or $s will you say that the cost of film shooting is just not justified?

Ray

 

[Keith]

How long will you hang on with film - and at what stage in £s or $s will you say that the cost of film shooting is just not justified?

I'm just off to make the popcorn ... this should be good! 😀

On a more serious note my costs for shooting film would have to rise by about fifty percent before I'd consider going totally digital. I only use black and white silver halide and develop and scan at home.

The loss of C41, and I think it's inevitable, will severely damage that generational group you've described who still like a set of prints to look at without having to contemplate digital technology.

 

[EdwardKaraa]

It's like cigarettes, they say they're bad for health, but keep on selling them, so I keep on smoking them. Sometimes I wish they would stop selling film, so that we're done with the whole issue, but as long as film is available and labs developing it, I'm in 😉

 

[Griffin]

I'm thinking of just getting the negatives developed and investing in a decent negative scanner. I still think film is the cheaper option, considering what you'd have to pay for in the digital world to get that full frame 50mm 1.4 bokeh.

 

[btgc]

My mom, 62 this year, shoots digital and never have looked back. She doesn't care about settings-schmettings, camera has to decide on exposure and focus. She uploads pictures to her laptop and then to online gallery to share with relatives.

She also uses regular cell phone, not one with large buttons and limited functionality designed for elder people and sold at same price (or more expensive) as regular phones.

Once commercial C-41 processing disappears, all those elder people wil simply move on. They will switch from full frame P&S to cameraphones.

 

[Snapper_uk]

Sad to see. I used to use Boots all the time for 35mm c41 processing. This is a big nail in the coffin of film in the UK.

Now I use a local lab. Ray - how close are you to Brighton? I can thoroughly recommend The Vault for your c41 needs.

As for how long I will use film, I can't say (and I object to phrases such as 'hanging on', as if film users are all Luddites 🙄 ). If there no local lab doing c41, then perhaps I'll stick to just b&w and process my own). As for increasing prices, I'll just be more selective and shoot less.

 

[EdwardKaraa]

I still think film is the cheaper option, considering what you'd have to pay for in the digital world to get that full frame 50mm 1.4 bokeh.

Especially if you shoot RF 😀

 

[Keith]

"Giving film the boot" ... as against giving Boots your film!

Sorry, bad joke ... but I'm feeling a little negative tonight! :angel:

 

[rayfoxlee]

Sad to see. I used to use Boots all the time for 35mm c41 processing. This is a big nail in the coffin of film in the UK.

Now I use a local lab. Ray - how close are you to Brighton? I can thoroughly recommend The Vault for your c41 needs.

As for how long I will use film, I can't say (and I object to phrases such as 'hanging on', as if film users are all Luddites 🙄 ). If there no local lab doing c41, then perhaps I'll stick to just b&w and process my own). As for increasing prices, I'll just be more selective and shoot less.

Not a million miles from Brighton - West Chiltington, West Sussex! I know Brighton well - married at Patcham church in 1968 and lived there until the 1970's.

I have looked at the Vault's website and prices seem fair. Process only for 36 exp at £4 is good value - but still expensive compared to the DIY approach. I just find the C41 darned hard work compared to silver - and soooo temperature critical across all the stages. Bit like cooking a large dinner for 10, when everything reaches 'cooked' at the same time!

Ray

 

[BobYIL]

I hold a different view than the majority (while celebrating my half-a-century film past):

- With the cost of a new Summilux 35/1.4 pre in the '60s, I remember I could be buying about 200 rolls of 36-exp. Tri-X. (Try the same for today 😱 ..) Compared to our buying power, film is living it's cheapest period ever.

- I do not remember any period in which developing a roll for me costing more than $1.00.

- Thanks to the scanners; I drink my tea and enjoy 30MB wall size B&W enlargements on my screen (or >80MB with color) from 35mm negatives. (Darkroom stays for other things).

- I love the B&W tonality of film over anything to come from my digitals and there are thousands all over the globe thinking the same as I do.

 

[Keith]

I love the B&W tonality of film over anything to come from my digitals and there are thousands all over the globe thinking the same as I do.

We'll need more than thousands to save the stuff! 😀

 

[BobYIL]

We'll need more than thousands to save the stuff! 😀

I do not need even to concern about... The KB14 of Adox has been thought to be wiped off of the earth's surface way back in the '70s (imagine a film of 25 ASA 😛 with an actual rating of half of it! ) Survived as a tiny production band, still in production, still available with competitive prices and finding usage by sufficient numbers..

Until it comes to B&W film, I have lived long enough to wonder how some fossils survived through decades after we thought that they belong to the dark side of history. Heh! The 300B tube (valve to your area) has found four more producers on top of the original one after we thought it's dead! 😀

 

[Fawley]

BW film gives me the shooting experience I enjoy, useing a processing method I understand, all at a very affordable price. If I only wanted to look at my images on a computer screen, I would take a slightly closer look at digital, but with the cameras and prices I see on the market, I still wouldn't be won over.

 

[thegman]

Shooting film has never been easier. You don't need to find a local store who stocks your local film, or will scan your 6x9 negs, you use any lab in the country/state/world who meets your needs.

If you can't find a book in your local store that you want, you don't just read whatever they have, you order online, and get what you want. It's no different for photos. I have a couple of Boots near me, I've used them for processing once, just to try. The results were fine, but why would I use them when I can get it done cheaper, better and the results dropped on my desk from Genie?

 

[Steve M.]

I will develop the film myself, and print proofs for discerning which shots to enlarge. It's been going on for over 180 years now, so no worries.

When they come out w/ a digital alternative that can be darkroom printed on beautiful fiber paper, and has the tonal range of film, then I'll switch. In other words, never.

 

[Black]

Sad news indeed. I've rarely used Boots for processing (as I rarely shoot C41), but on the plus side, at least they're still selling film and, even today, their 3 for 2 deal still is hard to beat (its where I generally go for HP5).
I suppose, glass half full, we can still look to independent labs like Peak and ProAm, but the OP is right, the convenience is gone with this decision.