Arista -- price up

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steveyork

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Arista B&W films used to be a great deal. Repackaged Tri-X, plus-x, and most recently Fomapan. I've shot hundreds of rolls of their film over the years, but when purchasing chemicals from them recently, I noted that their Arista.Edu in both rolls and 100' is now the same price as branded Fomapan.

Is Arista.Edu still Foma?

I guess we are left with Ultrafine and Kentmere as the real "cheap" films out there.


Who makes Ultrafine?
 
With film prices rising, I lose the feeling of serendipity when shooting. In other words, I hesitate to waste a shot that I'm not sure will be good.
 
I am shooting from my first bulk roll of FP4+, cost $60. Say I get 19, 36 exp rolls, that is 8.7 cents per shot.
Think of it as 8.7 cents per shot. I'm just blowing though the rolls!
 
Arista film used to be a bargain back when the total b&w film being manufactured exceeded the demand. While it felt good short term, it was an indication of an industry's long term going out of business sale. Thankfully we are now in a position with production and demand are balanced which is a good thing.

I have never understood all the noise generated by users when there was an uptick in film prices. Even the most prolific shooter spends an insignificant amount of their total income/expenditures on film. How many of us have our finances so well budged and balanced that our allotted $12 for film purchases now means we must only shoot 3 rolls when before we could shoot 4? Can't you make that up by eating a cheaper lunch one day or something similar? Motor fuel increased then decreased dramatically in price compared to film. And, we spend a lot move on motor fuel. Didn't we manage to deal with that somehow?

Put film prices in perspective. You can afford it with no sweat.
 
Film is and interesting critter economically. When film was the only option, demand was elastic. If prices increased for Kodak film, people bought Fuji film in the consumer (and likely pro) markets. Now film is an inelastic product like petrol. A niche product with a dedicated cult of users. Prices go up, you'll pay it. Film went from being elastic to inelastic. Same product.
 
one wasted frame or two out of 36 is not an issue for me. of course others may not be in same situation but yeah, film is usually cheapest part of the equation, esp compared to our time.
 
Bob Michaels said:
I have never understood all the noise generated by users when there was an uptick in film prices. Even the most prolific shooter spends an insignificant amount of their total income/expenditures on film. How many of us have our finances so well budged and balanced that our allotted $12 for film purchases now means we must only shoot 3 rolls when before we could shoot 4? Can't you make that up by eating a cheaper lunch one day or something similar? ....
Click to expand...

You missed the point, or maybe I wasn't very articulate in the initial post. Arista is rebranded Fomapan. A hundred feet used to cost $39, and Fomapan $49. Now they both cost $49. Why? Is Arista now some other rebranded film? And why would anyone purchase Arista when they can buy the branded product at the same price?
 
I would imagine it is still Fomapan, though only a guess. If Arista had switched to something else to rebrand and had to raise their pricing 20 percent to cover the extra cost of the new film, I don’t know what “more expensive” film that would be, given what is left out there. Probably just Arista trying to stay in business with a shrinking user base.
At any rate, $49 for 100 feet is still cheap, and film photography is still one of the least expensive hobbies one can have, as hobbies go. Seems to me, anyway.
 
steveyork said:
You missed the point, or maybe I wasn't very articulate in the initial post. Arista is rebranded Fomapan. A hundred feet used to cost $39, and Fomapan $49. Now they both cost $49. Why? Is Arista now some other rebranded film? And why would anyone purchase Arista when they can buy the branded product at the same price?
Click to expand...

The simple answer is that Arista was a product of surplus film stock. As that slack is taken up, the price will rise to resemble whatever product it is rebadged from. It's not a mystery. Even at $50, it works out to $2 per roll of 24.

Dante
 
I shoot Kodak in 35mm but bought the Arista 120 film because it was so much cheaper. Guess I'll be only shooting Kodak now.
 
Spoiled Americans... the rest of the world never got these deals.:rolleyes:
Although I think Foma films are still a very good deal.

Was film ever really that much cheaper after correcting for inflation?
 
Two words, shoot half frame.....wait, that’s three words. Well, I never was good at math.
Seriously, this problem affects us old timers more. First, a lot of us are on fixed retirement incomes and want or need to pinch pennies. Then second, we all remember ‘back in the day’ when 100ft. of Tri-X and a box of snap caps was $10
This distorts our view I think.
 
retinax said:
Spoiled Americans... the rest of the world never got these deals.:rolleyes:
Although I think Foma films are still a very good deal.

Was film ever really that much cheaper after correcting for inflation?
Click to expand...

That's my thought too. Freestyle is a pain in the ass to order from compared to B&H for Canadian customers. I just buy Fomapan proper or Kentmere if I want cheap and cheerful.
 
Is it possible to buy Fomapan directly from the Czech Republic? I found the Foma website but it seems they only ship within europe. I have Czech friends that can help me with the translations if Google doesn't work :)
 
I think the angst over higher film prices is more of a cumulative thing Bob. Looked at by itself it may not seem like much, but then everything else seems to go up as well. One day you see your gas prices increase a bunch (for no good reason other than they can), the grocery bill is more, the car repair cost more than you figured....stuff like that. So when the film prices go up unexpectedly it just isn't a fun thing.
 
Try shooting 16x20 ULF at $40- per shot..lol..
Not a good feeling when the film sags and the darkslide crunches it up in the filmholder..
 
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