buying film (rolled) in bulk- best option?

M

Merkin

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I am looking to purchase 200 rolls of 24 exp Tri-x for an upcoming journey. I am considering the Arista Premium, but part of me is still nervous that It won't behave exactly like Tri-x. It is far and away the cheapest option I have found so far, but I would buy genuine kodak if I can find a good price. Of adorama, calumet, and b&h, calumet is the only one that was willing to give a lower price than their standard per roll price, but it was still higher than my local shop was willing to give. Do any of you know of a good place I am overlooking to get a good bulk discount on this much film? Unfortunately, I don't have the time, equipment, or inclination to spool my own rolls.
 
Since you mentioned Arista Premium, I presume you asked Freestyle about the Tri-x. If not, that's another one you could try. I bought twenty rolls of the Arista Premium recently, but I haven't shot enough of it to jump on board the "it's Tri-x" bandwagon. Maybe it's psychological, but I really trust Tri-x as my "go-to" film. If I needed 200 rolls of film today, and I knew I needed to minimize the chances of messing something up beyond my control, I'd find the extra money for the Tri-x.
 
Buy 36 exp. rolls from your local shop. Buy 36 exp. rolls from Freestyle. Why fool with 24 exp. rolls? The extra weight & bulk and expense don't make sense.
 
venchka said:
Buy 36 exp. rolls from your local shop. Buy 36 exp. rolls from Freestyle. Why fool with 24 exp. rolls? The extra weight & bulk and expense don't make sense.
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I am shooting 24 exp. rolls because some will be souped in d76 and some in diafine, and I want to reduce my chances of having the wrong roll in the camera at the wrong time.
 
If you want a bargain on genuine, branded Tri-X, then you'll have to bite the bullet and get a bulk loader. They're not that difficult once you have it down. I spooled my own Tri-X for a class and had no problems whatsoever. Of course, near the end of the class, I ran out of Tri-X and used Arista Premium 400, and my teacher was none the wiser...
 
russianRF said:
If you want a bargain on genuine, branded Tri-X, then you'll have to bite the bullet and get a bulk loader. They're not that difficult once you have it down. I spooled my own Tri-X for a class and had no problems whatsoever. Of course, near the end of the class, I ran out of Tri-X and used Arista Premium 400, and my teacher was none the wiser...
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If I was just going to be gradually shooting this film, I would put more consideration in to rolling my own, but I am going on an overseas trip. If I carried a roller and a bulk roll with me, I am afraid some idiot at the airport would open my bulk roll or insist on putting it through the x ray machine, and the cost of 200 empty cartridges would be way too high. I don't have the skill to re-use standard film cartriges, I always end up pretty well destroying them getting them open.
 
Do you bracket exposures? If so.....don't, and it'll save you film. IF you do 1 exposure per scene instead of 2 it'll save you 18 frames on a roll of 36. How's that for math? :)
 
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flim

flim

look up e.camera flims .in the usa .call 866 656 i600 email sales@camera flims .co 36mm tri x 20 roll are more 3.15 some times ,not to good at email
 
jerkmam said:
look up e.camera flims .in the usa .call 866 656 i600 email sales@camera flims .co 36mm tri x 20 roll are more 3.15 some times ,not to good at email
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thanks for the tip, they had it, and at a good price, but it was only a couple months away from expiration.
 
Dont worry about anything in bl/w at 400 and below being a "couple of month" from expiry date. Manufacturers add quite a bit of flexibility to those dates. Even a couple of years is fine, if it has been stored reasonably well.
What I dont understand is the 24 exp? Unless you are shooting repro stuff where you need a roll for each subject with bracketing - I would go for 36's anytime. If you need to change from D76 to Diafine rolls - shoot the "offending" roll to the end and then change. Sometimes those extra 12 shots will contain the gems of a shoot.
The bulk of carrying 200 rolls of 24 exp - is the same for 36 exp. You are going to spend two and a half month in a photographic paradise (Mexico is very photogenic) - don't limit yourself. Unless your trip is a specific assignment with special requirements for the images - more film is better.
Two to three rolls a day is not much at all. Consider a 2nd body instead and have that set up for the Diafine or the D76 shooting. On a trip like this, you always carry back up anyway.
Add up what it costs you to go there and stay for that length of time. Then add the cost of film and it will look cheap by comparison. You can always work around limiting your lenses, but you cant shot without film!
 
Holy crap. who's gonna look at 200 rolls of shots? 2 to 3 rolls per day for 75 days? It'll take you longer than the trip just to go through them. Have you ever in your life seen 60 things in a day that you always regret not having a picture of?

I suppose if you are documenting the lives of individual blades of grass.... :)
 
40oz said:
Have you ever in your life seen 60 things in a day that you always regret not having a picture of?
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Yes, too many times.


Tom- Thanks for the good advice (as well as for the soft releases :)). I may end up going with 36 exposure rolls just for the space issue, as UPS refused to tell me whether or not any of their scanning equipment damages film.

The conversation went like this:

Me: So you are basically telling me that even though you know whether or not your scanners will be harmful to fast film, I am not allowed to know?"

UPS person on phone: "That is correct."

I think i can squeeze 150 rolls of 36 exp. film in to 2 or 3 x-ray bags, which I should be able to carry on as long as I carry nothing else except my camera and a book :)
 
Two or three rolls a day is not that much. I usually calculate 2-3 rolls per camera/day when travelling - and that is not commercial shooting. just for my own pleasure.
Yes, processing and filing 200 rolls is a daunting task - but not as bad as it sounds - as long as you keep track which rolls where shot where and who or what it is you shot. Notes become paramount for a project like this, masking tape for numbering rolls, notebooks with important notes with names and locations - and if you are going to use this stuff for publishing or "paid" work - bring model release forms too and have them translated to spanish.
Today many publications will not accept material, if it is not accompanied by a signed release!
 
I don't know that it's really all that possible to get the world's best-selling B&W film for much less than what Freestyle sells them for. If you don't want to pay those prices and you won't settle for Arista Premium 400, it's pretty obvious that your only solutions are buying expired film or bulk loading. Re-usable plastic film canisters are pretty simple to use.
 
Tom A said:
Two or three rolls a day is not that much. I usually calculate 2-3 rolls per camera/day when travelling - and that is not commercial shooting. just for my own pleasure.
Yes, processing and filing 200 rolls is a daunting task - but not as bad as it sounds - as long as you keep track which rolls where shot where and who or what it is you shot. Notes become paramount for a project like this, masking tape for numbering rolls, notebooks with important notes with names and locations - and if you are going to use this stuff for publishing or "paid" work - bring model release forms too and have them translated to spanish.
Today many publications will not accept material, if it is not accompanied by a signed release!
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I thought that you only needed a model release for advertising and other commercial work, not for "art" photography.

I have notebooks and tape ready to roll for keeping track of everything.

calexq- It is definitely looking that way. I was mainly asking to see if anyone knew of any super secret deals going on anywhere.
 
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