Can we still afford film?

It reads like the questionis between buying film and not ever taking pictures. As has been said, it's the procesing that gets expensive for most people, so I'm not sure I understand the question.

Film is cheap. Especially if you develop B&W yourself. Even more so if you use a bulk roller. Compared to the price of a camera, film is close to free. Compared to the price of a digital camera, the associated gear, and the perennial need to upgrade, film is the bargain of the century.

One might not be able to pay for procesing as often as one wants, but the film itself is as cheap as it's ever been, as far as I can tell.
 
If I buy Arista.Edu it's $1.99 for a 36exp roll, and I haven't figured out how much It works out to process (haven't worked through all of my first batch of chemicals yet), so not too bad.
 
Film is not that expensive. You can buy Tri-X and HP5+ for like 3 bucks a piece. Thats pretty cheap to me.
 
amateriat said:
That depends: if I'm not hung up on having a pro lab soup my C41 (and, as mentioned before, my local Rite Aid's photo lab has a crackerjack staff), I can get my film processed in under a half-hour, uncut and unprinted, for $2.50 a pop. So for me, film is cheap. It all depends on the approach. How long it will remain so, of course, is anyone's guess, but I'm putting my money where my preferences lie (Or is that "lay"?).
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I guess I'm hung up on the convenience of having somebody else do the wet work and the scanning -- I almost always do a CD with a develop only. If I want a great print to show off, I'll re-scan myself and print it.

Most expensive would be a DO/CD at the local indie lab for $8 and change, or $10 or so including film for about 41 cents per frame total. If the images are important to me, that's very affordable.

If I want to play C41 Roulette, I can use Walgreens or {_gag_} Wally World, for about $5 or so for DO/CD for around 29 cents per frame. Better, if it's something that's not life or death.

I'm looking for a better less expensive DO/CD solution. Costco opens next week and I plan to check them out. A co-worker told me of a Walgreens by where he lives that has a new Noritsu machine and supposedly does good work with film. I may try them too.

But back to the subject, I say the price of shooting film is still reasonable, and has held at a stable level over the past few years.
 
dmr: Compared to NYC prices, the numbers you're quoting aren't too bad for soup n' scan work. Naturally, it's all relative, cost-of-living and all that. I'm betting on Costco being a good deal for you (and I like that outfit over other big-box outfits).


- Barrett
 
Costco here does a good job. Pricing is $3.80 for 24 exp, $5.00 for 36 exp, add $3 for a CD. That's develop and print on 4x6.
 
Film is dirt cheap. If you buy 100' foot rolls, even the premium brands, Kodak, Ilford, etc., come out to only about $.07 per shot for B&W. If you shoot 30 frames a day, and add 75 cents for home processing, you still are only up to $2.85 a day. Many people pay more than that for a cup of coffee that will be going down the drain an hour later. What are your priorities?

If you shoot color, have only the film developed and scan it, or have them put on a disc. Print only the shots you like.

Printing costs the same for film or digital shooters, so that should be a non issue.
 
The idea of actually giving up RF photography because film is getting more expensive seems bizarre to me. If I had, say, $50 a month to spend on shooting, then I'd do $50 worth of film shooting every month, whatever number of shots that amounted to - I'd much rather shoot fewer film shots for the same actual spend than shoot no film shots at all.
 
i can buy Boots [ UK Chemist chain ] own name slide film for £ 8.00 process paid - it has a nice vintage feel with my Elmar and I 22s ... how many can I buy for the cost of an M8 ?
This is my quandary .. or not ...

dee
 
dee said:
i can buy Boots [ UK Chemist chain ] own name slide film for £ 8.00 process paid - it has a nice vintage feel with my Elmar and I 22s ... how many can I buy for the cost of an M8 ?
This is my quandary .. or not ...

dee
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Or buy film + processing vouchers at 7dayshop.com (e.g. Velvia 50 + processing = £4.79).

I've been making these digital/film cost calculations as well. But then I put the slides in a projector and that thought is soon gone.
 
amateriat said:
dmr: Compared to NYC prices, the numbers you're quoting aren't too bad for soup n' scan work.
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Soup'n'Scan - sounds like a lunch special at the diner. 🙂

I'm betting on Costco being a good deal for you (and I like that outfit over other big-box outfits).
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I'm actually thinking that what they offer, and the attitude I perceive in the photo lab there will be what determines if I join or not. I'm planning to wait until the novelty kind of semi wears off and then go and ask to speak to the manager of the photo department, introduce myself, and tell them what I want (mostly DO/CD without mangling my film) and see what kind of reaction I get.

I really don't think it's too much to ask for film that is not returned scratched or fingerprinted, and to have decent non-gross scans from normally exposed negatives. Just about every place where I used to get that (other than an indie lab) has disappointed me lately. 🙁

Besides, Costco seems to be more socially responsible than Wally World. 🙂 Shows that you don't have to step on people to have low prices and make money at it.
 
dmr said:
I'm planning to wait until the novelty kind of semi wears off and then go and ask to speak to the manager of the photo department, introduce myself, and tell them what I want (mostly DO/CD without mangling my film) and see what kind of reaction I get.
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They would be surprised because they don't actually charge extra for that service.
 
digitalintrigue said:
Speaking of XP2 or BW400CN, where is the best place to buy (US supplier)? Do they offer 24 exposure rolls anymore? I'd prefer not to go bulk, but I might consider it if they no longer offer anything but 36 exposures in regular cassettes...
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Currently, Target is running clearance sales on bw400cn.
 
Finder said:
and see what kind of reaction I get.
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They would be surprised because they don't actually charge extra for that service.
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What I actually meant was what kind of reaction I got when I told the manager that I expected things like clean un-scratched negatives, no cutting in the middle of the frame, in-focus reasonably-exposed scans, etc.

From my experiences with Target', Wally World, and most recently Walgreens, this is not a service that the three of them have consistently provided. 🙁
 
I love films, B&W and slides. Only a "little" upset today when I went to my usual lab to pick up 4 slides films, provia 100F, my wife and me shot during last week end and development price increased from 4,00 eur (one film) to 6,00 EUR ! which is around...50% more ! but I still love slides...
rob
and even worse my wife slides were much better than my ones ...
 
The problem to develop your own film is the chemical hazard, most of the developers contain chemicals that can cause cancer, once awhile using is ok, however, frequent using will be a hazard to yourself and to your family. I would suggest give up develop film yourself too.
 
Broccoli and oranges are known to contain carcinogenic compounds too...
Out of curiosity, what common darkroom chemicals are carcinogenic? I'm aware of allergic reactions to Metol and P-aminophenol, but no carcinogenics other than dry selenium (which you'd never encounter in normal use).
You sure?
 
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