deals on film - post here!

A thread some months ago mentioned that Eckerd drug stores were closing out Kodak 35mm slide films.
I decided to check it out and it's true. This morning I picked up 8 rolls of Kodachrome 64, 135-24, dated 6/2006 for $1.67 each. Another store had Elitechrome for the same price, I think.
Selection is spotty; some stores have fresh film, some outdated; some have both, one or neither.

Porter's is still advertising Konica VX400 C41 black and white print film, 135-24, for about a buck per roll...

Excelsior, you fathead!
-Chris-
 
ChrisPlatt said:
A thread some months ago mentioned that Eckerd drug stores were closing out Kodak 35mm slide films.
I decided to check it out and it's true. This morning I picked up 8 rolls of Kodachrome 64, 135-24, dated 6/2006 for $1.67 each. Another store had Elitechrome for the same price, I think.
Selection is spotty; some stores have fresh film, some outdated; some have both, one or neither.

Porter's is still advertising Konica VX400 C41 black and white print film, 135-24, for about a buck per roll...

Excelsior, you fathead!
-Chris-
Click to expand...

Chris,

Thank you for the info about Porters - that's a pretty good deal. I had read some negative reviews on their VX400 C41 B&W film, but now I go back and re-read them, and I suspect that the negative reviews were from folks trying to print them using traditional B&W enlargers in their home darkrooms - and this stuff was made to be printed on normal C41 color paper, and supposedly is pretty good at that.

I don't do either - I prefer to scan and then print once it is in the digital domain, so this should not affect me one way or the other - I can scan it as color negative and then desaturate in The Gimp. So, I'm going to give it a try. They have a 20-pack for $18.95, seems like a good deal.

Thanks again for the heads-up!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I always appreciate and check out any film deals people post here🙂 It's just that I usually can't comment or do anything about it, because I'm located outside the US and can't avail of them.

I just want to ask--is Agfa Arista Edu Ultra (which sounds nicely priced in one of the sites) good? How about the Aristra II? and Professional? Is there any real diff with the Hungarian version? For those who have tried any of these, how do you find them?
 
Last edited:
Kat said:
I always appreciate and check out any film deals people post here🙂 It's just that I usually can't comment or do anything about it, because I'm located outside the US and can't avail of them.

I just want to ask--is Agfa Arista Edu Ultra (which sounds nicely priced in one of the sites) good? For those who have tried it, how do you find it? How about the Aristra II? Is there any real diff with the Hungarian version?
Click to expand...

I have tried the Arista.EDU Ultra, which is FOMAPAN, not Agfa. I like it quite a bit, and doubly so at the price!

I have not used the Arista II, so cannot comment.

I do not care for the Arista.EDU standard stuff, which I believe was Forte and was so curly it was very hard to scan (120 and 35mm). I thought the image quality itself was fine - kinda grainy which is not a bad thing - but it was a fight to deal with it and so not worth the trouble for me.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Two of my local film sources dump their outdated film into 1/2 -Off boxes at the beginning of each month. The best picks are usually gone in a few days. You might want to schedule a "pick-up" at the beginning of the month.

Also, if anyone is curious, Porter's sells Mitsubishi conventional B&W film, ISO 400 in 24 exposure rolls. I'm working my way through a dozen rolls I purchased this summer. It is marked made in Europe for Mitsubishi. The plastic canisters look exactly like Efke film, but the film istself looks more like Forte. That is based on the color of the undeveloped emulsion and the font of the edge markings after it is developed. The results in D-76 are grainy, about like old Tri-X.

Not my cup of tea, but it might be yours.

-Paul
 
ChrisPlatt said:
A thread some months ago mentioned that Eckerd drug stores were closing out Kodak 35mm slide films.
I decided to check it out and it's true. This morning I picked up 8 rolls of Kodachrome 64, 135-24, dated 6/2006 for $1.67 each. Another store had Elitechrome for the same price, I think.
Selection is spotty; some stores have fresh film, some outdated; some have both, one or neither.

Porter's is still advertising Konica VX400 C41 black and white print film, 135-24, for about a buck per roll...

Excelsior, you fathead!
-Chris-
Click to expand...
Chris: Yeah, I posted that as I found the K64 and Elitechrome on clearance here in Rochester. 3-packs of Kodak B&W 24 exp. were also on sale, I think around $2.87.

All the Eckerds I've visited recently are all out, and any of the chromes available are at regular price. I'm going to an Eckerds this afternoon, so I will check for current status. If there is more in the system, I'll grab some more.

Trius
 
Thanks, Bill.🙂 I'll think about the ultra, then. Oops, my booboo on agfa/arista, it's 1 am my time, so the eyes are starting to get bleary. Did a search on past threads related to these films, info's great.

As for film deals, I found a B&W film here in Manila for a little less than $1USD per 36 exp roll, 100ASA. Brand name is Colpan. It's imported (not sure from where) but packed locally, the box has spanish words. Not up to the quality of other branded B&Ws, of course, but the price is great, so it's not bad if you want to waste film or just practice.🙂 No website/online stores, though, so I'm not sure how anyone else here can avail of it...I buy and use it and can pick up some for whoever wants, but I'm not sure the shipping would be worth it. Picture quality...my friend who used it in the past said it leans more towards shades of gray. All my B&W pics here (http://flickr.com/photos/70813240@N00/) used the film, but they're not very good test shots as the camera I used appeared to have some flare problems (no hood yet).

Fuji has a portrait film ("ProPlus") they sell here in packs of 5, comes out probably about $1.25 USD per 36exp roll. The RF colored shots in the same webalbum are from this film.
 
Last edited:
Kat said:
Thanks, Bill.🙂 I'll think about the ultra, then. Oops, my booboo on agfa/arista, it's 1 am my time, so the eyes are starting to get bleary. Did a search on past threads related to these films, info's great.

As for film deals, I found a B&W film here in Manila for a little less than $1USD per 36 exp roll, 100ASA. Brand name is Colpan. It's imported (not sure from where) but packed locally, the box has spanish words. Not up to the quality of other branded B&Ws, of course, but the price is great, so it's not bad if you want to waste film or just practice.🙂 No website/online stores, though, so I'm not sure how anyone else here can avail of it...I buy and use it and can pick up some for whoever wants, but I'm not sure the shipping would be worth it. Picture quality...my friend who used it in the past said it leans more towards shades of gray. All my B&W pics here (http://flickr.com/photos/70813240@N00/) used the film, but they're not very good test shots as the camera I used appeared to have some light leak problems.

Fuji has a portrait film ("ProPlus") they sell here in packs of 5, comes out probably about $1.25 USD per 36exp roll. The RF colored shots in the same webalbum are from this film.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Kat. I spent a little time in Olongapo City back in the early 1980's. PI is a beautiful place!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I went out at lunch today and did a little local sleuthing...

We have three chains of drugstores here in Wilson, NC - Walgreens, Eckerds, and CVS/pharmacy. I am quite familiar with the contents of Walgreens, so I went to Eckerds and CVS. Here are my results, yours may vary:

Eckerds:

They have a store brand of 200 and 400 C41 film, all outdated and covered in dust. From the packages, I do not know where it is made. The packages say "Made for the USA, packaged in the USA." It is about a buck a box (of 4) cheaper than the similar Kodak Gold 200 and 400. By the way, I was able to confirm, the Kodak Gold *is* all made in China, according to the box. That was a shocker to me when I first heard it here on RFF.

Eckerds DOES have a deal, though. They have Kodak Kodachrome 64 (24 exp) for $1.67 per roll - this is a good deal. Says "Made in USA" on it. Process K-14. Expiration 06/2006. They also have Kodak EliteChrome 200 for $1.97 per roll - also a good deal. I bought a roll of Kodachrome 64 for old time's sake. In total, they had maybe 10 rolls of slide film on display. Not dusty/outdated like their own house brand.

CVS/pharmacy:

I then went over to CVS. They have a store brand 200 and 400 C41 film as well, theirs are both marked "Made in Japan." I don't know if they are therefore Fuji, or Konica Minolta, or even Mitsubishi (if they even make C41 color film in Japan, I dunno). The prices are again, about a buck a box (of 4) cheaper than the same thing in Fuji or Kodak 200 and 400. However, they have TRI-X 400 at $4.12 per roll (24 exp). I was surprised, I did not think anyone in town had true B&W film anymore. I guess I didn't look good enough. However, it was all past-dated, it expired in June of 2005. They DID have some Kodak Elite Chrome 200 just like Eckerds, but they wanted $7.97 per roll for it - yikes!

That's the news from here. The Eckerds slide film seems a good deal, if you have an Eckerds where you live, you might check it out if you shoot slide film.

Next time, I'm going to start checking the various and sundry 'Dollar' stores around this town.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Just found this:

Mitsubishi MX II 100 135-24
Mitsubishi MIT124
Pack of 10 - US $9.50 (95 cents per roll)

http://www.imageprointernational.com/shopexd.asp?id=256

I have never dealt with Image Pro International and do not know what kind of company they are, but I think they are legit - they are based in Miami and I found an online purchase order for the City of Fort Lauderdale Police Department - they ordered a bunch of stuff from them in the past, so that's a good sign.

I also have no idea how good (or bad) Mitsubishi color C41 film might be. So there you go.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
The one Eckerd I visited at noon has no more Kodachrome (at any price), and if there was any Elitechrome (I don't recall seing any), there wasn't any special pricing on it. My guess is that here in Rochester, where slide films, and Kodachrome particularly, are likely more "appreciated", the sale stock sold out pretty quickly. I know I did my bit!

Most of the chrome I bought was dated 2006 or even early 2007, but there was some 2005 stock, so I'm shooting that first. Now that it's cooler I can take it out of the fridge and move it onto the (enclosed but not heated) back porch. My wife seems to think the fridge is for food.

Trius
 
bmattock said:
Just found this:

Mitsubishi MX II 100 135-24
Mitsubishi MIT124
Pack of 10 - US $9.50 (95 cents per roll)

http://www.imageprointernational.com/shopexd.asp?id=256

I have never dealt with Image Pro International and do not know what kind of company they are, but I think they are legit - they are based in Miami and I found an online purchase order for the City of Fort Lauderdale Police Department - they ordered a bunch of stuff from them in the past, so that's a good sign.

I also have no idea how good (or bad) Mitsubishi color C41 film might be. So there you go.

Best Regards,


Bill Mattocks
Click to expand...


Bill , that's a crazy price. I'm going to see if I can find opinions of some users. At that price I might be a buyer of 20 rolls just to see.
 
Jan -- I'm in Toronto, like you.

I'm still whittling down my stockpile of film that I gathered up before moving back here from the USA, so I haven't felt the full brunt of the prices here yet. But Jon of www.groundglass.ca and I have an order on the way from Freestyle in L.A. with a bunch of the Arista.EDU Ultra 200 (aka Fomapan) -- he has had them ship to Canada before and it went pretty smoothly. Even after currency conversion and shipping costs, this film is cheaper than out-dated B&W film bought locally. (It kills me to see what places like Downtown Camera want for stale-dated Portra 800 -- $7 a roll or something? Craziness.)

I would also second the recommendation of the Megaperls webshop in Japan. I was very pleased with their service -- I bought 100' of Neopan 1600, which arrived in under a week and slipped through the customs radar (i.e. no tax or import duties). Dirk Roesler, who runs it, is very friendly and helpful. You'll definitely save money on Fuji films vs. local prices.

My third recommendation is a seller who goes by the name (IIRC) jay3jay3 (or something like that) on eBay. I bought a whole mess of Fuji Press 400 and 800 in 35mm format from him at very reasonable prices. He has other film up on a regular basis. I think he's located in Hamilton.

Good luck...
 
lynn said:
120 film is extremely expensive in the Netherlands; I buy all mine (non-expired, that is) from an *bay person called knotrc. His prices, even including shipping (from Hong Kong) and insurance, are less - sometimes HALF of - what I am charged here. They may not compete with North-American prices though...
Click to expand...

Are you sure his film is not counterfeit? Hong Kong is notorious for selling such.
 
My local Walmart has Polaroid 200 speed color film for 77 cents a roll(.77$US). Only 12 exposures but I bought a bunch and didn't come close to cleaning them out.
Rob
 
I've found 7dayshop.com to be the cheapest in the UK for C-41, E-6 and black and white. Have a butchers, they have special deals on quite often.

At the moment it is five rolls of thirty-six exposure Superia for £4.95 (99p/rool).
 
Just to give another nod for 7dayshop.com for the UK and EU(?) market. Lots of offers - and for the friends of Velvia 50, there's some remaining stock.
 
Yes, I always buy from 7day, there is always something on offer. My fridge is full of slightly outdated film and I have shot a lot of them and haven't had any problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom