Film is getting expensive

LeicaFoReVer

LeicaFoReVer

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It is about 6.5 bucks for a single roll of Ilford on ebay. It is getting to be a really expensive hobby.

Is it the same at the rest of the world?
 
A single roll of Ilford Hp5 here in Oz is about thirteen dollars last time I looked.
 
Its around 4.75€ for HP5 hereabouts - if the above price does not include shipping, German mail orders would be cheaper. And buying single rolls by mail never has been a good idea - buy in batches of 20 or more, and shipping grows into a negligible quantity.
 
If you live in a country with a market of high resourcefulness, try to find them in stores instead of eBay, you should be able to find cheaper films.
 
It's about £5 a roll here in the UK for HP5. It's insane that its cheaper for me to buy Ilford and Kentmere from Germany and have it sent back to England.
 
Yes, same for me. I live in Sweden, and buy my film at macodirect.de. Get about half the price compared incl. shipping to Sweden. Why?
 
grouchos_tash said:
It's about £5 a roll here in the UK for HP5. It's insane that its cheaper for me to buy Ilford and Kentmere from Germany and have it sent back to England.
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I noticed the same on my last vacation in Scotland, last summer: Ilford film cost in shops was about double in UK, where it's made, than over here in Italy.
XP2 at Jessops in Inverness was priced a whopping 10 Pounds Vs. 6-7€ over here.
And, as far as I know, VAT is not higher.
Really crazy!
 
In Canada a role of Tri-X at Henry's is $15. It's $5 at Adorama. Way cheaper for me to order from the States and get it shipped to Newfoundland even with Canadian dollar at $.72 USD. Nuts.
 
Danlo said:
Yes, same for me. I live in Sweden, and buy my film at macodirect.de. Get about half the price compared incl. shipping to Sweden. Why?
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Off the main trading route, fewer merchants, higher salesmen salary, plus "nothing is cheap" national trait. ;)

BTW: photax.se is one of the cheaper/reasonable seller I found in Sweden.
 
There are certainly weird 'outlier' prices to be found for some films – especially if buying single rolls (for example, I'm sure I've seen Kodak Gold for more than a tenner) – but, if you shop around, prices are ok for Ilford and Kodak. I can still buy T-max 100 by the roll for £3.99, Ektar and Tri-X for £5, Delta 100 for £5.29 and 5 packs of Portra 160 for £25 or 400 for £30. This is from mainstream dealers not eBay sellers. Of course, if you are not fussy (or prefer the look) it is not difficult to get even cheaper film such as Kentmere (rebranded Ilford) or Agfa Vista (rebranded Fujicolor). It doesn't need to be an expensive pastime.
 
I pay 110 Baht for a roll of Kodak Pro Color 100 and it's about 35 baht to 1 USD, so it's about $3.50 a roll. I think I could probably get it cheaper if I ordered it online but I like my local lab and don't mind supporting them.

Cheers, michael
 
Thanks for writing the sites, especially the macodirect.de, which is closer to me. Although it says shipping is 24 EUR, cost per roll can be cheaper when buying large amounts.

I cant believe it costs 15 bucks at Henrys! It used to be 3-4 bucks a roll when I was there in 2009. Am I wrong?

p.s. I can find some shops selling online locally (in Turkey) but they are more expensive, about 8.5$ per roll and it doesnt matter how many you order.
 
b&h prices are as good as it gets. Still expensive. But for me, living in New Jersey, if I buy over $100, shipping is free. If I ship the film to my house, I don't have to pay NY or NJ tax on it. It's a pretty good deal (as good as it's going to get, anyway). Still, I've shot kentmere if I know I'm just shooting for hobby instead of for my portfolio. Kentmere and Arista 400 are affordable--the 100 speed even moreso. If you are mostly a hobbyist, why not see what kind of results you can get playing around with different combos? If speed isn't a factor for you I would definitely try a slower film.

I started a budget film thread around here somewhere called, "Why shoot Tri-x"

There was some good information on that
 
Who is buying regular film on e-bay? It was always priced out of reality.
Personally, I stopped buying film as individual rolls as soon as I re-entered photography in bw.
I have one bulk of Ilford HP5 loaded in September. It is end of February now.
And I'm not limiting my self with film use. At all.
So, for under two American dollars per roll, as it cost for me, I wouldn't call it expensive.
Kodak TRI-X is. :)
 
I still shoot lots of Tri-X (from B&H), but lately I'm loading my own Kodak 5222 (Double-X) 35mm motion picture camera film. Here in the States it goes for about $275 for a 400ft roll. Comes out about a dollar per roll cheaper than Tri-X.
 
Timmyjoe said:
I still shoot lots of Tri-X (from B&H), but lately I'm loading my own Kodak 5222 (Double-X) 35mm motion picture camera film. Here in the States it goes for about $275 for a 400ft roll. Comes out about a dollar per roll cheaper than Tri-X.
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Hey Timmyjoe, what speed are you shooting your double x at and what is your preferred developer for that speed? I'm just bought 10 rolls of it to see if I like it enough to buy in bulk.

Thanks,

Jon
 
LeicaFoReVer said:
It is about 6.5 bucks for a single roll of Ilford on ebay. It is getting to be a really expensive hobby.

Is it the same at the rest of the world?
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No, it is not the same in the rest of the world:
1. Considering inflation for a correct economic assessment, lots of film types are today even cheaper than 20-30 years ago.
2. Ebay (and Amazon) are mostly the worst and most expensive sources for film.
3. As you are in Turkey, go for European online distributors (most of them are shipping internationally), like Fotoimpex.de or ars-imago.com or macodirect.de.
Better prices, better service, better choices.
 
I don't buy much film because I have a massive stash of expired film to burn through.

But when I do, Freestyle is my go-to.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/

I have not yet purchased Ultrafine film, but if I decide to do it, this looks like the link:

http://www.ultrafineonline.com/photography.html

I found this list useful as well. It's relatively recent:

http://istillshootfilm.org/post/24128349136/where-to-buy-photographic-film-online-updated

As to prices, well, they are what they are. The market continues to contract, albeit at a slower pace now that the mass consumer film market no longer exists at all. I expect to see stability at some point, but the choices will be limited and the prices will be relatively higher. That's something we have to just get used to.

Someone will chime in soon and accuse those nasty old big corporations of being greedy and selfish (eyeroll) but in reality, smaller markets and less competition means higher prices. That's just the way it goes.

I'll keep shooting film as long as it brings me enjoyment and I can afford to buy film. When it's over, it's over; either due to lack of film or lack of desire on my part to pay $$$ for a roll of the stuff.
 
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