Film may not be dead but plenty seem keen to kill it off!

I went into World Wide Photo here in Miami the other day for the first time in months. Their stock of film, paper, and chemicals has gotten pathetic. I live within a few miles of 4 universities offering B&W darkroom courses but I have no idea where the students can find supplies with any ease, unless the campus book stores sell it.

I'm about to put together another order to Freestyle myself.
 
Keith - that's painful to hear. I just ordered some Tri-X at £2.59 a roll, and spare AA eneloop batteries at £8-odd for four plus charger (all prices including delivery). All it costs me on top is a few days' wait for the mail.
 
Like Fred, I do count myself as lucky to live in the NYC area. Besides being a subway ride from both Adorama and B&H, there are plenty of other places where I can pick up a few rolls of film in a pinch, and have little trouble in finding a lab (E6 in Manhattan, C41 virtually anywhere). For me, in fact, the C41 processing situation has improved, since I simply drop my film off at the local CVS (which recently upgraded all the equipment in their Photo Department), have them develop-only, without so much as cutting the film, and they turn it around in as little as 30 minutes for a little over two bucks a pop, with no horror show of dust/scratches. And, they get a good amount of film traffic, which usually bodes well in terms of having incentive for running a tight ship.


- Barrett
 
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Let me just say that I'm so happy I live in southern California. My orders from freestyle appear on my doorstep the next day with ground shipping 😀 I just plow through cheap rolls of Arista Premium.
 
The stores complain about lack of interest in film - whilst they are charging a premium for it. In the days before "on line shopping" - we really did not have much of a choice - unless we wanted to hang on the phone for extended time while someone was checking stock and shipping costs.
In some ways the stores are killing themselves - I can buy film for 1/2 the cost - and in some cases 1/3 of the cost from Freestyle/B&H etc - compared to store prices here. OK, if it is 4-5 rolls of something, it isen't worth the hassle with shipping and time - but when you are looking at a couple of 100 rolls - it adds up.
There are quite a few of us here who "bulk buy" when we need film. Shipping cost is less when spread out over 200-250 rolls and once everybody has agreed to which film to buy (Usually Freestyle' Arista or Legacy Pro) and we just order it - landed in Vancouver, shipping/sales taxes etc it is roughly 1/2 price from the stores!!!
It is "tough sledding" for the stores - but loosing customers is not from lack of interest - maybe it is lack of service that is the cause. Only a fraction of the digital images are printed - one hour labs are loosing out to. Film is down because "nobody is buying" - and in the meantime Freestyle etc is doing gangbusters shipping around the world and Epson/Canon/HP are selling printers and ink by the container load.
In the face of adversity - adjust to reality and if the stores go belly-up it meant they didn't and good riddance then.
There are still a couple of stalwarts here in Vancouver - Beau Photo for paper and some film and Lens $ Shutter for basic chemistry and paper - not much film and expensive at that. I now stock a year supply of chemistry and film/paper - if they all go belly up - I would have year to figure out an alternative plan!
 
Well... one can only hope that the big box photo stores keep charging outrageous prices... lets face facts, they're NEVER going to lower the price of film and they're keeping Freestyle prices down by making them the cheap alternative, it'll be a sad day when Freestyle and the like is no longer the alternative, but the only way to get decent film and they can start charging more and more.
 
I'm just back from local minilab - went to take prints from files I sent in today morning and leave film for processing. Seeing I brought only two rolls they offered me to wait 15 minutes, while I chatted with them and took look around. Consumer 35mm film, including range of Ilford B&W films, Kodak and Fuji Reala, Ektar100 and then some 120 films, Portras and something else. Ilford chemical for B&W processing, bought HC already.

They even had summer's special - Ilford PAN in 400 speed, offered at discount price, about us$4.

I still buy film on Net, though local shop is well stocked, prices are not predatory and they ARE competent. Thanks heaven!
 
Keith said:
I was in one of Brisbane's larger shopping centers today killing time before a job and wandered into the complex's only camera store and probably one of the city's larger ones. There was the usual range of DSLR's, tripods, camera bags etc and the obligatory overly helpful salesperson.

Curious to see if they still had some film for sale I scouted around and eventually found a small stand with an extremely limted range which had some apparent gaps in it ... out of stock!

This is what they did have:

Kodak BW400CN ... $15.00
Ilford HP5+ ...........$13.00
Fuji Velvia ............$30.00

And to be honest not much else!

This is why Freestyle in the US gets all my business! 🙄
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That is utterly loopy pricing and I thought we had it bad in Canada.
 
Tom A said:
The stores complain about lack of interest in film - whilst they are charging a premium for it. In the days before "on line shopping" - we really did not have much of a choice - unless we wanted to hang on the phone for extended time while someone was checking stock and shipping costs.
In some ways the stores are killing themselves - I can buy film for 1/2 the cost - and in some cases 1/3 of the cost from Freestyle/B&H etc - compared to store prices here. OK, if it is 4-5 rolls of something, it isen't worth the hassle with shipping and time - but when you are looking at a couple of 100 rolls - it adds up.
There are quite a few of us here who "bulk buy" when we need film. Shipping cost is less when spread out over 200-250 rolls and once everybody has agreed to which film to buy (Usually Freestyle' Arista or Legacy Pro) and we just order it - landed in Vancouver, shipping/sales taxes etc it is roughly 1/2 price from the stores!!!
It is "tough sledding" for the stores - but loosing customers is not from lack of interest - maybe it is lack of service that is the cause. Only a fraction of the digital images are printed - one hour labs are loosing out to. Film is down because "nobody is buying" - and in the meantime Freestyle etc is doing gangbusters shipping around the world and Epson/Canon/HP are selling printers and ink by the container load.
In the face of adversity - adjust to reality and if the stores go belly-up it meant they didn't and good riddance then.
There are still a couple of stalwarts here in Vancouver - Beau Photo for paper and some film and Lens $ Shutter for basic chemistry and paper - not much film and expensive at that. I now stock a year supply of chemistry and film/paper - if they all go belly up - I would have year to figure out an alternative plan!
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My sentiments exactly Tom. I think bricks and mortar Camera stores can be their own worst enemies when it comes to both pricing and customer service. Digitaltruth, Darkroomcentral.ca, Big Camera Workshops and Photoco provide easy alternatives for buyiung film and to a lesser extent chemicals and as you pointed out depending how much you order, it makes more sense.
 
Tom A, I am in full agreement with you. I buy my B+W film and a lot of chemistry from Freestyle. Your remark about a lack of service in the Vancouver area made me consider Beau Photo for a moment. I would like to support them but consider their store hours! A working man in Fort Langley like me just can't get in to the location when they are open MO-FR 8:30-5 ONLY, no Saturday openings at all. That's somewhat useful for students or Pros, not a hobbyist who works regular hours. BUT, that said, I figure they are happy with the business they get keeping those hours, so I am so glad there is the online alternative.
 
Tom A said:
The stores complain about lack of interest in film - whilst they are charging a premium for it. In the days before "on line shopping" - we really did not have much of a choice - unless we wanted to hang on the phone for extended time while someone was checking stock and shipping costs.
In some ways the stores are killing themselves - I can buy film for 1/2 the cost - and in some cases 1/3 of the cost from Freestyle/B&H etc - compared to store prices here. OK, if it is 4-5 rolls of something, it isen't worth the hassle with shipping and time - but when you are looking at a couple of 100 rolls - it adds up.
There are quite a few of us here who "bulk buy" when we need film. Shipping cost is less when spread out over 200-250 rolls and once everybody has agreed to which film to buy (Usually Freestyle' Arista or Legacy Pro) and we just order it - landed in Vancouver, shipping/sales taxes etc it is roughly 1/2 price from the stores!!!
It is "tough sledding" for the stores - but loosing customers is not from lack of interest - maybe it is lack of service that is the cause. Only a fraction of the digital images are printed - one hour labs are loosing out to. Film is down because "nobody is buying" - and in the meantime Freestyle etc is doing gangbusters shipping around the world and Epson/Canon/HP are selling printers and ink by the container load.
In the face of adversity - adjust to reality and if the stores go belly-up it meant they didn't and good riddance then.
There are still a couple of stalwarts here in Vancouver - Beau Photo for paper and some film and Lens $ Shutter for basic chemistry and paper - not much film and expensive at that. I now stock a year supply of chemistry and film/paper - if they all go belly up - I would have year to figure out an alternative plan!
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Tom, you should write this on a big newspaper or a magazine or something, so spot on and just the right amount of edge.
 
mfunnell said:
Vicky - should I just die of jealousy now, or wait a while 'till it sinks in and die even worse?

Just checking...

...Mike
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It might be worth your while kicking my arse for being so jammy and then possibly let the jealousy seep in? Either way it's a loose loose scenario, I'll have my film but a sore arse and you'll still be green so...

Maybe I should quit going on about it, maybe that'll help 😀

Hehe

Vicky
 
Kodak BW400CN ... $15.00
Ilford HP5+ ...........$13.00
Fuji Velvia ............$30.00

Uncle Bill said:
That is utterly loopy pricing and I thought we had it bad in Canada.
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But keep in mind those are Australian Dollars.

Sorry, not trying to put down your currency, but they are a little less valuable than the US or Canadian variety.
 
As a comparison - I am a pipe smoker (yes, I know smoking is bad news! ) and over here at least, there are not many of us about now, the small tobacco and confectionary shops no longer carry pipe tobacco, and apart from two or three brands at the supermarkets, I travel sixty miles to the nearest specialist tobacconist, or order online. The fact is - whatever the commodity, if the majority of people are simply not buying it, they will not put it on the shelves!, or if they do keep a limited amount for diehards and eccentrics like me, it will not be cheap!🙂
Dave.
 
Dave - 60 miles is nothing!!!!! I smoke Three Nuns and it is not imported to Canada or the US. I can buy it in Germany/Sweden and Japan! It is not the price of tobacco that is killing me - it is the transportation!
Having it shipped here is difficult and HUGELY expensive due to customs and taxes - so I rather go and buy it on the Ginza in Tokyo ( they dont advertise it - it is kept under the counter - but by now they know me) or my favorite store in Lubeck, Germany - Ah, you are back - how many cans?
I have been smoking my pipe for going on 50 years and have no intentions of giving it up.
Someone quoted some statistics once. "Cigarette smokers die 5 years before the average non-smoker - but pipe-smokers live two years longer than the average non-smoker!!! Dont know if it is true - but I like it.
Only problem with being a pipe smoker is the young women (and men) who sigh deeply and say "Oh, love the smoke of your pipe. Reminds me of my grand father!"

PS, What I was going to say here and forgot. IF the stores here in town would have kept the prices at a reasonable level I would have happily bought my film from them. For many years they had the propacks of Tri X and I used to buy 2-300 rolls at a time. Now they might have a brick or two (10-20 rolls) and are less than forthcoming when i ask them to order for me. I probably would represent $4-5000/year in film alone and there are others who are equally heavy users. We all buy on-line now!!!!
I would not expect them to match a mail order house prices - but the convinience of being able to go there and pick up 50 rolls now and then - is worth an extra $ or $1,50 - but not close to $4,00 more!
 
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Tom A said:
Dave - 60 miles is nothing!!!!! I smoke Three Nuns and it is not imported to Canada or the US. I can buy it in Germany/Sweden and Japan! It is not the price of tobacco that is killing me - it is the transportation!
Having it shipped here is difficult and HUGELY expensive due to customs and taxes - so I rather go and buy it on the Ginza in Tokyo ( they dont advertise it - it is kept under the counter - but by now they know me) or my favorite store in Lubeck, Germany - Ah, you are back - how many cans?
I have been smoking my pipe for going on 50 years and have no intentions of giving it up.
Someone quoted some statistics once. "Cigarette smokers die 5 years before the average non-smoker - but pipe-smokers live two years longer than the average non-smoker!!! Dont know if it is true - but I like it.
Only problem with being a pipe smoker is the young women (and men) who sigh deeply and say "Oh, love the smoke of your pipe. Reminds me of my grand father!"
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Tom, the thing that really amuses me is the mystified look on the faces of the little kids and toddlers, as they tug on their mommy's sleeve and stare back at that funny old guy!😀
Dave.
PS plenty of 'Three Nuns' here still! - tho not in my pouch for about 30yrs.😛
 
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