Film Shooters In Japan

[WJJ3]

Hi Folks,

I wanted to ask members located in Japan where they are buying black and white film these days? We have seen MAJOR price increases here this year, and its really cramping my style!

Actually I can't say it's been all bad. Ilford film prices going through the roof last spring got me shooting ACROS and I have discovered what a lovely film that is. Developing in T-Max gives you an extra stop of speed, and at EI200 its fine for general use.

I really like and prefer DELTA 400 for general use, and have gotten great results from FP4 as well, which I like shooting in my medium format cameras. But the price of Ilford films in Japan just doesn't make sense. Im happy to keep shooting ACROS as my general purpose film, but now we have seen a price increase on that as well...

Anybody got a route for Ilford film at reasonable prices in Japan? Or other suggestions for reasonably priced film?

Thanks!

 

[ReeRay]

I've been using this outlet for some years now, reasonably close to you. Not sure how his prices stack up against Japanese stores but may be of interest.

http://stores.ebay.com/filmcarnival/

Hope this helps

 

[maddoc]

I ordered from Fotoimpex in Berlin, Germany in the past because including shipping it was still cheaper than buying locally. I don`t know about recent prices, though.

 

[jonmanjiro]

I wanted to ask members located in Japan where they are buying black and white film these days? We have seen MAJOR price increases here this year, and its really cramping my style!

Ahhh I see you noticed the Fujifilm October 1st film price increases... Japan has gone from being film shooters heaven to the complete opposite in such a short amount of time. Quite shocking really 😱

I stocked up on Neopan 400 before it was discontinued so I'm right for B&W film for a while, but I'm very interested to learn what other local shooters are doing for when I run out.

 

[Muju79]

I've ordered film and chems a few times from Silversalt.jp.

Outside Japan, some good prices can be found at:
http://www.macodirect.de/
and
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/

Cheers.

 

[WJJ3]

Thanks for the info so far. I wish I had bought a stock of Ilford film before they doubled the price last spring!

 

[dogbunny]

I've just about totally switched to ordering online. One thing to keep in mind is that the different main retailers do have different prices. B & H for example is a bit cheaper on Ilford products. It is only like 20 cents per roll or something, but if you are bulk ordering those pennies add up.

 

[ericdan]

Any color Kodak film I get from macodirect.de or freestyle.
TriX in 10 packs is actually still cheaper at BicCamera here.
Ilford just got too expensive. I stopped using it.


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[bence8810]

I don't buy 400 BnW film anymore in Japan - once I had a friend ship a couple of rolls of 100ft TriX that I purchased at B&H - despite the shipping it was still cheaper than buying it locally.

For daylight MF shooting I use Acros 100, even with the price increase it's still sort of cheap at 500yen per roll.

And then theres the mighty Double X Eastman 5222 which I was lucky to acquire earlier this year - bought 800ft of that thing. It should last me 2 years and then will think what to do again.

I just took a photographer friend from Canada (Lauffray) to Yodobashi camera's film section, it's just shocking the see the prices to be honest. The 100ft TriX for 35,000 yen (300USD +) is the joke of the century.

Ilford I never used but I did notice the price hike there too...
Ben

 

[WJJ3]

I've just about totally switched to ordering online. One thing to keep in mind is that the different main retailers do have different prices. B & H for example is a bit cheaper on Ilford products. It is only like 20 cents per roll or something, but if you are bulk ordering those pennies add up.

Thanks, any idea on import tax for ordering from B&H?

Any color Kodak film I get from macodirect.de or freestyle.
TriX in 10 packs is actually still cheaper at BicCamera here.
Ilford just got too expensive. I stopped using it.

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10 packs of TriX? Are we in the same country? 笑

I don't buy 400 BnW film anymore in Japan - once I had a friend ship a couple of rolls of 100ft TriX that I purchased at B&H - despite the shipping it was still cheaper than buying it locally.

For daylight MF shooting I use Acros 100, even with the price increase it's still sort of cheap at 500yen per roll.

And then theres the mighty Double X Eastman 5222 which I was lucky to acquire earlier this year - bought 800ft of that thing. It should last me 2 years and then will think what to do again.

I just took a photographer friend from Canada (Lauffray) to Yodobashi camera's film section, it's just shocking the see the prices to be honest. The 100ft TriX for 35,000 yen (300USD +) is the joke of the century.

Ilford I never used but I did notice the price hike there too...
Ben

I wish ACROS was still ￥500 a roll for 35mm...
How are you liking the Double X? The thread about that film has me interested more and more. Where and for how much did you purchase that in Japan?

 

[Muju79]

Thanks, any idea on import tax for ordering from B&H?
10 packs of TriX? Are we in the same country? 笑

Tri-x 10 rolls pack, 7950 Yen (before c.tax) on Yodobashi website.
http://www.yodobashi.com/コダック-Kodak...-モノクロフィルム-36枚撮り-10個パック/pd/100000001002733115/

 

[jonmanjiro]

TriX in 10 packs is actually still cheaper at BicCamera here.

10 packs of TriX? Are we in the same country? 笑

I'm guessing he means these 10 packs which are the same price at both Yodobashi and BIC. It works out to JPY 715.5 per roll once you factor in the 10% back in points. Cheaper than the JPY 843 per roll (after deducting 10% back in points) they charge for single rolls of the stuff. Shipping is free too.

I wish ACROS was still ￥500 a roll for 35mm...

At JPY 528 per roll when you buy packs of three (and once again factoring in the 10% back in points), its not that much more.

 

[WJJ3]

OK, so doing a little digging and found the 10 roll packs ericdan mentioned listed at Yodobashi for ￥8000. Now this doesn't add up because they want over ￥30,000 yen for a 100ft roll of TriX, but only ￥8000 for 10x36ex? What is going on? Delta was about ¥700 until last spring, and now its ¥1200? Some 3 packs of Tmax are labeled with a price drop?

 

[WJJ3]

Tri-x 10 rolls pack, 7950 Yen (before c.tax) on Yodobashi website.
http://www.yodobashi.com/コダック-Kodak...-モノクロフィルム-36枚撮り-10個パック/pd/100000001002733115/

Thanks, indeed they are there.

I'm guessing he means these 10 packs which are the same price at both Yodobashi and BIC. It works out to JPY 715.5 per roll once you factor in the 10% back in points. Cheaper than the JPY 843 per roll (after deducting 10% back in points) they charge for single rolls of the stuff. Shipping is free too.



At JPY 528 per roll when you buy packs of three (and once again factoring in the 10% back in points), its not that much more.

Good point about the 10% points. I wasn't considering that. ACROS is still the bargain winner.
BTW, I was just looking at the Tmax developer develop times chart and it lists Tmax 100 push times for up to EI800. I wonder how it handles a 2 stop push? 10 pack price and 2 stop push process might be a good compromise...

 

[sevo]

OK, so doing a little digging and found the 10 roll packs ericdan mentioned listed at Yodobashi for ￥8000. Not this doesn't add up because they want over ￥30,000 yen for a 100ft roll of TriX, but only ￥8000 for 10x36ex? What is going on? Delta was about ¥700 until last spring, and now its ¥1200? Some 3 packs of Tmax are labeled with a price drop?

Is any of it short dated or expired, or exceptionally fresh? Popular, or unpopular? Condition is a factor in film pricing. And so is oddity, rarity and unpopularity of a given film or packaging in the local market. Low demand and film expiration work to making anything odd expensive, as the risk of being stuck with expired film has to be factored into a smaller inventory.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Good point about the 10% points. I wasn't considering that.

Also factor in free shipping regardless of the purchase amount. To give you an example, it boggles my mind that I can buy a 316 yen lens cap from Yodobashi and they'll deliver it by the next day at the latest for free.

 

[WJJ3]

Also factor in free shipping regardless of the purchase amount. To give you an example, it boggles my mind that I can buy a 316 yen lens cap from Yodobashi and they'll deliver it by the next day at the latest for free.

free shipping is definitely a factor, and Yodobashi.com is super handy.
I loose out a little because I pay by bank transfer from the ATM which incurs the 200 something yen handling fee...

 

[WJJ3]

Is any of it short dated or expired, or exceptionally fresh? Popular, or unpopular? Condition is a factor in film pricing. And so is oddity, rarity and unpopularity of a given film or packaging in the local market. Low demand and film expiration work to making anything odd expensive, as the risk of being stuck with expired film has to be factored into a smaller inventory.

Thanks, I saw those price reductions on their website, so I'm not sure if its close to expiry or not. Your explanation probably fits what is happening in Japan though. Small inventory, high prices...

 

[bence8810]

How are you liking the Double X? The thread about that film has me interested more and more. Where and for how much did you purchase that in Japan?

I really like it - shoot it exclusively at 400 which is already half a stop push and this gives me nice and contrasty negatives developed in R09. As I prefer a one film one developer combination (and one camera / one lens...) I think I found what works best for me in terms of performance and cost.

I got it pretty cheap through a film student in Japan via Kodak Japan. As i understand it the film can be bought by anyone but at double the price which would land you just slightly over the 500 yen per roll rate. It is still sort of cheap but there's a lot of hassle re-spooling (400ft-4x100ft) and then loading the film.

Ben

 

[kiss-o-matic]

I've ordered film and chems a few times from Silversalt.jp.

Outside Japan, some good prices can be found at:
http://www.macodirect.de/
and
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/

Cheers.

another +1 for Silversalt. Tim is awesome. I almost ordered some Euro films from him to ship to me in the US as it would have come out cheaper but he was out of stock.

The other option would be to ask people here for help. The weak yen will work against you in most cases (TriX will be about 600 yen a roll at the current exchange rate I think), but you can always work out something with a user I'm sure. I need stuff shipped to me from Japan from time to time.

I still don't see how buying Tri-X in bulk is worth the money. If you get 100ft at around $100, and you can get 17 rolls out of it I'm calculating that at $5.88 a roll -- and it's cheaper than that if you buy 10 packs.