How much did you pay for film - Then vs Now?

[raid]

There were super deals for $1.50/ roll of Reala 24 exp film and $1/roll of 36 exp. Kodak 100UC film.
Those were the days.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Because I shoot and process a lot of film, I got to thinking about what film and processing it cost. Then I got to thinking about what it costs in relation to other things I consume.

I have had an ongoing project for several years that does involve travel. My film and processing costs are about 2 1/2% of the total I spend on that project.

I have another ongoing local project. I shoot almost every week. Film and processing for that costs:
* less than what I pay for internet connectivity
* about 1/2 what I pay for my cell phone
* less than half what I spend for lunch and I eat cheap.

Even though I shoot film for anything important, I still buy a used, not the latest model, digital camera for family happy snaps. And I still spend more on digital cameras than I do on film and processing.

So I figure what I spend on film and processing is insignificant.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Interesting to think about the cameras we had too, my first was swapped for cigarette cards and so I can't price it but one went for 407 pounds on ebay this week and my third one was bought new for 16 pounds then a Peiflex for, I think/hope 30 pounds.

But I'm fonder of my bargains thanks to digital making people throw out all the film cameras they had lurking in drawers and cupboards...

Regards, David

 

[zuiko85]

About 1973 I paid $8 for a roll of Tri-X. Of course that is a 100 foot roll I'm talking about. That and $1 for a box of 10 Kodak Snap Caps empty cartridges. the Illinois sales tax was 5% on top of that so less than $10 total for 19-36exposure rolls. at the time I took home about $108 per week. So about 9% of a one week earnings.

Now, at B&H 100 ft. of Tri-X is $62, 10 empty film carts are $12 and shipping is $4 for a total of $78, to have the same ratio of film cost to earnings I'd have to make $890 per week clear. Or $46K per year clear. My highest earnings ever were a 25K per year gross. So for me B&W film is now a little more than twice as expensive as it was in 1973.

I don't buy color film but interestingly B&H has 24exp loads of 200 ISO Kodak color negative film for $2 a roll. That is way cheaper than Kodacolor-X at asa 80 was in 1973.