Ilford XP2

colyn

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I went to the camera shop today where I buy most of my film to get some XP2 and was told they would not have any till next week. I then went to Wolf Camera to see if they had any. When I asked the young woman behind the counter her reply was "Is that a Canon or Nikon camera?"

When I told her it was black & white film she gave me a what the hell are you talking about look.

Ended up having to go to Arlington Camera for the film..
 
Colyn,

I frequently shoot XP2 and like it very much. The local shops often do not have it or it is overpriced. I always order it from B&H or Adorama and keep a good supply in the freezer.

Johnbay
 
johnbay said:
Colyn,

I frequently shoot XP2 and like it very much. The local shops often do not have it or it is overpriced. I always order it from B&H or Adorama and keep a good supply in the freezer.

Johnbay

I can usually find it at a particular local shop for around $6 per 36 exp roll but they were out and wouldn't have it back in stock till next week.

It's a fairly popular film here and can usually be found at Fort Worth Camera or Arlington Camera but obviously the counter people at Wolf camera don't know what it is..
 
At least you have several places you can go to find some. Where I live the only place that might have it is out of it. It is around $8.00 CAD here for a 24 roll. I think I am just going to try C41 colour and convert to greyscale to see if that is close.

Bob
 
Nikon Bob said:
At least you have several places you can go to find some. Where I live the only place that might have it is out of it. It is around $8.00 CAD here for a 24 roll. I think I am just going to try C41 colour and convert to greyscale to see if that is close.

Bob

I can only find XP2 at one of the shops mentioned or by mail order but Kodaks 400CN is at Walgreen's, CVS, and Wally World. Both films seen to be fairly close qualitywise.
 
How about Bulk loading? few 100' rolls and keep em in the fridge. Six buck a pop is a deal breaker for me. I think next month (or the month after) I am going to get myself a bulk loader.
 
colyn said:
I went to the camera shop today where I buy most of my film to get some XP2 and was told they would not have any till next week. I then went to Wolf Camera to see if they had any. When I asked the young woman behind the counter her reply was "Is that a Canon or Nikon camera?"

When I told her it was black & white film she gave me a what the hell are you talking about look.

Ended up having to go to Arlington Camera for the film..

Here a while back I went to the Ritz at the local big mall. I asked for chromogenic film. The clerk dutifully looked around at the shelf of film and then back at me and replied they didn't carry that but had good Kodak and Fuji slide films if I wanted one of those. :bang:
 
Bulk loading with fresh XP2 Super is about $3 a roll. Outdated and with good luck on the auction site it can be as cheap as $1.50 a roll. XP2 bulk comes with labels for the cassettes. My mini-lab processes them without as much as a "Are you sure what film is in this?"

Ken
 
I bulk load XP2 as well. For some strange reason, Kodak 400BW is easily available here in Rochester, but I prefer the Ilford film overall, especially for scanning/web display. Right now I'm out of XP2, so I'll shoot the Kodak when I need a C41 b&w. Tomorrow morning I'm shooting APX100.

Earl
 
colyn said:
I can only find XP2 at one of the shops mentioned or by mail order but Kodaks 400CN is at Walgreen's, CVS, and Wally World. Both films seen to be fairly close qualitywise.

We do have Wally World and a few other places that carry Kodak BWCN. I have been using the Kodak BWCN and while I really like the results it gives I would like to try more XP2. For one thing it seems to scan faster on my machine.

Bob
 
oftheherd said:
Here a while back I went to the Ritz at the local big mall. I asked for chromogenic film. The clerk dutifully looked around at the shelf of film and then back at me and replied they didn't carry that but had good Kodak and Fuji slide films if I wanted one of those. :bang:

Ha, same thing happened to me at a Ritz camera store, where do they get these people or why don't they at least train them. I guess film is just to much trouble for them. Oh well, back to B&H online orders.
 
I guess I can thank my lucky stars B & H and Adorama are just a subway ride (or somewhat more-excursive bike ride) away for me. Cost has gone up a bit: XP2 is now a bit under a buck more, per-roll, than I used to pay. But since I'm paying less for processing these days, I'm still coming out a bit ahead. Kodak's BW 400, however, is available in a lot more places, so when my XP2 stash runs dry at a given moment, I'll grab the yellow-box stuff without much protest.

Look at it this way: there aren't boxes and boxes of this film gathering dust all over the place. Presumably, somebody (besides us) is buying the stuff, even accounting for Ilford's having possibly throttled back production numbers a bit.

Ritz? Tell me about it: The only halfway-decent photography store on Manhattan's Upper West Side (Westside Camera) suffered somewhat when Wolf took them under their wing, followed shortly after by Ritz. The reamining older staff knew (and still know) their stuff, but everyone else...well, it's a different time, and a different place.


- Barrett
 
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hello all,

i got opposite reaction from shop assistants who is eager to show they are educated when i buy Fuji Neopan, repeating "but these are for hand developing, you know that , right?" i said, yes and she would go like, "are you sure, this is not C41" and i say i know i know as if i am guilty.

as on the topic, XP2 for 36 exposure here in Hong Kong is about US 4.5 per roll, when you can find them in a few so called "pro shop" where they still stock film
 
Alex: I like your take ... I will practice that look. Could you do a few self-portraits to set me on the right path?

Oh ... and I see the anti-curmudgeon pills didn't work. Good on ya! :D
 
My folks know

My folks know

colyn said:
I can usually find it at a particular local shop for around $6 per 36 exp roll but they were out and wouldn't have it back in stock till next week.

It's a fairly popular film here and can usually be found at Fort Worth Camera or Arlington Camera but obviously the counter people at Wolf camera don't know what it is..

The folks at the Wolf Camera around the corner from my apartment in Houston know. I can't say the same for the other Wolf Camera I went to. It's hit & miss these days. Some know. Some are clueless.
 
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