Is this the future of (slide) film??

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zvos1

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I was just checking some prices on slide film and was shocked by seeing this..
http://www.vanbar.com.au/catalogue/index.php?item1=FILM&item2=COLOR&item3=PRO-35mm-TRAN&brand=

I know that film prices in Australia are quite high but this is crazy!!! $35 for roll of Velvia 50 or $36 for Velvia 100 with broken box.

To makes things worse Vanbar is quite reputable Melbourne store and they have big selection of film and film developing equipment. I shop there quite often.

Is this the future of film?? Paying almost $40 per roll of 35mm film not including processing and scanning.

I think I'll be buying my film stock from o/seas...
 
zvos1 said:
I was just checking some prices on slide film and was shocked by seeing this..
http://www.vanbar.com.au/catalogue/index.php?item1=FILM&item2=COLOR&item3=PRO-35mm-TRAN&brand=

I know that film prices in Australia are quite high but this is crazy!!! $35 for roll of Velvia 50 or $36 for Velvia 100 with broken box.

To makes things worse Vanbar is quite reputable Melbourne store and they have big selection of film and film developing equipment. I shop there quite often.

Is this the future of film?? Paying almost $40 per roll of 35mm film not including processing and scanning.

I think I'll be buying my film stock from o/seas...
Click to expand...

I try to throw a bit of business to my local film retailers (not that there are many of them in Hobart) but there's no reason to support extortionate pricing such as you've described. I tend to buy a lot of film ex-ebay from this guy. Not only are the film prices good the postage is very reasonable (unlike US retailers who offer some great prices and then kill you with the UPS/Fedex delivery costs, nullifying any savings). No connection to the ebay seller other than a happy repeat customer.
Regards,
Brett
 
Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
I try to throw a bit of business to my local film retailers (not that there are many of them in Hobart) but there's no reason to support extortionate pricing such as you've described. I tend to buy a lot of film ex-ebay from this guy. Not only are the film prices good the postage is very reasonable (unlike US retailers who offer some great prices and then kill you with the UPS/Fedex delivery costs, nullifying any savings). No connection to the ebay seller other than a happy repeat customer.
Regards,
Brett
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, his prices seem reasonable.
 
will-i_am said:
this seller has reasonable prices and postage for slide film i use them if i just want a couple of things but yeah if you just buy allot from freestyle it will offset the postage.

i use vanbar allot for developers etc.
Click to expand...

I buy the chemicals from Vanbar as well and I like them to stay in business but $42.21 for roll of Fuji Provia 400x, no thanks!!

That is the same guy Sarcophilus Harrisii suggested, I'll try him out.

Cheers
 
zvos1 said:
However, they do have 3 packs of FP4 for $15 which is reasonable.

I am wondering if this pricing is specific to slide film...
Click to expand...

i think they also had that deal for hp5 but its probably all sold. 70 dollars for a bulk roll of tri-x isn't too bad either comes to about 3.90 a roll. But yes slide is crazy plus getting it developed is not cheap either.
 
zvos1 said:
Thanks for the link, his prices seem reasonable.
Click to expand...
If you grab a calculator and crunch some numbers you can maximise the savings. Eg. the unit prices for three rolls of film "X" with free postage or plus postage will usually come out the same, he's quite canny in that respect. And depending on his listings you may find a better price in a lot of five instead of a lot of ten.
Sometimes the "plus postage" option is better than the "free postage" listings; because if you buy multiple items, postage discounts on second and subsequent items bring the unit price down even more (and of course no postage discounts apply to "free postage" listings). I'm always on a tight film budget and have to save every cent I can!

He's pretty good to deal with. I badly needed some transparency last year before the Wooden Boat Festival, and wrote him explaining I had a deadline. He got it straight out to me ex-Thailand in just over a week, just in time for the event, no extra charge. I was pretty happy about that.
Regards,
Brett
 
will-i_am said:
this seller has reasonable prices and postage for slide film i use them if i just want a couple of things but yeah if you just buy allot from freestyle it will offset the postage.

i use vanbar allot for developers etc.
Click to expand...
Good point, they do stock some chems which are either difficult or almost impossible to source locally from anywhere else. To be fair to them, last year I think, they had a $10 per roll deal on Sensia 100 (RIP) that included processing, a great price by any comparison in Australia.
Regards,
Brett
 
Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
Good point, they do stock some chems which are either difficult or almost impossible to source locally from anywhere else. To be fair to them, last year I think, they had a $10 per roll deal on Sensia 100 (RIP) that included processing, a great price by any comparison in Australia.
Regards,
Brett
Click to expand...

Yeah i shot a few rolls of that sensia and it came out fine despite being past its date, it was a super deal.
 
Similar prices here in New Zealand. I've been told by multiple photo stores in NZ that they believe Fuji just wants out of the film business in Australia/NZ market. Provia 400x is NZD 40 here (about USD 32) per roll. Insane.

Kodak prices are better, but not much. And, don't even thinking about 120, let alone 220, medium format film.

I actually want to give my business to the local retailers, but can't at these prices. I order film in USD 200 increments from B&H. I have it shipped to a friend in the States, who then puts it into a US Postal Service International Priority Mail box. For USD 15.00, that box can hold about 25 rolls of film, and gets to NZ within 5 days.

I'm sure B&H would ship via USPS Int'l Priority, too, if you asked them. I go via my friend because they will remove the rolls from the boxes and plastic film containers, so I get more in a shipment (price is determined by size of box up to several pounds).

I'm about to start the same process for inkjet paper. A box of Canson Infinity in the US: USD 31. In New Zealand: NZD 87 (about USD 62). INSANE!!!!! GST and transportation can't account for these price differences.

Viva la B&H international orders!

Jeff
 
Typically the postage per roll for a decent-sized order from B&H/Freestyle to Oz is less than $1/roll. You just have to make a decent sized order. Often a few of us here get together to make the postage worthwhile.
 
fergus said:
Typically the postage per roll for a decent-sized order from B&H/Freestyle to Oz is less than $1/roll. You just have to make a decent sized order. Often a few of us here get together to make the postage worthwhile.
Click to expand...

-Yup, we do the same thing here in Norway; locally, Velvia 50 is $35 or so/roll in 135; 120 I've yet to see locally. Fortunately, I've taken a liking to Provia lately, which is less unreasonably priced.

If you buy enough film from B&H, Adorama or whatever, even the $50 postage AND 25% VAT does not make it a poor deal... :/
 
The future of all film, not just slide, are large price increases associated with the loss of major manufacturers. Keep buying, or it will happen even faster.

Marty
 
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