Is this the future of (slide) film??

[Brian Puccio]

On many style (read: clothes) forums, there are buyers who purchase products locally for people who otherwise would not be able to buy them. I'd be willing to do that here. For example, it costs US$48 to mail a box that is 11x8.5x5.5" to Australia. For example, Provia 400xx is $11 per roll in 35mm format. Assuming that you wanted to bulk order 50 rolls, that would mean ~$600 would get you all the film you'd need for a while. And, instead of costing $35 per roll, it would now cost you about $12 per roll.

Yes, it's a lot to lay out al at once, but maybe you want to organize a group buy and then use someone willing to act as a mail drop for you and do it at cost.

 

[kosta_g]

it's a pretty serious issue for film shooters who've either converted from digital or don't want to move to digital. an older man went into the local photo store in the shopping centre the other day and paid 30 dollars for 3 rolls of kodak gold (basically). Seriously. The guy didn't want to get a digital camera but is spending his pension on being able to take digital photos.
What a market.

I'm keen to help build a list of the places available in Australia to get your film processed. I think we should combine a list and make it a sticky on the RFF page, and perhaps tout it about the social network. I'll add more to this once I get to think it over.

 

[Araakii]

So if I carry two luggages of slide film to Australia, that should pay for my flight plus hotel?

 

[filmfan]

So if I carry two luggages of slide film to Australia, that should pay for my flight plus hotel?

Nope. The checked luggage gets X-rayed to hell and your film will be fogged.

 

[Araakii]

Nope. The checked luggage gets X-rayed to hell and your film will be fogged.

I can hand carry them 😀😀

 

[Messsucherkamera]

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...

$35 for a roll of Velvia? How about $35 for five rolls of Velvia from B&H? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/512063-USA/Fujifilm_15757464_RVP_135_36_Fujichrome_Velvia.html

The "gents" at Vanbar appear to be attempting to do some outrageous price gouging. JMHO.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

$35 for a roll of Velvia? How about $35 for five rolls of Velvia from B&H? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/512063-USA/Fujifilm_15757464_RVP_135_36_Fujichrome_Velvia.html

The "gents" at Vanbar appear to be attempting to do some outrageous price gouging. JMHO.

$66.41 is the cheapest price for that mailed to Australia.

$54.50 seems better to me...

As has previously been discussed, the US sellers may offer better value when large quantities are ordered, however I think that some people are forgetting that overseas buyers do not pay the same postage costs as domestic purchasers.
Regards,
Brett

 

[mfunnell]

The "gents" at Vanbar appear to be attempting to do some outrageous price gouging. JMHO.

I think you'll find that it is the suppliers who are gouging, not the retailers (for the most part). The retailers can't get even US retail prices when buying wholesale and are locked up with various supply and licensing agreements presented on a "sign here or you'll be cut off" basis.

...Mike

 

[ChrisN]

AU$1 = US$1.06. Good time to buy from the US. Bulk (or group) ordering makes a difference.

 

[HHPhoto]

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...

Looks like you poor guys in down under are ripped off.....

Here in Germany (slide) film and development are still very cheap.
Sometimes ridiculously cheap:
Drugstore branded CN film is in the 85 - 90 Cents range per 36 exp. roll. Yes, Cents.
Slide film in drugstore chains is about 2,95€ to 4,29€.
Color film development in mass labs: 0,85€ to 2,55€.
Same price for C-41 and E6 in the drugstores!

A pack of 5 AgfaPhoto CT 100 Precisa slide film is 14,99€, so only about 3€ per film. This film is now made by Fuji and excellent quality.
This slide film is even cheaper than Kodak Gold, Farbwelt (the German version of the Gold series) and Superia.

Provia 400X is in the 7,99€ (per film in a 10 film pack) to 9,98€ range.
And that is, inflation included, even cheaper than the predecessor Provia 400F had cost in the year 2000.

And, please don't forget:
Fuji has a real problem with the exchange rates of international currencies: The Yen has risen by about 45% in the last two years in comparison to the other main currencies like US $ and Euro.

That and the significantly higher silver prices are the reason for current film price updates.

Kudos to Fuji that despite this their film prices are still very reasonable. Thanks Fuji.

Cheers, Jan

 

[mfunnell]

Thanks Fuji.

In Germany. Here in Oz they're screwing us to the wall...

...Mike

 

[HHPhoto]

In Germany. Here in Oz they're screwing us to the wall...

...Mike

May be it is economical for you to get some photographers together and make an order in Germany.

AFAIK some of the German online shops are shipping worldwide.

Good luck.

Jan

 

[deerstalkr]

I overheard an old gentleman in the middle of purchasing a few rolls of Tri-X at Foto Riesel in Sydney for about $14AUD per roll. I felt compelled to inform him of the options in case he wasn't aware, but there were staff members hovering around.

A lot of retail stores are taking a hit. I would really like to support them, but I can't afford to do so. After taking a quick look at the prices they charge, I don't even feel bad about buying things online/overseas.

 

[cnphoto]

http://www.lofico.com.au is another cheaper option. i'm looking into buying bulk quantities of colour film that are popular amongst a circle of photographers i know, then buying in bulk and selling on as they require it.

 

[mfunnell]

I overheard an old gentleman in the middle of purchasing a few rolls of Tri-X at Foto Riesel in Sydney for about $14AUD per roll. I felt compelled to inform him of the options in case he wasn't aware, but there were staff members hovering around.

A lot of retail stores are taking a hit. I would really like to support them, but I can't afford to do so. After taking a quick look at the prices they charge, I don't even feel bad about buying things online/overseas.

I know exactly what you mean. I know some people at Foto Riesel: they're good people trapped in a bad spot. For the longest time, photo stores like them have kept themselves afloat by charging profitable prices for consumables (film, chemicals; these days paper and ink) and they just can't do it anymore: pros and serious amateurs are buying overseas, in bulk, because they can (I know I do): we can buy retail at cheaper prices than an Oz-based retailer can get wholesale in-country. The manufacturers and distributers are killing their own retail channels by gouging for short-term profit. Nobody wins. Well, somebody does, but only for the next few months or (a couple or so) years.

It is depressing.

...Mike

 

[sevo]

Here in Germany (slide) film and development are still very cheap.
Sometimes ridiculously cheap:
Drugstore branded CN film is in the 85 - 90 Cents range per 36 exp. roll. Yes, Cents.
Slide film in drugstore chains is about 2,95€ to 4,29€.
Color film development in mass labs: 0,85€ to 2,55€.
Same price for C-41 and E6 in the drugstores!

Where did you stumble across these prices? Clearance sales at Schlecker don't count - they are bankrupt and will be gone for good in a few weeks.

Further south in Germany the drugstores chains aren't as cheap. The Rossmann and DM stores closest to me don't have slide film right now at all (maybe it will come back for the summer holiday season) - they do have Agfapan 100 though. The stores are independent in their lab partner choice, but locally all of them use Cewe - where C-41 development commissioned through drugstores is more like 12€ a roll minimum if you are smart enough to pick the smallest lowest quality prints (they default to 10x15 luxury, which is well above 20€ for a roll of 36), as Cewe has gone over to obligatory printing of the entire roll.

Outside closeout sales for near expired film, the price for the 3x24 pack seems to be around 5€ for both Kodak and their house brand CN film alike (and about 2-4€ for the single roll of 36).

 

[HHPhoto]

@sevo:

The prices I have mentioned are from dm, Rossmann and Müller stores here in my city (not from Schlecker, I don't buy there).

CN ISO 200 and 400 film in double 2x or 4x film packs. Then one film is in the 85- 90 Cent range.
Film development here is 0,85€ at dm and 2,55€ at Rossmann.
Slide film here in these stores is in the 2,95€ - 4,30€ range. House brand film, AgfaPhoto and Elitechrome 100 (yes, this film is discontinued by Kodak, but currently it is still available here at normal prices).

Cheers, Jan

Edit: Prices for prints at Rossmann: 1 Cent for 9x13 cm simple quality.
9 Cent for 9x13cm premium quality.
15 Cent for 10x15cm premium quality.

So one film 36exp. with film dvelopment and premium quality printing in 10x15cm is only 7,95€.
Of course that is very cheap.

 

[sevo]

So one film 36exp. with film dvelopment and premium quality printing in 10x15cm is only 7,95€.
Of course that is very cheap.

... and less than half the prices they had when film was a large volume business. Is that a recent development? If so, that's rather scary! Let's hope that that is a reaction to Schlecker discounting their remaining inventory and not the final closeout sale...

 

[HHPhoto]

... and less than half the prices they had when film was a large volume business. Is that a recent development? If so, that's rather scary! Let's hope that that is a reaction to Schlecker discounting their remaining inventory and not the final closeout sale...

No, it is not half the price compared to some years ago!

These prices have been stable for a very long time, at least 6 - 8 years. As long as I am here in this city I have had exact these prices at Rossmann. Same in my home town.

Please check your prices at Rossmann in Frankfurt. Of course Frankfurt is one of the most expensive cities in Germany, but I doubt that you pay so much more at Rossmann in Frankfurt.

Cheers, Jan

By the way: The Rossmann stores here have Fuji Eurocolor as lab partner, not CeWe (and I am happy about this, because due to my experience Eurocolor delivers better quality than CeWe).

 

[sevo]

By the way: The Rossmann stores here have Fuji Eurocolor as lab partner, not CeWe (and I am happy about this, because due to my experience Eurocolor delivers better quality than CeWe).

Rossmann don't seem to have a chain-wide lab partner - I've seen Cewe and Eurocolor envelopes at different Rossmann stores, and online they seem to team up with Orwo.NET. DM consistently uses Cewe, Schlecker uses Eurocolor.