London Trip,

ashfaque

ashfaque

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I'm off to London until 6th of September.

Apart from Silverprint, is there other shops that I can visit to see various types of films and other film equipments? The other reason is to buy a few films as I'm planning to visit Leica Mayfair store mainly to try various lenses. I'm on queue for a 50 Summilux ASPH. In the meantime, someone was kind enough to donate* a rarely used Epson scanner. So I'm now thinking of getting a relatively cheaper film body (Bessa, M2, M3 or Zeiss). This will at least allow me to practice film before considering any expensive M (M6 or MP) camera.

Your advices on the following queries (& other things) are greatly appreciated [please treat me like a film newbie as I haven't used film camera for 15+ years!].
- What shops I should visit.
- what type films I should buy before heading off to various shops.
- Is there any car boot sales point in London where film cameras are frequently seen?

Thank you. :)

* For those who don't know and are interested, I got it through Freegle.
 
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I've always bought all my film from Calumet - they stock a very good range and normally have most things in 35mm and 120 for good prices. They have several locations in London, one of which (Drummond St) is very close to some of the camera shops you might want to visit.

Definitely check Aperture as already suggested - great bunch of guys in there and always a pleasure to deal with. I'd also check Classic Camera just round the corner from them - some people have complained that they find them to be a bit off hand, but I've had nothing but great service from them and bought quite a lot from there over the years. Also, compared to the type of person you'll probably find working in the Leica Mayfair store (which you were planning on visiting), the guys in Classic Camera will most likely seem quite down to earth.

I've not bought anything from Red Dot Cameras, so I can't comment on their service, but they usually had a good selection of stuff when I looked.
 
Thanks everyone for your recommendations. :)

@Roger & others: Can you please recommend a colour film for this trial as well?

Somewhat basic questions: Once processed how long can I keep the film? Do they vary according to the type of film?

@jdriffill: I went to R. Kaplan and Leica Mayfair store (last time when I was in London). Many of you also recommended Silverprint, RedDotC. and Aperture. But I couldn't visit those places due to lack of time. I'm hoping this time.

Please keep your recommendation coming. Thank you. :)
 
By all means have a look round the shops mentioned above. But don't spend all your time shopping! Get out there and shoot! There are some nice landscapes on your flickr and with a few days in London in the parks and by the river you'll have a field day.

If you want an easy colour print film to have some fun with, grab a few rolls of the new Portra 400. It is awesome and very versatile. If you're interested to shoot some slides, I'd recommend Kodak Elite Chrome 100. It is cheap and wonderful.

Once your film is processed, store it in print file (or similar) film sleeves inside archival ring binders. Stored properly, the film will outlive you. Try to process your film as soon as possible after you finish shooting it. But don't get too worried about that, I've processed rolls of B&W 2 years after I shot it!
 
Riverman said:
By all means have a look round the shops mentioned above. But don't spend all your time shopping! Get out there and shoot! There are some nice landscapes on your flickr and with a few days in London in the parks and by the river you'll have a field day.

If you want an easy colour print film to have some fun with, grab a few rolls of the new Portra 400. It is awesome and very versatile. If you're interested to shoot some slides, I'd recommend Kodak Elite Chrome 100. It is cheap and wonderful.

Once your film is processed, store it in print file (or similar) film sleeves inside archival ring binders. Stored properly, the film will outlive you. Try to process your film as soon as possible after you finish shooting it. But don't get too worried about that, I've processed rolls of B&W 2 years after I shot it!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Porta 400 recommendation, and for your comments about the Flickr thing. :) I'll see if I can buy a single of roll of it [checked Amazon and Silverprint site- it seems be sold only in multiple units]. I'm glad to know that films are not flimsy. At least Idon't have to worry about scanning soon after. :)

Best regards,

Ashfaque
 
Hello everyone.

I'm planning to visit Calumet to buy films and then visit some camera shops later. Could you please recommend a few negative developers near the following post codes:.
  1. W1J 6NR
  2. EC1V 9AN
  3. SW1Y 6AL
  4. W1C 2PL
  5. WC1A 1LY
Based on your tips, I'll buy Ilford XP2 and Portra 400, if available.

Thanks. :)
 
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update

update

Thanks d_c.

Just an update:

Unfortunately I couldn't visit Metro or Silverfast.

But I managed to visit Leica Mayfair, Aperture, Classic Camera and Calumet. I bought Ilford XP2 Super (400) and Fuji Superia (400), which I then tried with MP + Noct (f.95) and MP + Summilux 50.

Due to lack of time I couldn't visit metro to process the negative and ended up doing it at Snappy snaps just opposite to the Bond Street underground station. I'll scan them as soon as I go back my pegion hole! I can't wait!

I would've had more that day if I didn't rely solely on my phone for maps and GPS. HTC battery runs out very quickly when I ran the GPS thingy. So for about 90 minutes I was lost, walking away from my destinations! Next time I'm going to have my maps with me!
 
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