Metal 35mm cassettes from China?

this is interesting, FOMA was selling, or is still selling those metal cassettes on their website. Except they will only ship to the EU. Wont send them to the USA via arista/freestyle.

The Foma ones are supposedly being made/were made on equipment they purchased from Ilford after ilford swapped to the modern style of both ends being crimped.

few years back, midwest started selling plain metal cassettes that popped apart, then they switched to a fully crimped on both ends version that is identical to that ali express product.

I heard a rumor on a forum that the latest or last orwo release was going to be on the pop top cassettes. But nothing definite came out. Would have cost 10-15$ per roll of that film here in USA.
 
I ordered 3 rolls 135-36 Ilford Pan 100 on January 19, 2025 from an AliExpress seller in China.
Today April 10, 2025 I placed a duplicate order. Interestingly cost was exactly the same as well...

Chris
 
I ordered 3 rolls 135-36 Ilford Pan 100 on January 19, 2025 from an AliExpress seller in China.
Today April 10, 2025 I placed a duplicate order. Interestingly cost was exactly the same as well...

Chris
Just because I was interested:
The Ilford Pan 100 costs €6.80 here in Austria, but I found the cheapest one on AliExpress for €9.43. So, it's about a third cheaper here. But I'm afraid we won't be able to compete with the shipping costs.
 
Individual rolls are high. Discounts are significant for purchase of 3, 5 or 10 rolls.
My price was about $7.50 USD per roll for three rolls, or about the same you pay.

This is the only item I have purchased direct from China in a decade.
AFAIK the Ilford Pan 100 & films are unavailable from USA dealers.

I posted this update mainly because I thought members would be interested to know that price for has not been affected by tariffs - so far...

Chris
 
I posted this update mainly because I thought members would be interested to know that price for has not been affected by tariffs - so far...
Tariffs are put on once the goods enter the country, not at the point of sale. In other words, expect a hefty bill from US Customs once (or even if) the film makes it into the US...
 
Tariffs are put on once the goods enter the country, not at the point of sale. In other words, expect a hefty bill from US Customs once (or even if) the film makes it into the US...

Good point. If so it will be interesting to see who will collect fees on my $20 order. I'll keep you posted...

Chris
 
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