Slide film price increase

[telenous]

Yesterday I bought three rolls of 35mm slide film (an assortment of Kodak and Fuji) for a little over €60. It's not just me, right? It is getting a bit batty. If you add developing costs it comes down to a whoping €30 per roll. Yep, almost €1 per click.

I've been using Kodak and Fuji slide film for years and I could absorb small price increases, yet this recent one leaves me a little bereft. I have another 15 rolls in the fridge, they should do for the rest of the year. And then, well, I'll have to see.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I stopped shooting slide film 9 years ago and went digital for my color work. It wasn't about cost, it was about quality of processing. I live in a large city that once had three pro-level E-6 labs. Today not only are they closed but there is not a single E-6 lab ANYWHERE in the entire state!

In 2011, I had the opportunity to drive across the country and spend a few weeks photographing in New Mexico. I shot 40 rolls of E-6 film in 120 size. Because no one here could process it, I sent it to a well-regarded pro lab in Chicago that charged me over $400 to process it (and the film itself had cost me about $400) and a lot of the film came back scratched and dirty. I scanned the film and was able to fix the problems in Photoshop, but I shouldn't have had to do so. The local pro labs were good; that sort of thing just didn't happen.

That was the last straw for me. I had been shooting digital for my commercial work for a long time and was skilled and knowledgeable enough to use it for my fine art work, too...so that's what I did.

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

I find the cost of C41 a stretch, slide not a chance. Digital for me for colour nowadays, totally.

 

[telenous]

I stopped shooting slide film 9 years ago and went digital for my color work. It wasn't about cost, it was about quality of processing. I live in a large city that once had three pro-level E-6 labs. Today not only are they closed but there is not a single E-6 lab ANYWHERE in the entire state!

In 2011, I had the opportunity to drive across the country and spend a few weeks photographing in New Mexico. I shot 40 rolls of E-6 film in 120 size. Because no one here could process it, I sent it to a well-regarded pro lab in Chicago that charged me over $400 to process it (and the film itself had cost me about $400) and a lot of the film came back scratched and dirty. I scanned the film and was able to fix the problems in Photoshop, but I shouldn't have had to do so. The local pro labs were good; that sort of thing just didn't happen.

That was the last straw for me. I had been shooting digital for my commercial work for a long time and was skilled and knowledgeable enough to use it for my fine art work, too...so that's what I did.

Chris, I had a similar problem in my last trip to NY -- mind you, not a trip I make very often. Out of a dozen rolls of slide film, three came back badly processed (as if they were not fixed properly). At least they gave me three free fresh rolls in exchange but, you can imagine, the whole thing was soul-crushing. Still, I persevered for a couple years more until now when the total cost makes me have second thoughts. I am not taking film in a trip that I don't develop myself, that much is for sure.

I find the cost of C41 a stretch, slide not a chance. Digital for me for colour nowadays, totally.

I've already started reading digital camera reviews. 😀

 

[Rayt]

Do people still project slide? I know Cibachrome is gone. So why shoot slides? The colours are more vibrant than color negatives but does that make a huge difference when scanned?

 

[telenous]

Do people still project slide? I know Cibachrome is gone. So why shoot slides? The colours are more vibrant than color negatives but does that make a huge difference when scanned?

I suppose it depends on what one means by "huge difference". As far as I am concerned, I liked it better over print film. I am not knocking on print film, it also looks very nice. Even in comparison to digital files, slide film can look sufficiently different to warrant using it instead. Other than that, there is something about film of any kind, I mean as a handholdable piece of documentation/evidence, that appeals to me. I don't mean this in a deep way, it's merely a preference.

.

 

[zenza]

I was lucky enough to stock up when B&H had short dated Fuji Slide for a massive discount ($25 propacks for 35mm) a few years ago. Also have lucked out with buying slide of various forums for huge discount in recent years (40x frozen Velvia 50 for $160).

Not sure what I'll do when I shoot through my stash and the only choice left is paying $15+ for a single roll...

Do people still project slide? I know Cibachrome is gone. So why shoot slides? The colours are more vibrant than color negatives but does that make a huge difference when scanned?

I just like having binder pages full of slides. Pages of negatives aren't as fun to flip through.

 

[Zonan]

Today not only are they closed but there is not a single E-6 lab ANYWHERE in the entire state!

Chris,

AgX Imaging, in Sault St. Marie MI, does superb E-6 processing. Still has reasonable pricing.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

In Toronto several places sell e6 developing kits. Not cheap, but not expensive.
Argentix.ca ships it as well.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Chris,

AgX Imaging, in Sault St. Marie MI, does superb E-6 processing. Still has reasonable pricing.

I'll have to check them out, thanks.


Isn't it odd that a big city like Indianapolis (12th largest in the US) cannot have an E-6 lab but a small backwoods place like Sault St. Marie does? crazy!

 

[zenza]

In Toronto several places sell e6 developing kits. Not cheap, but not expensive.
Argentix.ca ships it as well.

Everywhere in Canada seems to be without E6 kits right now. Been trying to find one for the past month. Plenty of places list it on their website but they are actually out of stock. My backlog is getting bigger and bigger as I wait 🙂

 

[J enea]

I bought, at the time I did I thought I was insane, quite a lot of slide film about 4 years ago, enough for several years. I also bought the chems for home development. I scan my color film, so I much prefer slide to neg film, even though if I wanted I could wet print neg film with my enlarger.

the current cost is what it is. at least we still have the option to purchase the film and a few ways to develop or get developed. how long will that last? I have no clue but I will continue to use and shoot slide film as long as I can. I even make B&W slides and love the way they look projected. Yes I still project slides. thats the only reason I shoot 35mm slide film, for projection. recent digital cameras have, FOR ME, made 35mm color work obsolete. I still love to shoot color in 120 and 4x5 as i feel it really shines over digital. but I use the tools that I feel work best for me and buy into what the masses think or say.

anyway, the prices are high and will not go down anytime soon. so stock up when you can and think happy thoughts. 20 years from now, the youngest generation will view in awe what us old people were able to do with film (at least thats what I'm hoping)

 

[chipgreenberg]

Chris,

AgX Imaging, in Sault St. Marie MI, does superb E-6 processing. Still has reasonable pricing.

I've used AgX for C41 and Hasselblad scans. They did a great job. Now I'm using the FIND lab for c41 and Noritsu scans but I see they also do E6

 

[telenous]

...
the current cost is what it is. at least we still have the option to purchase the film and a few ways to develop or get developed. how long will that last? I have no clue ...

anyway, the prices are high and will not go down anytime soon. so stock up when you can and think happy thoughts....

I can't disagree with any of that. I'll just have to throw more C41 and digital in the mix. There may even be a little room left in my shooting for E6, just less than usual. Sic transit gloria mundi, I guess.

 

[tsiklonaut]

Still shoot slide. They are (Velvia and Provia) just too special that I will probably still shoot it even when the prices go 10 fold from now. No joke.

My "keeper rate" is usually averaging between 7-8 shots out of 10 shot film with a 6x7 camera. I get colors and tonality no digital camera can replicate (forget the Fuji in-camera and other third party so called film "simulations" - they are all awful to me once you've seen a drum scanned slide film). So a current 1 EUR or a future 10 EUR per shot is fine for me as long as it brings the expected effect that is unique and truly eye pleasing.

Plus I get to project my 6x7 slides too. A recent discovery that blew my mind on how stunningly good MF true analog projection is vs modern high-end beamer digital projectors that are built on hype.

I do develop my own full 6-bath process though since all labs do the cheaper and compromised 3-bath E6 that I am not a fan of. Full 6-bath chemistry is very rare among labs since it costs around 40% more, takes much more labour and thus time too but brings the true potential out of your slides IMHO. There is more "depth" in slides when developed right. With full 6-bath I get to push or pull easily, adjust color depth, longetivity is probably better having a sepatate proper fix and even adjust color temperature when needed.

So in that sense if you know how to use it and what you get out of it E6 is still cheap even with the current prices.

Just me 2c.

 

[charjohncarter]

^^^Slides are the last of the great processes still available: gone Cibachrome, dye transfer, carbon transfer prints, palladium platinum prints, Kodachrome, and a few more,

 

[Corran]

dye transfer, carbon transfer prints, palladium platinum prints

Um no.

Also +1 to what tsiklonaut said. I am phasing out slides only because I can't print them in the darkroom. I would like to see new products that enable that.

 

[zuiko85]

With the much faster than inflation rise of all film, even B&W is getting pricey. After much clamoring about it’s being discontinued Fuji reintroduced Acros.... at $12 a roll for both 35mm 36x or 120. The rest are heading to that price point as fast as they can.
I can see their reasoning, ‘lets just price it high now so we won’t have to raise the price every 3 months for the next couple of years.’
Just started to shoot 6x9 (so, eight shots) and for name brand rolls that is about $1 per exposure.

 

[charjohncarter]

Um no.

Also +1 to what tsiklonaut said. I am phasing out slides only because I can't print them in the darkroom. I would like to see new products that enable that.

What I was saying is you can't pay to have it done, at least for the average hobbyist photographer.

 

[telenous]

With the much faster than inflation rise of all film, even B&W is getting pricey. ...

Ain't it the truth. Gone are the days of the €3.50 roll of TriX (cost of 35mm in 2009-10). Last month I swept clean the shelves of local photo shops from all TriX I could get my hands on priced at around €7. The new local price is €10 per roll. Oof!