The Current Arista Premium (Tri-X)...

[Jockos]

The international shipping from freestyle I've heard can be quite expensive, but the more Arista products you order the more you save and eventually the savings would pass the shipping charges. I've read (I believe here on RFF) of people living in the same area that will pool their orders once a year to make up for shipping costs...

After they added FIMS shipping option, ordering a few bulk rolls got really cheap. Problem is that it takes a few months to get across the pond..

 

[Joe Vitessa]

Just called Freestyle. They have 123,000 rolls of the 36 exposure left. Their rep didn't know anything about the film being discontinued, and she checked with her supervisor, too. Just to be safe, I ordered 122,990 rolls. ;-)

 

[slappyfin3]

Just called Freestyle. They have 123,000 rolls of the 36 exposure left. Their rep didn't know anything about the film being discontinued, and she checked with her supervisor, too. Just to be safe, I ordered 122,990 rolls. ;-)

haha thanks for leaving some for the rest of us!

Ah well, we all saw this day coming when Kodak made that announcement. I guess I'll just get HP5 plus in bulk since it's the only 400 film which I think is the least volatile of the other options out there and which I actually like. Ilford looks like it'll last a long time considering the investments it's made recently, and they're much better communicators than Fuji which frequently sends mixed messages.

For instance, there was some buzz over Neopan 400 in 135 coming back:

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum172/110801-photokina-2012-fuji-neopan-400-back.html

... but I wasn't aware that it was discontinued to begin with.

The current price of Neopan on Amazon does stink though. You could get 3 rolls of HP5 plus for 2 rolls of Neopan 400, both 36 exposures. I contacted Fuji to ask if the reintroduction of Neopan 400 would bring down prices. I don't expect anything definite from them though. I like using Amazon Student for the Prime shipping so this is a bit of a drag :-/

P.S. in the discussion on apug there was a link to a page on Fuji's USA website (which was obviously outdated) that showed Neopan 400 offered in 135 and 120 format. I never got to try Neopan 400 in MF but could someone recommend a BW film for MF? I'm trying very hard to like Kodak Tmax 400 >.<

 

[Colin Corneau]

As a diversion, TMY-2 in 120 isn't hard to like! It's a terrific film, grain sharpness, you name it.

If you want to compare a bit, try Delta 400. I shot a bit in 120 last spring and it was nice to print. Quite an underrated film and if you're thinking of Ilford anyway.....

 

[Mackinaw]

How does the OP know about this situation?

He talked to somebody at Freestyle.

Jim B.

 

[slappyfin3]

As a diversion, TMY-2 in 120 isn't hard to like! It's a terrific film, grain sharpness, you name it.

If you want to compare a bit, try Delta 400. I shot a bit in 120 last spring and it was nice to print. Quite an underrated film and if you're thinking of Ilford anyway.....

I know, the sharpness is amazing and everything's there but I know the film will be gone soon so I'm trying to not get too attached to it 🙁

I just re-read my original post and I realize I expressed the wrong idea there. My apologies!

And yes thank you for the Delta 400 suggestion. Just googled and found out that bulk rolls of Delta 400 are available so I have one more option for a lasting film now 🙂!

 

[gb hill]

He talked to somebody at Freestyle.

Jim B.

I hope it wasn't the same person who took my cc & a week later after placing a film order someone from same city Freestyle is in ordered a $43.00 lamp from Canada. I had to cancel that card & have been leery of ordering from them ever since.🙁

 

[Tom A]

A while ago I bought 1000 rolls of Arista Premium 400 from Freestyle. Service was impeccable - and shipping overnight by FedEx to Vancouver was only $20 more than shipping by parcel post. Need to re-stock in January though - just in case.
Storing it in a freezer works fine - 5-7 years beyond expiry date (I have TriX that has ben frozen for 10 years with no ill effects - and slower films last even longer.
When you buy larger quantities the price difference between triX and Arista really adds up. At B&H almost $5/roll and Freestyle at less than $3.00 a roll - a 1000 rolls is a saving of $2000. The trick is to get together with fellow TriX addicts and bulk buy - though in my case, only about 3-400 rolls went that way - the rest I kept for myself.

 

[gb hill]

A while ago I bought 1000 rolls of Arista Premium 400 from Freestyle. Service was impeccable - and shipping overnight by FedEx to Vancouver was only $20 more than shipping by parcel post. Need to re-stock in January though - just in case.
Storing it in a freezer works fine - 5-7 years beyond expiry date (I have TriX that has ben frozen for 10 years with no ill effects - and slower films last even longer.
When you buy larger quantities the price difference between triX and Arista really adds up. At B&H almost $5/roll and Freestyle at less than $3.00 a roll - a 1000 rolls is a saving of $2000. The trick is to get together with fellow TriX addicts and bulk buy - though in my case, only about 3-400 rolls went that way - the rest I kept for myself.

I guess my deal with the cc could happen everywhere & I should place an order. Peace camera in Raleigh sell it on their shelves but I rarely get any runs to Raleigh anymore. They also sell the Arista EDU film which I like.

 

[Brian Legge]

I always assumed that availability of all Freestyles film lines depended on the excess product produced by the manufacturers. If Kodaks production exactly matched consumption I don't know why they'd sell to anyone at a price that would enable them to undercut Kodak.

Is it possible that this is just Kodak figuring out how to produce a volume of film that matches what they can actually sell? If so, that would be a good thing if its sustainable for them..

 

[Harry Lime]

Rats. I sure hope this isn't true.

Time to stock up the fridge.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I always assumed that availability of all Freestyles film lines depended on the excess product produced by the manufacturers. If Kodaks production exactly matched consumption I don't know why they'd sell to anyone at a price that would enable them to undercut Kodak.

Is it possible that this is just Kodak figuring out how to produce a volume of film that matches what they can actually sell? If so, that would be a good thing if its sustainable for them..

I nominate Brian for the most intelligent post of the day.

 

[maxwell1295]

I nominate Brian for the most intelligent post of the day.

Seconded.

I have about 110 or so rolls of Arista Premium 400. When that runs out I'll switch over to the Arista.EDU in 400. I love the 100 in both 35mm and 120 formats. The 400 in 120 is just as good. No reason to think the 35mm version won't be good too...