What's up with the PX and FP4 prices?

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markos4

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Hey folks;
I've noticed in the last few years that Plus-X and FP4+ prices have gone through the roof, while Tri-x and HP5 prices have remained constant. What's going on here? It used to be that the prices were very similar for medium and high speed film, but now, for example, Plus-X goes for about $5.25/roll, while Tri-X is $3.99.

I know that medium speed film is not quite as popular as the high speed, but that's not really new. Also, I could buy the Arista re-branded version...but I'd still like to know if anyone knows the reason for this price disparity. Thanks.

-Mark.
 
At Freestyle, Arista Premium 100 (purportedly, Plus-X) is 2.09/36x and Arista Premium 400 (purportedly, Tri-X) is 2.19/36x. So, buying the rebranded version seems attractive.
 
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It's the same in the UK. Calumet have Tri-X for £2.71 a roll while all the Ilford films are £6.82. It's not just high speed films as Fuji Neopan Acros is about £2.70 too. So it's Ilford prices that are silly. There's still a difference in 120 format but not by quite as much.

Ronnie
 
Wow! 6.82 lbs. per roll for Ilford! Geez, that's disappointing; so it's even more expensive in the UK than over here. In Germany and Denmark I found FP4 for about $8/roll, and I was willing to pay it because I was on vacation; but otherwise I'd look for something else.

Is that Neopan Acros a T-grain film? I've seen it for reasonable prices, but I avoid T-grain film because it's not as forgiving, and I don't like the look as much.

In the mean time I've ordered some of Freestyle's re-branded Plus-x. Ahhh, the "good ole' days" when I could get APX100 for $3.33/roll at my local shop!...sigh....

-Mark.
 
At my local shop there's been a small increase but nothing like this. Still think I am paying about £3.50 for a 36 exp FP4, likewise Tri-X.

I'll pop in on Friday to check this out.
 
I do not know, nordfoto.de has these 4 films (tri-x, hp5, plus-x fp4+) all in the range of 3.25 to 4.0 euro. The fp4+ and plus-x being the more expensive ones. Still - I find the prices rather comparable (within 20% or so) ...
 
Checking Calumet this morning and 36 exposure rolls of FP4+ and HP5+ are back to sensible prices at £3.62 a roll. Pan F is still ridiculous at £7.02 for a 36 exp roll.

Not sure whats going on there.

Ronnie
 
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This is sort of the reverse (truly unintentional pun, honest...) of what's been going on with slide film: the slower stuff is more-reasonably priced while the faster stuff is truly silly-expensive. I'm also betting that the slower 35mm b/w films sell in lower numbers than ISO 400 and faster stuff, and likely have lower production runs, thus a higher per-roll charge. Just my guess here.


- Barrett
 
ronnies said:
Checking Calumet this morning and 36 exposure rolls of FP4+ and HP5+ are back to sensible prices at £3.62 a roll. Pan F is still ridiculous at £7.02 for a 36 exp roll.

Not sure whats going on there.

Ronnie
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I tend to buy from www.ag-photographic.co.uk now and their price for PanF, FP4 and HP5 is £2.77. 7dayshop might be cheaper if you buy a lot.

However, TriX over here seems to be very expensive now at £3.59 (and is out of stock at 7dayshop)
 
wintoid said:
I tend to buy from www.ag-photographic.co.uk now and their price for PanF, FP4 and HP5 is £2.77. 7dayshop might be cheaper if you buy a lot.

However, TriX over here seems to be very expensive now at £3.59 (and is out of stock at 7dayshop)
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That's expensive?....last week at Jessop's York branch I paid £5.50 ( $8.68 ) for a roll of HP5+! (no wonder-they are on the way out!).....just another little nudge towards me going fully digital! - it just makes too much sense, no matter how fond I am of film!.
Dave.
BTW -just booked a few days break, shooting in Amsterdam, I usually take a load of film....this time - just digital! it'll give me a bit more pocket money!
 
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Get those bulk loaders out people. FP4 & HP5 will come down to around $2.40 roll with current prices at freestyle.
 
Hmmm. Just looked again at Freestyle's prices (for Kodak B&W only).

In 35mm, Tri-X is about $4.00US/36x and Plus-X is about $5.50US/36x. That's almost 40% more expensive for Plus-X.

In 120 rolls, Tri-X is about $3.80US/roll and Plus-X is about $4.50/roll. That's around 20% more expensive for Plus-X.

Why the bigger differential in 135 format?

Viewed a different way, in 135 format Plus-X is about $0.15US/frame, and Tri-X is about $0.11US/frame. If you shoot 645 format on 120 film, then Plus-X is about $0.28/frame and Tri-X is about $0.24/frame.

So, it's around twice as expensive each time you press the button in 645, compared to 35mm. Roughly, it costs twice as much but you get three times the film area. A bargain, I guess?
 
Dave Wilkinson said:
That's expensive?....last week at Jessop's York branch I paid £5.50 ( $8.68 ) for a roll of HP5+! (no wonder-they are on the way out!).....just another little nudge towards me going fully digital! - it just makes too much sense, no matter how fond I am of film!.
Dave.
BTW -just booked a few days break, shooting in Amsterdam, I usually take a load of film....this time - just digital! it'll give me a bit more pocket money!
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It seems like Fotoimpex (and a few others - macodirect.de, Fotohuis RoVo, ...?) is the way to go if you need cheap film in Europe. Adox CHM 400 Pro (= HP5) from Fotoimpex is €2.37 each (including taxes) if you buy at least ten, or €2.05 if you buy at least 100. So that's about £2.2 / £1.9, or $3.5 / $3 - much better for your wallet... shipping is quite cheap, too - seems like they have some kind of flat rate; my latest order was 25 kg (~55 pounds) and shipping to Sweden with DHL cost €15. You can check prices and availability in their web store, but unfortunately it's only in German as of now, so I just order by email.
 
My web search results here in the USA have been consistently like those of JRG's above post. Due to the high cost, I avoid buying from the local shops now, but Freestyle, Adorama, and B&H, et al, have these strangely exorbitant prices now for Plus-x and FP4. The list price for PX is about $8.50 (for TX it's about $5.50), so maybe they have to charge as much as they do. In that case it would be Kodak that is driving the price up, not the local shop. Maybe they don't want us to use PX??

-Mark.
 
For European film shooters: ars-imago in Rome ships internationally in the EU and they have a special October 1st rebate action today: Buy three rolls and pay for only two. The link is here
 
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