when does the cost of film become too high for you?

[squareshooter]

NEVER. If the whole world stops making film I will make it myself. No problem.

 

[Lauffray]

To answer the OP, like edge, I don't shoot enough that it's become an over expensive hobby, as a matter of fact the film itself isn't expensive it's the shipping that's killing me !

 

[Lauffray]

NEVER. If the whole world stops making film I will make it myself. No problem.

I don't know man, I used to think the same, but I love photography more than me being a stubborn curmudgeon. If the time cost of digital becomes more interesting, I don't mind.
Oh and the space, those RAW files are huge 😱

 

[mdarnton]

When gas was 25 cents a gallon there were rumors that it would eventually reach 75 cents. At that time I swore that if it got that high I would stop driving. I'm still driving.

 

[zuiko85]

This is a hobby for me and so, retired and with a limited income film price could become an issue. I use my DSLR for color and only use B&W in my mechanical 35mm and 120 size cameras. Since I don't shoot more than 2 or 3 rolls of 35mm and 1 or 2 rolls of 120 per month my cost is not too much. Of course I've been doing my own processing for 40+ years so that is not expensive.

In the old days (1970's) my all time record of film use was 100 feet of Tri-X in one day at Elkhart Lake racetrack. That is 1400 frames shot in two Pen F half frame bodies. My memory is probably faulty but I think I paid $8 for 100ft. of Tri-X in 1972 and a box of 10 Kodak snap-caps was $1.

Those were the days.

 

[k__43]

I pay around 3€ for C-41 120 development and 5€ for 120 slide.
I go to a discounter for 35mm color which is 2€ for the dev and 0.01cent for prints in C41 (cheapest option - i only use them as proof). B/W I do myself.
Those costs were stable the last 4 years.
I do all my scanning, although I'm tired of it.

As for the cost of film .. the prices went up but only a bit over the average inflation and my salary got bumped once in that time so that is about o.k.
My concern is that one day there is no color film anymore (when kodak completely bites the dust and the fuji monopoly starts charging 20€ per roll cos it's pain in their ass and they rather want you to buy their X-Pro7, 8 or whatever model is out when it happens)

 

[Rayt]

I shoot mostly 120 with a Rolleiflex so the state of film is very worrying. I have tried all the Chinese and off brand European films looking to save money but there are too many defects for them to be reliable due to the low quality backing paper either scratching the film or the markings from the backing paper get transferred on the emulsion somehow. I shot a roll of Lucky 120 in Vietnam and all the frames were ruined with numbers and dots from the backing paper visible on the emulsion. I shoot the same films such as Foma and Shanghai GP3 in 4x5 with great results. For 135 I can store enough 100' rolls in the freezer so not to worry about it. For 120 film I don't mind paying $20 a roll if it comes to that. It is better than not able to shoot it. After so many years of shooting I have become disciplined that I can get at least 3 keepers from a 12 shot roll.

 

[rluka]

Lets see... cheap colour film + processing is nearly 0.7% of my monthly pay, I do crappy scanning on my own.
Probably not that high if I don't need to account that 25% lost to just commuting after gasoline price hike, and I'm still living with my old man so no service bill yet.

Been using digital more lately, especially after getting the R-D1 for shooting rangefinder and shooting (something like) film camera.

 

[msbarnes]

If you are in love with film, and aren't into digital, you will continue to pay. There's no way around it.

This is how I feel. If I couldn't afford film then I don't think that I would pursue photography, but this is my hobby.

I am in the same situation as you. Film B&W at the present isn't an issue but color concerns me a lot and so I was thinking of getting a digital camera for that or learning home development. My feeling is that I'm too much of a film junkie to accept digital--not sure. Honestly, I try to like digital but it just leaves me unmoved. I have used a D800 and 5d MK II (never owned) but the colors just aren't the same.

 

[doolittle]

NEVER. If the whole world stops making film I will make it myself. No problem.

Wet plate collodion is definitely something I would like to try in the future.

 

[Photo_Smith]

Lets see... cheap colour film + processing is nearly 0.7% of my monthly pay

That is expensive. Colour film process print and scan is less than £7.50 a tiny amount of my monthly pay; unlike Petrol which is £60 per week...

Think I'll buy a bike and more film...

 

[Rayt]

I hold on to the dream someday I will have a darkroom and print on fiber paper again. This is the only entry on my bucket list.

 

[Godfrey]

Shooting with my polaroid cameras now costs me $4 or so per exposure. I'm still shooting with them. I don't shoot huge numbers of exposures, I try to make every one count.

Film has always been expensive. It's price isn't what puts me off, within bounds. It's the time involved to process negatives and scan them (or, were I doing wet lab processing, print them) that slows down my film consumption more than the price.

I don't have the time to 'finish' every promising digital exposure either, of course. That slows down my picture taking too.

G

 

[farlymac]

As long as there's enough money left over for gasoline and groceries, I'll keep shooting film.

PF

 

[shadowfox]

So, just a general question to everyone - at what point does the cost of film get to a point where you just give up?

Dont' know.
At the moment, it's still reasonable for me.

 

[bwcolor]

You put a frog in boiling water and it will hop out. You put it in cold water and slowly raise the temperature it won't.... or so it goes.

I'll drop film about the same time that I start eating frog.

I use to swear that I would never stop listening to vinyl, but then we moved and all rooms are otherwise occupied and my high price audio system sits unused while I listen to MP3, which is clearly inferior to CD/Vinyl... IMO

 

[pete hogan]

The film-cost horizon is a long ways off. Fuji 200 color, 2 years expiry, is $8.49 for 4 rolls of 24 exposure at Walgreens drug. They usually have 20-24 rolls, same for Fuji Superia 400, 50% higher price. They process and scan for $6.

 

[Steve George]

I self-load 35mm and as such the cost limit is still some way off - I can buy film, develop and scan for a price that lets me experiment still, which is kind of my benchmark. Time is the bigger cost thing for me. I go through big phases of using nothing but film for months, then find myself time-poor so go back to digital.

 

[furbs]

Film isn't putting much of a dent in my budget, and I shoot film exclusively. Developing and scanning your own film makes the endeavor far more affordable. It's difficult to imagine Tri-X selling for $20 a roll, but if things got that bad I'd consider giving it up.

 

[jsrockit]

The film-cost horizon is a long ways off. Fuji 200 color, 2 years expiry, is $8.49 for 4 rolls of 24 exposure at Walgreens drug. They usually have 20-24 rolls, same for Fuji Superia 400, 50% higher price. They process and scan for $6.

I wouldn't say that based on a drug store. They can discontinue carrying / processing just like that... we've seen it with other drug stores recently.