Where are you guys buying your film from these days?

[Forest_rain]

I've been going through my film stock, not wanting to buy new film since I have a lot in my freezer, but I noticed Kodak 400 went up to $6.99 on B&H, Portra 400 is $52 for a 5 pack. This is pretty high for these popular stocks, it's a shame that it *feels* like they are price gouging.


Wondering if I should pick up a 5 pack of portra 160 for future use, I want to switch to only using portra, but does anyone know where I can find a good price for Portra 400?


Black and white sadly hasn't grabbed me as much as I'd liked. Seems like many of you guys are fans of B&W stocks, I've got a few rolls of Ilford 400 but never got around to using them. My lab also charges $7 for B&W development and it's impossible for me to do at home, but with the rising prices of color film, it might be worthwhile to do black and white in the future. B&W film prices seem to be holding steady right now.

 

[Out to Lunch]

You may want to try Kodak Pro Image 100 color negative film. At BH you'll pay $27.45 for a 5 pack. RFF member 'Leica All Day' has posted some very nice images he shot with it. Cheers, OtL

 

[keytarjunkie]

Consider yourself lucky. The cheapest Tri-X in my country is about $15 US per roll. Portra, about $80 or $90 for a pack of five. I mostly shoot HP5 because it's relatively affordable - about $8-9. Don't even get me started on medium or large format prices. So count your blessings. I don't mind Pro Image 100, it's a nice film. I found it a little more color-neutral but less flexible than Portra, yet still much better than the cheapo stocks like Gold and Colorplus. In the US, I would order from Freestyle, a shop committed to analog photography. It looks like some of their prices are cheaper than B&H too.

Not sure why you think developing b&w film at home is impossible. It's very easy, and people have been doing it for like a hundred years at this point. All you need is a changing bag, a sink, a tank, and chemicals.

 

[zuiko85]

Film has definitely gone up in price faster than the inflation rate. And, the difference between the cheapest film and ‘name brand’ is often less than 30%.
I keep hearing that film use is up, and that in some places sales have doubled. But, some prospective on that;
*Warning Warning Warning* The following statistics pulled right out of my ***.

Film sales declined to 1% of their peak....now they are 2% of their peak. It’s just hard to operate any business, and keep prices down with such low volumes.
So, prices keep going up, seems the increase comes about every two or three quarters of the accounting year.

 

[GarageBoy]

Honestly, there's not going to be any deals, short of hunting down film that sat in someone's fridge that they don't want anymore

If you like it, you just gotta pay

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

Honestly, there's not going to be any deals, short of hunting down film that sat in someone's fridge that they don't want anymore

If you like it, you just gotta pay

Not quite true.

I just found TMax400 (exp. mid-2022) at a legit Australian store for about 30% cheaper than anywhere else in the country. Not a special, that’s just their price.

There’s deals to be found, you’ve just got to look...

 

[Out to Lunch]

I just checked: Kodak Pro Image 100 is a bit cheaper at Freestyle: $25,19 for a 5 pack. Cheers, OtL

 

[zenza]

When I find deals, I stock up. Then I coast on that stash for a few years.

 

[Ricoh]

The cheapest offers on-line.

 

[zuiko85]

I just checked: Kodak Pro Image 100 is a bit cheaper at Freestyle: $25,19 for a 5 pack. Cheers, OtL

Ok but.....B&H has free shipping on any order over $49 and that wipes out any savings from Freestyle. You would just have to buy at least 2 packs.
That said, I order some paper from Freestyle, even if I pay a bit more just because of wanting to support a business that still sells film, paper, and chemistry.

 

[Andy Kibber]

The only film I shoot these days is black and white (HP5). For Simplicity's sake, I buy it form B&H, through the Online Photographer's link to throw a few $0.01s Mike Johnston's way. 🙂

 

[twvancamp]

Echoing the Pro Image recommendation. KEH has similar prices/free shipping to BH but they offer coupons more frequently.

I shoot mostly BW because I prefer it, but anytime I think about doing more color the price does put me off. I don't know how to process or print color myself so it doesn't feel worthwhile most of the time.

You could look at bulk loading, but really the savings are pretty marginal.

 

[ray*j*gun]

B&H with enough to get the free shipping.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Color is waste of money on film. It became as the waste after optical printing with chemicals was gone. Nor I was ever impressed with FuijFilm colors (in the opposite) and Kodak expensive film colors are so-so. Konica C-41 and ORWO slide film colors were better IMO. And labs were better as well. Not just some young hipsters, but working with dignity people.
I still don't mind C-41 once in a while and our daughter prefers C-41.
For it Kodak Gold 200 from local Walmart is sufficient. Or one roll once in a while from Downtown camera. I purchased some expensive Kodak C-41 from them in July and forced myself to finish it in November. Results (scans) shows it was waste of money.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I agree with Kostya, and my local labs just don't cut it for QC. Your experience may be different but C-41 film has taken a backseat to extraordinary quality digital, In my opinion.
As for film shooting, I stick to black and white. I bulk load and I have a few thousand feel of motion picture film that I prefer. Then I develop by hand. Once you have your setup and have sourced a supply of film (if you're a student, Kodak offers a discount on motion picture film which will yield about $2.81 per roll, which has come up a few dimes in recent years after Kodak restructuring. You can also look on auction sites, motion picture forums, and production houses for expired film or short ends at severe discounts. A few months ago I picked up a 400ft length of Fuji MP 400ISO film which will yield 66 36ex rolls at about $1.50/roll, if I recall correctly how much I paid.

Phil Forrest

 

[Out to Lunch]

Ok but.....B&H has free shipping on any order over $49 and that wipes out any savings from Freestyle. You would just have to buy at least 2 packs.
That said, I order some paper from Freestyle, even if I pay a bit more just because of wanting to support a business that still sells film, paper, and chemistry.

Sure thing, as long as you live in the USA, which I don't. This said, I appreciate your support of Freestyle.

Color is waste of money on film

I appreciate Ko.Fe's nuanced commentary. It always leaves the door open to other perceptions.

Cheers, OtL

 

[twvancamp]

As for film shooting, I stick to black and white. I bulk load and I have a few thousand feel of motion picture film that I prefer. Then I develop by hand. Once you have your setup and have sourced a supply of film (if you're a student, Kodak offers a discount on motion picture film which will yield about $2.81 per roll, which has come up a few dimes in recent years after Kodak restructuring.

That's an interesting idea, Phil. Could you say more about your process? Curious what stock you use and how you get the long reels onto bulk loaders. Thanks!

 

[markjwyatt]

I am mainly shooting B&W, and have started buying from Freestyle or Amazon. Freestyle seems to have the best selection so going forward, I will mainly use them. I do occasionally buy at a local store to help support them a little; though usually I do pay more. As for color, I seem to get the best results (that I like) from Fuji Superia XTRA 400, which I can find at a couple drug stores (have not checked recently). For B&W I just picked up a Watson loader used, so may try bulk loading again. I am also starting to home develop (developed my first roll in decades last week- worked out fine).

 

[narsuitus]

Freestylephoto.biz

 

[Phil_F_NM]

That's an interesting idea, Phil. Could you say more about your process? Curious what stock you use and how you get the long reels onto bulk loaders. Thanks!

I don't use a bulk loader, I just load cassettes straight from 400ft cans in the dark. I have just over a 6'1" arm span, so I'll pull out that amount of film, nip it off with scissors, then load it into the cartridge. It was a good enough method for Tom A., so it's definitely good enough for me. He's the one that taught me not to bother with the extra step of bulk loaders unless I already had a 100ft length ready to go into a Watson. It's still quicker and less prone to scratches just stretching my arms out though.
Leica made a bulk loader that held a 400ft length, but these are rare as hen's teeth. These days, one could find an old 400ft film cartridge for a MP camera and adapt it to become the supply for a bulk loader pretty easily. I've been meaning to do this for years. I digress. Emulsion I prefer is Eastman 5222, aka Double X.
Phil Forrest