Why is Aristacolor so cheap?

[holgaguy]

I was over at freestyle looking at color film. I'm looking for some print film for the upcomming FSU contest. And i noticed that all the Arista was much lower in price than say Fuji and Kodak. is there something wrong with the Arista line or is it just well priced. The price of a roll Aristacolor Print 100 iso 35mm x 12 exp is only $1.29
I like 12 exp rolls because now that I was doing digital I just can't wait to se what I have shot. 24 or 36 exp if just shooting one quick project makes me wait too long. I have a half frame that i use alot because its point and shoot. Boy 72 exp can be a very long wait.
Thanks
holgaguy

 

[xayraa33]

because it is made with slave labour.🙂
just kidding, they probably get a great deal in the price and pass the savings down to the buyer.
my guess is that Aristacolor is made by Ferrania, which in not one of the bigboys and can sell stock cheaper to big retailers.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Most low-cost films are 'previous generation', i.e. slightly grainier and less sharp than current versions, maybe not quite a long-lived (they'll fade slightly faster), etc. In other words, there's less in the way of expensive R+D behind them. They'd still be considered great films by the standards of a few years ago. Also, with no big advertising budgets, they are cheaper to sell.

Yes, this probably is Ferrania, though another possibility is that it is old Agfa (still well in date) -- Agfa used to do a lot of 'own brand' too -- and I don't know the current status of Chinese films but I've not heard of any Chinese coloir film beng private-labelled.

Cheers,

Roger