$10.99 a roll???

[Pioneer]

Link please! Lol

http://www.macodirect.de/

I was only looking for Efke films but I am sure they have lots of other options as well. They also do price breaks for higher quantities, something more stores should seriously consider.

 

[Diapositivo]

If I knew how to bulk load, I'd buy one of those in a skinny minute.

http://www2.goshen.edu/~marvinpb/bulkldr.html

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps how load bulk.html

 

[Diapositivo]

My favourite photo shop still sells cheap film. If you don't mind about the latest technology, you can buy Kodak Color Plus 200 ISO 135/36 at €1.75 or AgfaPhoto Vista Plus 200 135/36 for €2.42. Old technology can still be valid for many purposes and costs less.

Fuji Superia Xtra 400 135/36 is sold at €3.69.

http://www.westernphoto.it/vendite-online/PELLICOLE-COLORE-e-DIA-13

Macodirect sells Fujicolor C200 2x 135-36 on special offer for €2.75 (mind you, this is for the pack of two rolls) but expiry date is unknown to me.

Rollei still produces negative film in bulk roll:
http://www.macodirect.de/rollei-digibase®-200br35mm-305m-p-2122.html

I think also the positive film, Rollei CR200, is available in bulk rolls.

I understand last generation material is better but sometimes better is the enemy of good, and buying inexpensive old-technology film can be a very good alternative, especially for non-critical use.

 

[pbromaghin]

If I knew how to bulk load, I'd buy one of those in a skinny minute.

Christopher, Youtube is your friend. You'll be an expert in 10 skinny minutes. I picked up a used bulk loader locally for $20. You can get a new one for $25 or so from Freestyle.

 

[Pioneer]

While we are discussing the price of film and posting links to all kinds of neat new places to shop for photo gear, don't forget one of the best black & white film deals out there right now. The 3-Pack of Ilford HP5 400 is still only $10.50 and it is a great film if you are looking for that film speed. It is an even better deal in the 100 foot roll, direct from good old Adorama, and probably B&H Photo as well.

 

[cepwin]

Here's a playlist on bulkloaders that I put together to learn about them: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD2812C980AD3CD77&feature=mh_lolz

Christopher, Youtube is your friend. You'll be an expert in 10 skinny minutes. I picked up a used bulk loader locally for $20. You can get a new one for $25 or so from Freestyle.

 

[TareqPhoto]

While we are discussing the price of film and posting links to all kinds of neat new places to shop for photo gear, don't forget one of the best black & white film deals out there right now. The 3-Pack of Ilford HP5 400 is still only $10.50 and it is a great film if you are looking for that film speed. It is an even better deal in the 100 foot roll, direct from good old Adorama, and probably B&H Photo as well.

I think it is about the color film, not the B&W, i don't have problem with B&W yet, the prices are almost reasonable give and take or up/down, but the color films are slightly crazy prices these days.

 

[Pioneer]

I think it is about the color film, not the B&W, i don't have problem with B&W yet, the prices are almost reasonable give and take or up/down, but the color films are slightly crazy prices these days.

Yep.. Just could not resist though

Seriously, I do believe that color film will continue to get more expensive, as well as harder to get. I think we will probably see more instances where the stores run out of color stock, particularly for the film that is considered "pro". As someone has mentioned the standard consumer films like Kodak Gold and Fuji Superia, will probably last a lot longer because that is what the Wal-Marts of the world sell.

 

[Marvin]

I have two Lloyd bulk loaders but only use them for B&W that I develop myself. If you send them out for processing then you will probably loose the cassettes. If your camera has DX ISO setting then you will need to get the cassettes that have DX coding or set manually. The local Walmart here has Fuji 200 and I think it is a 5 pack for $6-7. They also have Fuji 400 and disposables available. A lot different from when a whole isle was devoted to film!
Marvin

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Christopher, Youtube is your friend. You'll be an expert in 10 skinny minutes. I picked up a used bulk loader locally for $20. You can get a new one for $25 or so from Freestyle.

Thanks. I watched a 7 minute video last night in YouTube and I've been reading all the links supplied in this thread. I think I'm going to stalk eBay for a loader and give it a shot!!

 

[SkipA]

You can buy new Arista bulk film loaders. There are some sellers on Amazon who have some used Alden and Watson bulk film loaders. You might compare the prices you see on eBay with those.

 

[EdSawyer]

I have a few spare bulk loaders I can part with. Alden or watson, I forget. Bulk loading is trivially easy, really.

Portra 400 in 35mm is not cheap indeed, but after getting into 4x5, all 35mm film seems like a great bargain in comparison. 30 sheets of portra 400 in 4x5 is something like $95+! Even 120 film seems cheap compared to that. 8x10 is even worse....

Ed

 

[pbromaghin]

Here's a playlist on bulkloaders that I put together to learn about them: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD2812C980AD3CD77&feature=mh_lolz

++ Way to go, cepwin.

 

[PKM-25]

Yeah, that Portra 400 is not cheap, I bought 60 rolls of it in 220 earlier this year, that was spendy!

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I was shopping over at freestyle and was about to order a 100ft roll. I've done some figuring this evening, and aside from bulk loading expired 100ft rolls of color film, bulk loading really isn't worth the extra effort it seems.

If you get 18 rolls of 36exp from a 100ft bulk roll, I've figured this...

-by bulk loading TriX, I'm saving $1.32 per roll, or about $24 per 18 rolls shot.
-by bulk loading HP5+, I'm saving $1.78 per roll, or about $32 per 18 rolls.

I can't find much in the way of color film in 100ft rolls anywhere, so aside from expired stuff at Ultrafine, there isn't much figuring to do because those last remaining expensive single rolls are the only thing out there.

So if realistically I'm only going to be bulk loading B&W film, and it takes that much longer to do, is my time really worth the $24-$32 extra savings?

The only advantage I can see at this point is the fact that bulk loading will allow me to roll 12 or 24exp rolls. Which in the long run is actually going to cost me more per frame, because of the amount of waste from leaders etc...

ETA: it looks like B&H has 100ft rolls of HP5 at $49, which works out to a savings of $2 per roll, or about $39 per 18 rolls. Which is a little better than the above.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I purchased a roll of Portra 160 about 2 months ago (bricks and mortar store). It cost AU$13.00. That's a bit more than $10! Fujifilm is increasing prices across its range too. But there are still bargains to be had from places like eBay dealers (that's the way I go). It's the price we have to pay for being a niche market, and a very expensive one to cater for (e.g. Fujifilm is often grumbling about the cost of production, sourcing and cost of raw materials, etc...).

 

[markbarendt]

Christopher,

Bulk loading is a real money saver over time in hard cost. I figure roughly every third 100' roll is "free" for me.

That hard cost saving isn't free:

I did need to invest in the tools and that took a couple 100' rolls to save enough to break even.

It also takes my time to load the rolls. Depends on your life here, for me, I just load while watching an old movie on the tube or listen to the radio and jabber with the wife as I go. Since I was going to sit there and jabber anyway there's no cost in time for me. In fact it turns my hanging with the wife time into time I get "paid" for. Penny saved is a penny earned.

Short rolls are the real magic and real savings for me. The problem with 36-exp rolls is that a typical shoot for any given subject for me is between 10-16 frames, 20 shots is normally more than enough to avoid reloading in the middle. So, with 36-exp rolls my films either languish in the camera waiting for another 2 subjects/shoots or I develop and toss out 16-26 blanks on each roll.

Short rolls allow me to get the film in, shot, and back out of the camera quickly without wasting a lot of frames.

 

[Photo-gear]

Short rolls are the real magic and real savings for me. The problem with 36-exp rolls is that a typical shoot for any given subject for me is between 10-16 frames, 20 shots is normally more than enough to avoid reloading in the middle. So, with 36-exp rolls my films either languish in the camera waiting for another 2 subjects/shoots or I develop and toss out 16-26 blanks on each roll.

Short rolls allow me to get the film in, shot, and back out of the camera quickly without wasting a lot of frames.

Totally agree with that.