220 B&W - What to do?

aoresteen · Sep 10, 2010

Now that 220 TXP is gone, what are we to do for a 220 B&W film?

I have about 10 rolls of TXP 220 in the freezer but I use it in my 220 6x9 back in my Cambo 23SF so it won't last long. I also use it with my M645 1000s with the 35mm lens.

First we lost 70mm DP B&W and now 220 B&W is also gone.

I see that there is some interest in 70mm DP HP5 (PLEASE MAKE IT!!!!!!!!!!).

So what is the plan for ANY 220 B&W film? I know Ilford can't do it (too costly to re-hab their 220 machine) so it's Kodak or Fuji.

Any others will to commit to a buy of 220 B&W film? I will commit to 100 rolls minimum of a 400 speed B&W film.

domaz · Sep 10, 2010

I had a thought the other day that you probably could roll 220 yourself. Basically 220 has no backing except for the start and end. If you got a 220 roll then took two 120 rolls taped them together and tape that long roll to the leaders from your 220 roll that would be it. The only disadvantage would be that a frame in the middle would be ruined by the tape- so you would have to determine what frame that is and be sure to skip it. If you used 70mm film and cut it a bit you could make 220 rolls without the taped frame problem above.

Jeff Bannow · Sep 10, 2010

I'd be in for 100 rolls myself. I highly doubt we could make it happen though.

Sirius Glass · Sep 10, 2010

I understand that 220 backs made excellent bookends, paperweights, and wheel chocks. I never needed those, so I never bought the 220 backs in the first place.

Steve

Jeff Bannow · Sep 10, 2010

In my case, we bought a Seitz Roundshot 220VR and need longer than 120 for single frames (!) sometimes. For now color will suffice ...

DanielStone · Sep 10, 2010

start using 120, simple answer to a simple problem...

and safe travels home from Iraq, Tony!

-Dan

fotch · Sep 10, 2010

Buy outdated while its available is the only option.

Sirius Glass · Sep 10, 2010

DanielStone said:
start using 120, simple answer to a simple problem...

Ahhh ... someone who understands the real situation!

Steve

Rob Skeoch · Sep 10, 2010

I was looking through a box of old photo stuff today and came across a 220 back for the Hasselblad. I wish I had sold that years ago when I sold the cameras and lenses.... not much value now.
-rob

Q.G. · Sep 10, 2010

Perfectly good 220 film is still being made.
No 220 B&W, true. But the 220 back isn't a fussy eater...

But if you think your 220 back is of no value, i'll happily give it a new home.

MattKing · Sep 10, 2010

The last time I attended a one year old's birthday party, I shot 220.

It was colour, but it was 220.

Solution - shoot more colour!

Martin Reed · Sep 11, 2010

aoresteen said:
I see that there is some interest in 70mm DP HP5 (PLEASE MAKE IT!!!!!!!!!!).
.....

Going over the ground we covered before, Harman are quite prepared to make 70mm, but they won't stock it; they want a dealer to act as a backer. The quantity involved isn't outrageous, but on a time-delimited product there have to be more users prepared to take a few rolls. Which means all the closet 70mm people with their freezers full of old deleted emulsions should invest a little in keeping the format alive. See the start of the 70mm thread running now.

2F/2F · Sep 11, 2010

We're screwed for b/w 220. Stock up, and enjoy the last of it while you can. Then again, all we had available for some time was TXP, so it was pretty clear that b/w 220 was on its last legs. The discontinuation of TXP in 220 is a low-down bloody shame, but it doesn't really change things all that much alone. What really gets me is that Kodak eliminated TXP in 120 as well, so it only exists in sheet formats (and who knows for how long).

Why it was never immensely more popular than 120, and why so few people know about it, I just do not understand. The occasions in which I would rather shoot 120 than 220 in anything other than a red-window camera are very rare.

aoresteen · Sep 11, 2010

Martin Reed said:
Going over the ground we covered before, Harman are quite prepared to make 70mm, but they won't stock it; they want a dealer to act as a backer. The quantity involved isn't outrageous, but on a time-delimited product there have to be more users prepared to take a few rolls. Which means all the closet 70mm people with their freezers full of old deleted emulsions should invest a little in keeping the format alive. See the start of the 70mm thread running now.

Martin,

My freezer is empty of 70mm!!! Has a dealer stepped up yet? You are right we who use 70mm need to buy now even if we do have a roll or two in the freezer.

Sirius Glass · Sep 11, 2010

The problem is not just 70mm film. It is getting 70mm with the perforations for Hasselblad. Then, if that is achieved, getting it processed or tanks that can handle the processing.

Steve

Ric Trexell · Sep 11, 2010

You would think TIP would take over these.

I suppose Kodak,Ilford and Fuji would never license these formats, but it seems someone like The Impossible Project could take over some of these. Even if they did a run every three months of one format, and then switch to another, well I think they or someone like them could make a go of it. You almost get the feeling that the big film companies with perhaps the exception of Fuji want to put film behind them as quickly as possible. If only a million rolls of 220 B/W were made, and a million of some of the other things that have been discontinued, a small company could make a good profit. As for the Polaroids films made by TIP, I think that is going to be a very small market. As those cameras break down, the demand will fall off. Medium format cameras are still being made and thus there should be a market for years to come. That is my logic, so why isn't someone making this stuff?

Jeff Kubach · Sep 11, 2010

Some years ago I had thought about a 220 back for my RB67, now I kinda glad I didn't get one. Too bad about B&W 220.

Jeff

nickrapak · Sep 12, 2010

Ric Trexell said:
I suppose Kodak,Ilford and Fuji would never license these formats, but it seems someone like The Impossible Project could take over some of these. Even if they did a run every three months of one format, and then switch to another, well I think they or someone like them could make a go of it. You almost get the feeling that the big film companies with perhaps the exception of Fuji want to put film behind them as quickly as possible. If only a million rolls of 220 B/W were made, and a million of some of the other things that have been discontinued, a small company could make a good profit. As for the Polaroids films made by TIP, I think that is going to be a very small market. As those cameras break down, the demand will fall off. Medium format cameras are still being made and thus there should be a market for years to come. That is my logic, so why isn't someone making this stuff?

TIP is not the "the future of analog film" as so many people decry. The filmstock is coated by Ilford, the chemistry is made by a third party, and all TIP does is put it in a package and sell it. Besides that fact, have you looked at the price that the TIP films are being sold at? The $21 a pack is more than double what Polaroid sold the last packs of its film for. Would you be willing to pay $12 a roll for Tri-X in 220, when you can get 2 120 rolls for $6?

SuzanneR · Sep 12, 2010

I have two 220 backs for my RZ, and I was kind of bummed that they will become paperweights, and then I realized... "wait, I can shoot some color film with those!! duh!!" So, I have a package of 5 rolls of Portra 400 NC. One roll has been exposed. Might as well take this moment to play around with some color films that are still made in 220!!

Ektagraphic · Sep 12, 2010

I have just picked up shooting 220 on portrait sessions. I'll use it while it's here. What if we all got together to see if Kodak would do a special order like they do for ultra large formats and other things?

Q.G. · Sep 13, 2010

Ektagraphic said:
I have just picked up shooting 220 on portrait sessions. I'll use it while it's here. What if we all got together to see if Kodak would do a special order like they do for ultra large formats and other things?

Do you think we would be able to come to a decision which film they should produce in 220 format for us?

aoresteen · Sep 13, 2010

Q.G. said:
Do you think we would be able to come to a decision which film they should produce in 220 format for us?

For a black & white film yes. It will be either Plus-X or Tri-X. One factor for the loss of TXP 220 was that TXP in 120 rolls didn't sell that well either. They stopped making BOTH roll products.

Since Kodak is still making Plus-X 120 and Tri-X 120, they don't have to do a 'new' emulsion coating. They just need to cut the existing 120 film twice as long.

2F/2F · Sep 13, 2010

aoresteen said:
For a black & white film yes. It will be either Plus-X or Tri-X. One factor for the loss of TXP 220 was that TXP in 120 rolls didn't sell that well either. They stopped making BOTH roll products.

Since Kodak is still making Plus-X 120 and Tri-X 120, they don't have to do a 'new' emulsion coating. They just need to cut the existing 120 film twice as long.

I'd certainly buy a gross of both or either...as I should have done with TXP last year. I kept telling myself, "You should stock up. It probably won't be long for this world," but I never did, and then it was gone practically overnight once the announcement was made.

However, I'd also be thrilled to have T-Max 100 and/or 400 as choices.

If there is a special run, I'd like to sign on for at least 10, and maybe 20 pro packs. Not quite a gross, actually...

SWphoto · Sep 13, 2010

I thought that 220 film is not just twice as long, but that it is on a thinner base stock. That would be why making 220 available is not simply a matter of cutting it "twice as long"

Jeff Bannow · Sep 13, 2010

I'd be in for a bunch as well.

220 B&W - What to do?

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220 B&W - What to do?

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