Any Good UK Suppliers?

[Bobfrance]

Hi Folks,

Having decided to embark upon doing my own C41 recently (questions/problems on another thread), I'v found it very difficult to get supplies.

I've currently ordered through Nova Darkroom and my local shop, but the shop takes 2 weeks to get their orders delivered, and both have very little selection available.
All I can get is Photospeed and Photoclolour, and a seperate Bleach and Fix seems to be non existent.

Could anybody point me in the right direction?
Cheap film suppliers would be good too!

Cheers,

Bob.

 

[David H. Bebbington]

Chemicals - Firstcall are good, big selection, fairly quick dispatch. Silverprint also big selection, customer service patchy.
Cheap film (120 and 35 mm): Mathers of Lancashire, 7dayshop.
No source of cheap LF film known!

 

[Soeren]

Must it be UK ?
There are many supliers in Germany. I don't know their delivery policy regarding UK but here is a few of them.
http://www.phobatec-shop.de/
http://www.fotobrenner.de/ in German
http://www.fotoimpex.de/index.html
Regards Søren

 

[Struan Gray]

For 4x5 film and colour paper it's hard to beat the US at present. B+H (www.bhphotovideo.com) have always been reliable for me. You'll pay VAT on the total and the postage.

I buy all my small and medium format film from Mathers. Not always the absolut cheapest, but totally reliable and no bullshit.

Otherwise, I would second the recommendation for German suppliers. Strangely, "Digital Wonder World" (www.digiwowo.com, formerly called New York Camera can have some keen film prices, and they don't sting you too hard for postage. Some of the German firms will slap a straight 30 Euro shipping charge on you (Standard insured package rate) so watch out.

 

[Struan Gray]

PS: Fotoimpex's description of Retro-POP is one of the funniest things I've ever read in a photo catalogue.

 

[Fintan]

Strangely, "Digital Wonder World" (www.digiwowo.com, formerly called New York Camera can have some keen film prices, and they don't sting you too hard for postage. Some of the German firms will slap a straight 30 Euro shipping charge on you (Standard insured package rate) so watch out.

If buying from digiwowo, you may be intersted the the allegations listed on this website.
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2472.html

 

[markbb]

Bob,
where abouts in the UK are you?

 

[Bobfrance]

I'm in Rochdale, Lancashire.

Thanks for the replies BTW - I'll look into them when I get a minute.

 

[Bob F.]

Most of the film/paper/chemicals etc at photoimpex are also stocked by Retrophotographic (www.retrophotographic.co.uk) which makes life easier ordering from the UK. Silverprint (www.silverprint.co.uk) have the largest inventory but you will need to call them to place an order - possibly twice if no one picks up the phone the first time (they are usually busy). Firstcall I note have several C41 kits available.

Cheers, Bob.

 

[Struan Gray]

Fintan, thanks for the heads up. I have bought some high-ticket items from them, and been very happy with the level of service, but it never hurts to hear multiple voices.

 

[Bobfrance]

Silverprint and Firstcall look good.
Both have the Agfa kit which has a seperate Bleach and Fix.
Although did I hear right that Agfa have just stopped doing it's developers?
Are there any similar altrnatives?

Strange, even thought Firstcall are essentially the same company as Nova who I've used before, they seem to have much more selection.

Oh, and the only reason I'm looking for UK based companies is because I imagine the carriage charges on heavy bottles of chemicals to be prohibitive from Europe and the US. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks again,

Bob.

 

[pentaxuser]

Hi Folks,

Having decided to embark upon doing my own C41 recently (questions/problems on another thread), I'v found it very difficult to get supplies.

I've currently ordered through Nova Darkroom and my local shop, but the shop takes 2 weeks to get their orders delivered, and both have very little selection available.
All I can get is Photospeed and Photoclolour, and a seperate Bleach and Fix seems to be non existent.

Could anybody point me in the right direction?
Cheap film suppliers would be good too!

Cheers,

Bob.

Bob. Last time I looked Nova seemed to have a good stock. I have only used Tetenal C41 Developer and Blix. No problems and I have had it for sometime. It seems to keep well but I think it worthwhile only making up as much as you need for the amount of film to be developed that session, even if you expect to develop more in a few days hence. I use Tetenal Protectan to prevent deterioration of the remaining concentrate each time. I bought the C41 in about November last year and was using it as recently as last month with no problems, using Protectan.

Paterson C41 comes in small amounts and is easy to mix. Nova sell this as well. It is much cheaper than Tetenal. Recently I had run out of Tetenal RA4 so switched to Paterson RA4 chemicals, again from Nova. I couldn't see any difference in quality of prints between the more expensive Tetenal and Paterson. So while I haven't used Paterson C41 yet, I think I will swop to it based on the performance of its RA4.

As far as cost goes, most of the names mentioned have prices very close to each other. The thing they compete on seems to be postage. Nova are very good if you are ordering several items which are heavy as they have a fixed carriage charge irrespective of weight. This makes them very competitive on large items such as enlargers or even a few chemicals and boxes of paper. At the moment on Ilford Multigrade RC 10x8 I don't think they can be beat if you order a few boxes and take into account carriage cost.

If it is RA4 paper then Keyphoto is very competitive. It charges carriage on cost of items with specific cut offs such as say £2.99 up to £X then £3.99 up to £Y so is cheaper on smaller quantities.

Almost next day delivery with both suppliers depending on time of day ordered.

Pentaxuser

 

[Jon Butler]

RK Photographic

Try RK PHOTOGRAPHIC I get most of my darkroom supplys from Roy at
RK with good deals on Ilford.
JON

http://www.thedarkroom.co.uk/

 

[Bobfrance]

Cheers for that guys!

Pentaxuser - I've just bought some paterson C41 from Nova I'll let you know how I get on.
As for my comment about limited variety; I was really only basing that comment on the lack of seperate Dev and Bleach solutions. I must admit I've not looked at the rest of the site that closely.

Jon - Cheers for the RK Photographic link. I'll certainly have a look at them next time I'm ready to order.

 

[pentaxuser]

Cheers for that guys!

Pentaxuser - I've just bought some paterson C41 from Nova I'll let you know how I get on.
As for my comment about limited variety; I was really only basing that comment on the lack of seperate Dev and Bleach solutions. I must admit I've not looked at the rest of the site that closely.

Jon - Cheers for the RK Photographic link. I'll certainly have a look at them next time I'm ready to order.

Thanks. I look forward to your report on the Paterson C41. If it is good I'll probably switch from Tetenal C41 which is quite expensive by comparison.

Pentaxuser

 

[Bobfrance]

Update time...

Well the Paterson chemicals certainly work for me.

With regards to quality - I don't really have anything to compare the results to, as I think there was something very wrong with the Tetenal kit I was using previously (although it was well in date).

Thumbs up for Paterson and Nova!

 

[pentaxuser]

Update time...

Well the Paterson chemicals certainly work for me.

With regards to quality - I don't really have anything to compare the results to, as I think there was something very wrong with the Tetenal kit I was using previously (although it was well in date).

Thumbs up for Paterson and Nova!

Thanks Bob. Duly noted

Pentaxuser