Anybody buying Kodak B&W films nowadays?

[MCB18]

Wait a minute... I was under the impression that Ferrania is now able to do everything in-house.

Crap, yeah, I meant Silberra, I don’t know why I put Ferrenia

 

[Don_ih]

These companies do not coat film, but either repackage finished film, order master rolls and have another company finish and package the film, or have some finishing and packaging capabilities in house:

• Shanghai

So, who exactly makes the film if not them? And where are you getting this information? As far as I know, there is no film that is identical to Shanghai.
You can get gp3 in practically any regular size from 35mm to 8x10.

 

[MCB18]

So, who exactly makes the film if not them? And where are you getting this information? As far as I know, there is no film that is identical to Shanghai.
You can get gp3 in practically any regular size from 35mm to 8x10.

I have been told that Shanghai GP-3 is ORWO UN-54. It seems this may have changed fairly recently, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they are still just ordering master rolls from ORWO.

 

[MattKing]

The only reason I haven't chimed in on this thread is because I was prudent enough to buy a lot a while ago, and haven't needed to buy new.
When I run out of my current stock, I expect I will buy more.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

I'm afraid the cost hike pushed me towards Ilford. I'm not sad, since HP5+ is a terrific film, but I had to change my habits.

Now here's hoping Ilford isn't going the same route. Papers have already gone up quite a lot.

 

[Don_ih]

I have been told that Shanghai GP-3 is ORWO UN-54. It seems this may have changed fairly recently, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they are still just ordering master rolls from ORWO.

Yet that Orwo film is not available in any size bigger than 35mm - definitely not available in 8x10. I believe you have been lied to.

 

[MCB18]

Yet that Orwo film is not available in any size bigger than 35mm - definitely not available in 8x10. I believe you have been lied to.

You may or may not be aware, film is made initially as large rolls, called master rolls. They are usually around 52 inches, or 1.3m wide, and can be as long as 10,000 feet or 3 km. While I don’t know what the exact size of ORWO’s master rolls are, the point is that with the finishing capabilities of Shanghai, they are more than capable of making basically any regular film size out there from UN-54, so long as they order these master rolls.

They used to even do a special order for various film sizes similar to Ilford’s ULF program, but sadly that seems to have ended.

 

[Anon Ymous]

Meanwhile they charge twice the cost for a vinyl record than a DVD. And people are lining up to purchase them.

And 50% of the buyers don't even have a record player. Or at least that's what a headline said a month or two ago...

 

[Philippe-Georges]

I think we might finally draw up three lists in a spreadsheet:
- the real manufactures, like Harman Technology
- the 're-branders', like lomography
- those who let made film to their specifications by other manufactures like Bergger

So we, the costumers, might know where our hard-earned money is going.

 

[darkosaric]

So we, the costumers, might know where our hard-earned money is going.

I always buy from Fotoimpex. Even when I don't buy Adox films or papers - I do support Mirko and his company, as his love for analog industry is unquestionable. And they are small and adoptive company, so they will not go down as Kodak.

 

[john_s]

That's what they said about music records. Meanwhile they charge twice the cost for a vinyl record than a DVD. And people are lining up to purchase them. ......

Well, some are lining up, but probably far fewer than those like us who are "lining up" to buy film. And for the buyers of vinyl, the novelty is likely to wear off soon. (I do still play vinyl, incidentally, and pre-vinyl 78s. That's how old I am)

 

[Don_ih]

You may or may not be aware, film is made initially as large rolls, called master rolls. They are usually around 52 inches, or 1.3m wide, and can be as long as 10,000 feet or 3 km. While I don’t know what the exact size of ORWO’s master rolls are, the point is that with the finishing capabilities of Shanghai, they are more than capable of making basically any regular film size out there from UN-54, so long as they order these master rolls.

They used to even do a special order for various film sizes similar to Ilford’s ULF program, but sadly that seems to have ended.

The large format film has a thicker base than the small format film.
I'm wondering where you got your information. And is Shanghai then ORWO's film or is ORWO's film actually made by Shanghai?

 

[koraks]

The large format film has a thicker base than the small format film.

Is that so? I thought (sorry, no good reference) that 135 and sheet film are generally poured on the same base, but that 120 roll film uses a thinner base.

 

[Don_ih]

Is that so? I thought (sorry, no good reference) that 135 and sheet film are generally poured on the same base, but that 120 roll film uses a thinner base.

I was referring to 120 as one of the small format films. It's pretty small compared to 8x10. I don't think I have any 35mm film as stiff as 8x10 Shanghai.
The large format Shanghai is probably not the same emulsion as the 135 - which seems to be maybe from big rolls of 35mm UN54. Maybe the larger format film is still made by the original manufacturer? But then - maybe that's now rebranded Foma.

 

[koraks]

I was referring to 120 as one of the small format films.

Yeah. Just note that 120 and 135 are different in terms of substrate thickness. Well, at least that's the case with the major, photographic film manufacturers. What happens in the muddy margins is a different story.

The large format Shanghai is probably not the same emulsion as the 135

Possibly; I've only used it in 4x5. The stuff I used was definitely not Fomapan as it aged differently (and very poorly, at that), but I purchased it probably 2-3 years ago, so this says nothing about what may be sold today. The substrate on that film was of a typical sheet film thickness.

 

[Don_ih]

The original manufacturer may or may not be making photographic film. They are likely still making photosensitive materials for industry - that's more lucrative. But who knows?

Just note that 120 and 135 are different in terms of substrate thickness.

Or:

I have just measured 3 different rolls of Kodak and Ilford 35mm film and I get 0.15mm or 5 mils plus a tad.

I measured 2 rolls of Kodak 120 and get the same values.

I measured 1 sheet of Kodak 4 x 5 and get 0.2mm or 7 mils plus a tad.

I measured the large 42" roll of uncoated estar and get 7 mils.

Hope this helps.

I used a combo metric/english micrometer.

PE

 

[koraks]

So it's different than I thought, but it looks like it varies a bit. E.g. from the present Kodak Ektar datasheet:

The TriX datasheet only mentions the 7 mil Estar base for the 320 sheet film but no base thickness or material for the roll formats. Are these also coated on acetate? In that case I would expec them to be on a 5 resp. 4 mil base as well.

Ilford's FP4+ datasheet gives exactly the same information as the Ektar snippet shown above; 5mil and 4 mil acetate for 135 resp. 120, 7 mil polyester for sheet films.

This is Fomapan 100:

The thickness pattern is always the same, apparently. A thin 120 base, a thick sheet film base and 135 is somewhere in-between.

To be honest, I never really looked into it. Yeah, maybe once when I was doing something related to film holders or masks and I wanted to know the thickness of a typical/average (sheet) film, but I don't even recall the exact application, nor my findings back then...

 

[michaelelliottphotog]

Frozen Tech Pan, Pan X and TXP-320 for me.

The new stuff on new prices is just not at all interesting, when I reach the end of my current supplies of older emulsions I will switch to Ilford/Kentmere.

 

[Roger Cole]

Well, some are lining up, but probably far fewer than those like us who are "lining up" to buy film. And for the buyers of vinyl, the novelty is likely to wear off soon. (I do still play vinyl, incidentally, and pre-vinyl 78s. That's how old I am)

I'd just about bet there are more people, WAY more people, buying vinyl LPs than buying film. My local Walmart has an entire aisle with a pretty good selection of LPs. They haven't carried film in years.

 

[pentaxuser]

And 50% of the buyers don't even have a record player. Or at least that's what a headline said a month or two ago...

Perhaps they do the same with them as used to be the case with very old Vinyl records such as the 78's and long players were just larger 78s that the steel needles had scratched the sound tracks beyond redemption which was the soften them by gentle heating and mould them into flower pots

pentaxuser

 

[MattKing]

And 50% of the buyers don't even have a record player. Or at least that's what a headline said a month or two ago...

Have you ever received or given a record as a gift?
I can see why some people might want to display an LP and/or its sleeve on a wall - I actually know people who do.

 

[K-G]

I always buy from Fotoimpex. Even when I don't buy Adox films or papers - I do support Mirko and his company, as his love for analog industry is unquestionable. And they are small and adoptive company, so they will not go down as Kodak.

I definitely agree . At least if you live within EU they are easy to buy from, they have what you need at reasonable prices and they keep your hope for the analogue alive.

Karl-Gustaf

 

[GregY]

Have you ever received or given a record as a gift?
I can see why some people might want to display an LP and/or its sleeve on a wall - I actually know people who do.

& some people have shelves full of pristine cameras that never see film...

 

[Anon Ymous]

Perhaps they do the same with them as used to be the case with very old Vinyl records such as the 78's and long players were just larger 78s that the steel needles had scratched the sound tracks beyond redemption which was the soften them by gentle heating and mould them into flower pots

pentaxuser

Shellac ones? Never heard of such modifications before, quite interesting.

Have you ever received or given a record as a gift?
I can see why some people might want to display an LP and/or its sleeve on a wall - I actually know people who do.

Yes, I suspect they become display items. They do look nice, and as far as I am concerned it's the only "advantage" vinyl records have compared to CDs, the large artwork.

Back on topic: Lately I have only bought a bit of Kodak C41, because the price was somewhat palatable, but I'm not too keen on buying more. In BW I switched to Ilford (and a little bit of Foma) few years ago. Pricing and bulk roll availability were the decisive factors. The last Kodak BW film I shot was TMY2, a film I really like, but won't buy more of it, because of the price.

 

[john_s]

I'd just about bet there are more people, WAY more people, buying vinyl LPs than buying film. My local Walmart has an entire aisle with a pretty good selection of LPs. They haven't carried film in years.

Who'd have thought? Life is full of surprises.