Bulk buying only became interesting to me as film stocks died out. Before that I just bought what I needed. In the UK one of the few cheap things we can buy is Poundland film, AKA AgfaVista 200, AKA Fujicolor 200. I began to stockpile that as inexpensive things never last over here, and sure enough £1 Kodak ran out, as did Fuji, then Agfa 36 exp, then 400 ASA film, and now supplies of 24 exp Vista 200 are intermittent. With a tweak it can be made to look like much more expensive films, though without their exposure latitude.
The only stuff I miss is very fast and slow ISO B&W film, Agfapan 25 is especially lamented in 35mm and 120. In medium format sizes it was indistinguishable from large format up to 15" prints, without the hassle of a view camera. Regarding outdated stock, I've never been able to find it sufficiently cheap to avoid buying an in-date equivalent, but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough.
The only stuff I miss is very fast and slow ISO B&W film, Agfapan 25 is especially lamented in 35mm and 120. In medium format sizes it was indistinguishable from large format up to 15" prints, without the hassle of a view camera. Regarding outdated stock, I've never been able to find it sufficiently cheap to avoid buying an in-date equivalent, but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough.
