Canadian dealers willing to ship Ilford papers to US?

Oren Grad · Mar 10, 2022

I'm interested in obtaining Ilford Multigrade RC Warmtone, glossy surface, in the 9.5x12 inch size. This is a stock item in the UK, and Amplis lists it in Canada as well, but Roberts in the US does not, and US dealers don't stock it.

In the distant past I've ordered non-US sizes from the UK, though shipping cost was pretty steep. Can any of our Canadian members recommend an Ilford stocking dealer who is comfortable dealing with special requests and might be willing to ship to the US? The Amplis / ilfordphoto.ca website won't accept US orders.

I have a query in with Roberts as well but haven't heard back yet - trying to figure out what my practical options are.

Sirius Glass · Mar 10, 2022

Try Samy's Camera in California and FreeStyle, one of our sponsors.

Pieter12 · Mar 10, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Try Samy's Camera in California and FreeStyle, one of our sponsors.

I believe he mentions the U.S. distributor doesn't carry it, so Samy's or Freestyle probably wouldn't be able to get it.

Don_ih · Mar 10, 2022

It's a special order item on Amplis.
You should see if a friendly mod (@MattKing ) would order some and carry it across the border and mail it to you....

MattKing · Mar 10, 2022

Reach out to Nicole in the Film Department at Beau Photo in Vancouver.
https://www.beauphoto.com/contact/
If they can do this for you, they will order it from Amplis, Amplis will order it from Harman (unless by an unlikely chance Amplis has some) and your patience may be tested.
It may be quite expensive, because I don't think Beau gets much of a "wholesale" break from Amplis. And Beau needs to make some money on this. At least the price will be in Canadian $.
You can tell Nicole that Matt King sent you .
If you have trouble getting a response, PM me and I'll see if I can help put you in contact.

mrosenlof · Mar 10, 2022

that would be a nice size for contacts of 8x10 negs. if you have any success, please post here!

Oren Grad · Mar 10, 2022

Thanks all for helpful replies here and privately!

MattKing said:
If they can do this for you, they will order it from Amplis, Amplis will order it from Harman (unless by an unlikely chance Amplis has some) and your patience may be tested.
It may be quite expensive, because I don't think Beau gets much of a "wholesale" break from Amplis. And Beau needs to make some money on this. At least the price will be in Canadian $.

The ilfordphoto.ca site operated by Amplis appears to show it in stock; it's not flagged as "special order", unlike some other items on the site. So I'm hoping it will at least be possible to avoid the slow-boat-from-Mobberley step. Quoted price on the Amplis/Ilford website is reasonable, taking into account the exchange rate; certainly appreciate that the dealer is entitled to a decent margin too. Anyway, we'll see if it's possible to make this work - I figure it can't hurt to try.

mrosenlof said:
that would be a nice size for contacts of 8x10 negs.

Yup - primary intended use is contact printing 8x10 and 7x11.

MattKing · Mar 11, 2022

I bought a selection of the MGIV RC in that size in Pearl and Glossy because, when matted, prints look very nice in a 16x20 frame.
They would also work well in a 14x17 frame.
And when I'm printing square, 12x12 is a good size.

gone · Mar 11, 2022

I read up on this and it sounds like a great paper, the image starts to appear after 10 seconds in the developer, wow. It's probably that "odd" size that's the issue, hardly anyone prints that size here in the US, it may just be a premium priced paper. Sounds worth it though.

tokam · Mar 11, 2022

If you are going to be paying a premium for this sized paper which is not stocked in the US, would you be better off by buying 11 x 14 paper and cutting it down to 9.5 x 12 with a rotary trimmer / guillotine?
Will also give you some strips for test prints.

Oren Grad · Mar 11, 2022

Update:

Collin Orthner kindly assisted with an inquiry to Amplis. Not in stock, so slow boat.
Haven't heard yet from Roberts.
Currently in email discussion with Silverprint about cost of shipping from UK.

momus said:
I read up on this and it sounds like a great paper, the image starts to appear after 10 seconds in the developer, wow. It's probably that "odd" size that's the issue, hardly anyone prints that size here in the US, it may just be a premium priced paper. Sounds worth it though.

I've been using MGRCWT since it was introduced - it's been my most-used paper, by a fair margin, for a long time. My life would be easier if I preferred the standard MGRC, as it is stocked in a much wider range of sizes. C'est la vie.

tokam said:
If you are going to be paying a premium for this sized paper which is not stocked in the US, would you be better off by buying 11 x 14 paper and cutting it down to 9.5 x 12 with a rotary trimmer / guillotine?
Will also give you some strips for test prints.

I have 11x14. 9.5 x 12 would be more convenient for this particular task and possibly less expensive. Whether it will actually turn out to be worth it depends on where the price + shipping quotes come out and how long I'll need to wait - still figuring that out.

Don_ih · Mar 11, 2022

How does cutting down 20x24 compare in terms of cost? 4 10x12 from one 20x24.

Oren Grad · Mar 11, 2022

Don Heisz said:
How does cutting down 20x24 compare in terms of cost? 4 10x12 from one 20x24.

MGRCWT glossy has not been cut in 20x24 size for a very long time, if ever. It's not listed in the Nov 2005 Ilford Product Availability Listing, which is the oldest I have. Largest size currently offered as a standard item is 12x16, though I still have a bit of old-stock 16x20 on hand. I suppose in principle it would be possible to commission a special run of 20x24, but I expect the minimum order would be thousands of dollars' worth and that it would require waiting a few months.

Don_ih · Mar 11, 2022

Oren Grad said:
MGRCWT glossy has not been cut in 20x24 size for a very long time, if ever.

Ah, I didn't know.
The special order price at Amplis for the warmtone is roughly double the price for Mg rc delux glossy at B&H. Maybe you can get B&H to order some in?

Oren Grad · Mar 11, 2022

Don Heisz said:
The special order price at Amplis for the warmtone is roughly double the price for Mg rc delux glossy at B&H. Maybe you can get B&H to order some in?

If B&H channels special orders through the authorized distributor, it means slow boat from Mobberley if Roberts is even willing to do it, as it's evidently not a stock size for them. Still waiting to hear from Roberts. If B&H brings in odd sizes through gray channels, I'm probably better off ordering directly from the UK myself. But we'll see.

[EDIT: Deleted a few general comments that I should hold and revisit once the dust has settled.]

Oren Grad · Mar 29, 2022

Update:

I did get a preliminary response from Roberts, saying they'd look into it, but nothing since.

For now, I ended up placing an order with Silverprint in the UK. The minimum shipping cost is high, so ordering from the UK is prohibitive for a box or two but can become reasonable if the order is large enough. Along with the 9.5 x 12, I added to the order some 7 x 9.5, another size not regularly available here, which will be handy for contact printing 5x7. Took several days for the package to make it out of the UK, but the remainder of the journey was fast enough. I picked up the package this evening at the local FedEx depot.

Thanks again to everyone who reached out to help, both in this thread and privately.

Dusty Negative · Mar 30, 2022

I’m glad to hear you were able to work this out.

Interesting to hear of the non-standard (for U.S. Market) sizes outside of the usual A4, A3, etc. Are these common in Commonwealth countries, or are they special-order there as well?

Oren Grad · Mar 31, 2022

Dusty Negative said:
Interesting to hear of the non-standard (for U.S. Market) sizes outside of the usual A4, A3, etc. Are these common in Commonwealth countries, or are they special-order there as well?

Take a look at how many different sizes Silverprint lists for the standard Ilford MG RC paper:

https://silverprint.co.uk/collections/b-w-paper/products/1179796

Many of them are flagged as "Shipping within 2-5 working days", but even if that's formally a special order, the advantage of being in the UK is that it's evidently quick and easy to get anything that's stocked at the warehouse in Mobberley. Not so here across the pond.

Even here in the US, B&H stocks more sizes than you might think, but most of the more exotic ones are confined to the standard MG RC, while I use mostly MG RC Warmtone.

Pitotshock · Mar 31, 2022

I have ordered a "special order" Ilford item through a Canadian dealer (which went back to Amplis) and the paper came in within 2 months.

Dusty Negative · Mar 31, 2022

Oren Grad said:
Take a look at how many different sizes Silverprint lists for the standard Ilford MG RC paper:

https://silverprint.co.uk/collections/b-w-paper/products/1179796

Many of them are flagged as "Shipping within 2-5 working days", but even if that's formally a special order, the advantage of being in the UK is that it's evidently quick and easy to get anything that's stocked at the warehouse in Mobberley. Not so here across the pond.

Even here in the US, B&H stocks more sizes than you might think, but most of the more exotic ones are confined to the standard MG RC, while I use mostly MG RC Warmtone.

Fascinating. I had no idea. I figured one had a handful of options, and nothing more. Obviously not true.

Canadian dealers willing to ship Ilford papers to US?

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Canadian dealers willing to ship Ilford papers to US?

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