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Crazy local film deal, should I get it?

abstraxion

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
44
Format
35mm
I have the opportunity to purchase ~2400 sheets of HP5+ and 1250 sheets of Plus-X in 4x5", in addition to 600' of Ektachrome 100.

For $99.

Now, the film is expired. In fact, it's from 1999, and it's been in a garage (so not cold stored). However, this is pretty much enough film to stretch from here to the lunar surface.

Should I get it? Heck, I'd probably even give some away to APUG people that wanted it.
 

I'd probably buy it. It just depends what state the garage is in.
 
Wirelessly posted (BBBold: BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

Ah, forget the kids. ;p
 
Autumn: It was kept in San Diego, so pretty much as good as it gets if you had to keep something in a garage year round.

Anyways, I GOT IT! Holy CRAP, it's so heavy! I'll be posting a pic soon!



Final tally: 2400 sheets of HP5, 2775 sheets of Plus-X, 6 100' rolls of Ektachrome 100.

I think it'd be good to test this stuff out, but my LF camera is at home right now (in another city!). Would anyone be willing to pay the price of shipping (a few bucks) for a few boxes or so of this stuff on the condition they post the results?
 
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It sounds like you could probably split some of it up, sell it here and cover what you spent.
 
I'd expect the most out of the Plus-X (nice film that), and the least out of the Ektachrome 100. Personally, I'd use the Ektachrome to teach people how to load stainless steel reels, I'd expect a miserable color shift by now. Well, it would also be fun for cross-processing.
 
Congratulations on a major score!

You can bet your bottom dollar I will take as much of the Plus-X as you will give for "testing". I live in L.A., and I would purchase much, much more from you if it turns out to be good and you are willing to sell more. I was just lamenting the loss of this film in 4x5 format yesterday...

...or if you happen to be coming to L.A., let me know. You can come over and use a camera to test some.

I am also interested in the EPN, if you are not. I like it for cross processing.
 
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I'm interested in a couple rolls of the EPN as well, I'll drop you a pm. But most of all, well done! That's one heck of a haul, the best I ever came into was a whole bunch of expired Agfa paper when I first started out.
 
So how did you come across this deal? Craigslist? I always wonder why anyone has 1200 sheets of film on hand. That's pretty much a lifetime supply, or at least it seems so to me.
 
Yeah, I'm a Craigslist addict. 99% of it is total crap, but it seems to have a lot more "found this crappy old film camera in my garage, it's a Leica brand or something" listings that can be found at a great price. I also like to post WTBs and have come away with plenty of good stuff that way.

San Diego has an ok photo/video section, but LA is where it's at. The prices are more reasonable, but then again, there's a lot less clueless people with Zeiss glass.

Yeah, I'm not sure why anyone would have 5000+ sheets of film, let alone film that was all bought at the same time. He didn't even sell me all of it, he still had at least 1000 sheets left!
 
20 July 2009

Abstraxion:

What a score!! I have collected a closet shelf full of old photo paper that has been given to me, but this is a big time find. I would be interested in testing some of the Plus-X, and purchasing some if you are so inclined. I am located in the SF Bay Area. I will PM you with my contact information.

Have lots of fun with your "new toys".

Regards,
Darwin
 
Sounds amazingly good.

Steve
 
great deal. you will be able to make a few extra bucks as well...and you should. i would lik eto buy a few boxes. i sent you a PM.

cheers

eddie
 
Congratulations! If it's still good - freeze it. Fast! Calculate how many sheets you use in a year, and divide the number of sheets you have by that number to find out how much you will use in the near future and sell the rest. Who knows how long it will last! But then again, Michael and Paula have a freezer full of Super-XX sheet film that they bought when Kodak discontinued it. And that was a long time ago. They say base fog increases, but that you learn to print through it, and expose / process accordingly to compensate for it. And, a friend of mine has boat loads of Royal-X sheets that are a bit foggy, but works beautifully.

One thing to consider is that fresh film will give you the best consistency. Buy it as you need it, basically. But with a deal like this, and if I was shooting 4x5, I'd go for it too. 5,000 sheets + should teach you something about the film, that's for sure, and there's enough for you to get consistency anyway.
HC-110 is a great developer for old film. So is Xtol. They tend to suppress base fog very well.

Have fun! What a steal!
 
Thomas Bertilsson said:
Congratulations! If it's still good - freeze it. Fast! Calculate how many sheets you use in a year, and divide the number of sheets you have by that number to find out how much you will use in the near future and sell the rest.
Click to expand...

That will never fly. When he has that much paper, he will print much more. Maybe he should only sell half of the rest. [Half since we are dealing with photography and we deal with light as factors of two.]

Steve
 
Holy mother of mercy. I didn't know the Plus-X was such a hot commodity in 4x5, as I never liked it that much in 35mm. Why is it so freakin' popular?

I put four 25 sheet boxes on eBay as a test and it's currently bid up to $76 (!?!). Why is this selling for as much as new sheet film, or even more?

I'd still like to cut a few APUGgers a good price, I'm not a film scalper, I'm a photographer. In exchange, though, you have to post what you shoot on APUG!
 
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