Film Shortage

[eclarke]

I was in Calumet's Chicago store on Cherry Street last Saturday and was dumbfounded at the low, low supply of film..almost barren shelves!!...Evan Clarke

 

[reellis67]

It's more likely due to low in-house demand than any shortage. Stores loose money when film gets old, so they will adjust their in-house stock according the demand. It stinks (my local shop does the same thing), but I find that if I simply call them a few days before I plan on driving over they will have whatever I want in stock and waiting with my name on it.

- Randy

 

[spark]

Camera stores near universities tend to cater to students who take wet lab courses and keep stocked with basic film (think Tri-X, HP5+, FP4, Tmax) and darkroom supplies. Outside of that it's pretty grim on this side of the Pacific.

 

[lns]

Try Helix! They've got a lot of film.

If we keep buying it, they'll keep selling it.

-Laura

 

[monkeykoder]

Camera stores near universities tend to cater to students who take wet lab courses and keep stocked with basic film (think Tri-X, HP5+, FP4, Tmax) and darkroom supplies. Outside of that it's pretty grim on this side of the Pacific.

Yeah the local store that catered to Sac State went out of business recently and the local rental darkroom is picking up the slack (almost exactly the films you listed)

 

[JBrunner]

Could be a student run on the store. The camera store near me usually has a good inventory, but when a class starts or gets an assignment, it all goes out the door in a few days.

 

[monkeykoder]

It really sucks to be the student right about then...

 

[23mjm]

When I was a student I ordered my film from Adorama and B&H. No camera store in Chico.

I hate driving to the LCS and finding they are out of what I needed, so I just kept mail ordering.

monkeykoder---I really wanted to like Camera Arts but I just got tired of them not having anything or getting the line "we can order that for you" News flash I can order it too, tax free.

 

[Lopaka]

I get most of my film from Calumet on the web and rarely experience outages.

Bob

 

[monkeykoder]

When I was a student I ordered my film from Adorama and B&H. No camera store in Chico.

I hate driving to the LCS and finding they are out of what I needed, so I just kept mail ordering.

monkeykoder---I really wanted to like Camera Arts but I just got tired of them not having anything or getting the line "we can order that for you" News flash I can order it too, tax free.

Personally I didn't like the place but I haven't found many places locally to get B&W film that aren't Ritz Camera and Ritz is a rip-off. Now the only local place is PhotoSource (which is probably closer to campus anyways.) but they charge just as much and their darkroom rental prices are outrageous (but hey it is available if I want to print 4x5 some other way than contact prints.) It isn't like Action Camera is any better if you factor in gas and all they offer is HP5 last time I checked.

 

[23mjm]

Pardee's camera on El Camino has a very good selection on film (B&W, Color) at very reasonable prices 35mm, 120, & 4X5. They are a real camera store tons of stuff form Digital to the darkroom.

The other place is Filco in Folsom they have lots of darkroom stuff and a reasonable amount of film B&W.

I print 4X5 when ever I want!!!

 

[spark]

Freestyle delivers in 2-4 days within California, B&H and Adorama about 5 days. If you find yourself in LA Freestyle is worth a stop, used to be they had a lot of stock in their store that wasn't on-line. Here in San Jose, Kamera Korner is reasonably priced and has a fair selection of 35mm and 120 film plus darkroom supplies. Keeble and Shuchat in Palo Alto has a much greater selection but is pricier on film, about the same on chemistry. There's another thread here on SF and East Bay stores, thanks for the Sac'to info.

 

[Curt]

One word: Freestyle

 

[monkeykoder]

I'll have to say shipping from Freestyle is darned fast if you're in California it takes 2 days to get to my house. It is just nice to be able to go out and buy a roll of film when you feel like it (or maybe some 4x5 but that is a lot less likely and I don't have my full setup yet.).

 

[Jeff Kubach]

I notice at the local camera shops around where I live, film selection is getting smaller and smaller. I guess I have to order online. It is just the sign of the times.

Jeff

 

[marty perez]

If in the metro Chicago area Central's the place to beat. Was literally dumbfounded at their film stock. Way to go. Then it helps being sandwiched between the School of the Art Institute and Columbia. However mentioned Helix must not have been in recently. Cut their film stock to bare bones years ago.

 

[domaz]

Defintely not my experience at my local store- Robi's Camera. I went there on a whim thinking there was no way they would have 400-speed slide film in 120. They actually did have Provia 400 though and they had Delta 3200 in 120 on top of that. Nice! Also there were a whole bunch of newly arrived boxes around the lobby containing developing chemicals of all sorts. Apparently there are still people around here buying film and chemicals.

 

[clayne]

Freestyle gets my big thumbs up. Never had an issue with these guys. Shipping is extremely fast and they always deliver on what they sell.

 

[spark]

I remember when chain drugstores and Kmart sold chemicals and Kodak Polycontrast paper. Film- no problem! Life changes, you deal with it-some observations:
1)Freestyle, Adorama, B&H (and their equivalents around the world) are supporting us- support them! Without volume retail outlets Kodak, Fuji and Ilford would be out of this business and so soon would be Efke, Lucky and the other niche players.
2) Buy a few rolls at your local camera shop unless they're boneheads. Buy accessories and whatever chems there and cultivate them; especially if they're younger owners who look like they're trying to build a business. If the little guys see they can make money in film they'll stay with it, and this will counteract the dumb-a** drugstore clerk telling everyone "they're not making film anymore". The Ritz/Wolf type place is already in the tank on selling people a flashy new d*****l camera to stick in a drawer after 20 shots.
3) I travel on business to Japan and Korea a lot, and seem to come back with more film than I leave with. (Go to a Bic or Yodobashi store in Japan and you'll understand!! ) Try to buy film along the way while you travel anyplace, even if it's just a couple rolls of Tri-X. The store that sells it may be a source of location ideas for interesting shots, too. Also, how about an APUG Japan tour? We may have enough to charter a plane!

Rant complete!

 

[R W Penn]

I like the trip idea!!!

 

[R W Penn]

Ritz Photo Orland Park,Ill has no film no chemicals its a loss.

 

[Ralph Javins]

Thank you, gentlemen;

Now I have a much greater appreciation for Glazer's and Kenmore Camera here in Latte Land. Both of them have a reasonable supply of film, with Glazer's having the greatest selection, including even some Fujiroid film in the 3 & 1/4 by 4 & 1/4 packs.

Now my main complaint is the loss of good slow film. EKCo first dropped FX-32, then KM-25, and recently TP-25. I am not sure that the Efke KB-25 is in the same league.

 

[eclarke]

It's more likely due to low in-house demand than any shortage. Stores loose money when film gets old, so they will adjust their in-house stock according the demand. It stinks (my local shop does the same thing), but I find that if I simply call them a few days before I plan on driving over they will have whatever I want in stock and waiting with my name on it.

- Randy

I should have explained better. One year ago the space their film is in was fairly jam packed, a cooler 6' high and 30-40' wide with shelving 2 deep. This trip there were maybe a couple hundred units. Chicago is a national shipping center for Calumet...EC