Fresh B&W Film and Paper Available in Almost Unlimited Quantities....

ic-racer · May 5, 2014

I'm really sick and tired of troll posts about the demise or limited availability of film.

B&H has 89 different product listings for B&W rollfilm and 30 product listings for B&W Sheetfilm.
Freestyle has almost 200 product listings for B&W film.

I remember when I got my Yashica 124G in 1975, a typical 'local' store did not carry B&W rollfilm. Finding B&W 120 rollfilm while on vacation in 1975 was impossible. Nowdays, with the advent of i-phones and the internet and paypal, fresh B&W film is never more than a few clicks away.

Ian Grant · May 5, 2014

ic-racer said:
I'm really sick and tired of troll posts about the demise or limited availability of film.

B&H has 89 different product listings for B&W rollfilm and 30 product listings for B&W Sheetfilm.
Freestyle has almost 200 product listings for B&W film.

I remember when I got my Yashica 124G in 1975, a typical 'local' store did not carry B&W rollfilm. Finding B&W 120 rollfilm while on vacation in 1975 was impossible. Nowdays, with the advent of i-phones and the internet and paypal, fresh B&W film is never more than a few clicks away.

Compared to when I first began serious photography late 1960's Ilford has a far wider range of B&W materials available now. (I'm not counting the medical & graphic arts side which they sold off to Agfa anyway).

Ian

wblynch · May 5, 2014

So very true. I have a Kodak Instamatic package from 1981 with a price of $2.69 for 20 exposures. Today I can buy a new roll of Fuji or Kodak 35x24 color film for $2.50 or less all day long.

When I was much younger we just bought a roll of color or black and white or color slide film. That was pretty much it.

Well, even now I can get color, black and white or color slide film with no trouble at all..

True, I can't get it in 126 Instamatic cartridges but I can reload my own for about $1.50 each, so there you go.

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I would like to add that when I look at results from all the black and white films of today I see very little difference.

Oh sure, we all have our favorites and base that on very minute and tiny differences.

But I think the major reason black and white results appear different is due more to different styles of exposure, processing and presentation than the films used.

pentaxuser · May 5, 2014

All I can say to you guys is the photographic Armageddon is coming but it may take longer to get to the Mid-West and the West Coast.

As far as the W Mids is concerned, it has long been recognised that this was and still is the original Garden of Eden in all sorts of ways.

Some say that a Faustian bargain was struck in the W Mids to keep it that way by sacrificing "The Wolves" rightful position as the eternal spring and source of good football.

It is no coincidence that "Light from the shadows" applies to Wolverhampton and Ansel Adams

pentaxuser

P.S. the rest of us are of course doomed

MDR · May 5, 2014

Thank you for this thread. Yes we lost some favourites but there is still a very large choice of B/W and to a lesser extent color films on the markt. Instead of bashing we should support all available film mfg be they Kodak, Ilford, Foma,Fuji, etc...

snapguy · May 5, 2014

roll with the punches

I just bought a pristine Rolleiflex. I am going to buy a glass plate back for it and make my own glass plate negatives or positives and I don't care what the film companies do or do not do.

chip j · May 5, 2014

snapguy said:
I just bought a pristine Rolleiflex. I am going to buy a glass plate back for it and make my own glass plate negatives or positives and I don't care what the film companies do or do not do.

What enlarging lens are you going to use that would measure up to glass plates?

trythis · May 5, 2014

I am going to guess that if every single current film producer fails, as many as 3 or 4 kickstarter campaigns will start up and start producing film in one form or another. Each company might produce two emulion types and we might be down to 3 or 4 films in the end; one or two color and one or two b&w but so what? Wouldn't that produce a new adversity to overcome and a nice simplified palette for creativity?

gone · May 5, 2014

I agree, film is still readily available. The nitwit doomsayers can be annoying, but that's their job, apparently. To be annoying. They're very skilled at it too.

But.... all I shoot is Tri-X, and I am a little concerned about Kodak. There is no substitute for that film either, not to me anyway. So as long as I can buy it in ANY format, I'll be happy. Still, having all my eggs in one basket is scary.

Richard S. (rich815) · May 5, 2014

Within 5 years it will be almost impossible to get any B&W or color film anywhere. I know this is true because that was all the chatter on photo.net almost 10 years ago. Mostly from people who just spend thousands on a new digital kit.

Vonder · May 5, 2014

Hoarder here. I think I'm good, film-wise. Now if they ever stop making chemicals, I'm screwed.

heterolysis · May 5, 2014

I'll be sad because I'm sure Fuji will cut more products, but I still love Ilford for B&W and I'm sure they'll be making more film than I have hours to shoot. Thankfully Rodinal lasts forever, so it can be hoarded too.

snapguy · May 5, 2014

lenses

For those of you who are unaware, the traditional, classic Rolleiflex TLR comes with its own lenses, one for composing and the other for taking.

trythis · May 5, 2014

huh? wrong thread maybe?

snapguy said:
For those of you who are unaware, the traditional, classic Rolleiflex TLR comes with its own lenses, one for composing and the other for taking.

summicron1 · May 5, 2014

we had the UP's Big Boy, 4014, here in Ogden, Utah, for two days and the crowd to shoot it was amazing. I saw a coupla Hasselblads, a hefty number of 35mm cameras, the odd Rollei, and of course me shooting pinhole, Russki-stereo and the inevitable Leica. Lots of folks fascinated to see someone still using film and I was always saying, "yeah, no problem, google Freestyle, Adorama, whatever."

Fun stuff. Leicaflex SL2, Tri-X, Elmarit 28-70 zoom.

snapguy · May 6, 2014

I haven't photographed a "Big Boy" locomotive since the 1950s. It is the ultimate steam locomotive, IMO. You were fortunate to get a shot of it. I think I used 620 film way back then.

MDR · May 6, 2014

It seems that there are quiet a few film shooters in the classic Railway scene. On Sunday there was a classic car and steam engine show where I live and about half the shooters used analogue cameras and film.
Classic steam locomotives and tractors seem to go well with film all three are supposed to be near extinct and all three have a lot more charm than the modern stuff.

Ko.Fe. · May 6, 2014

It seems those "film is dead" threads comes from not real film shooters. One, two rolls per couple of months developed/scanned in the lab doesn't count.

After getting into BW film in 2012, I'm using only 100 feet bulk film. B&H has 14 different ones and I haven't tried all of them yet.
Photo paper is almost the same for me. I buy it in 100 sheets. I have five or six different ones in RC... and I haven't tried FB yet.

wblynch · May 6, 2014

I'm down to only about 36 rolls per year lately. I still consider myself a real film shooter since I don't use digital at all anymore and my phone camera only about 3 or 4 pictures a month.

I have enough black & white and color slide film in the fridge and freezer to last twelve years so I had better get busy taking more photos. I do need to buy some color neg film as I am all out at the moment.

jerrybro · May 7, 2014

Richard Sintchak (rich815) said:
Within 5 years it will be almost impossible to get any B&W or color film anywhere. I know this is true because that was all the chatter on photo.net almost 10 years ago. Mostly from people who just spend thousands on a new digital kit.

That's funny. See I just bought my first digital camera, a used Nikon D100. When new in 2003 it cost $1700, I paid KEH $99 for it. Digital cameras are in the same depreciation category as cell phones and computers. I only bought it because I needed a faster way to get pictures onto the net, it was cheap and it will take my lenses. Prints will still come from film.

Thomas Bertilsson · May 7, 2014

I find that I need three films and one photo paper.

Currently that is Ilford HP5+, Pan-F+, and Ilford Multigrade IV / Classic fiber.
Plus some Kodak Portra 400.

If I go online and search for alternatives I have a metric shedload of materials to choose from. While it may not always be that way, particularly with respect to color film, we should enjoy the freedom we have currently and make the most of what's available to us.

Fresh B&W Film and Paper Available in Almost Unlimited Quantities....

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