Frugal's supply of Ferrania Solaris 200 126 is gone

[hpulley]

http://www.frugalphotographer.com/cat126.htm

All gone... was too expensive in the end, about $15/roll. I've been reloading non-perforated 35mm film myself so it doesn't affect me but one less source if you like to buy pre-packaged 126 film.

Does anyone still sell 126 film? Any other repackaged Ferrania being sold?

Edit: I can't find any so I think this may be the final "126 film is dead" aside from eBay and re-rollers. ADOX says they may have some next year but I'm not holding my breath: http://www.adox.de/ADOX_Filme/ADC200/Instamatic.html

Edit: even eBay is really scarce and expensive but once you have cartridges, you can reload...

 

[railwayman3]

I've not seen any 126 for retail sale here in the UK for nearly 10 years. And, as you say, there is very little usable film of that size on Ebay.

APS film is also becoming very rare in shop outlets here.

 

[nickrapak]

I just got a 100' roll of non-perf 160NC today to roll 126 and 828 film for myself. Hopefully it will last a while.

 

[hpulley]

126 and 828 are short rolls so it will last a good number of rolls at least! I'm still working through my 100' roll.

 

[jhw]

I'm in love with my contaflex 126...and am ready to take the plunge in rolling my own. Quick question to those for whom this is old hat: is there a preferred cartridge for re-rolling? e.g. is the shape and build of say, a Solaris cartridge better or worse than an old Kodak one? I'm looking at both now, and don't see any major differences...but mine is not a trained eye, and maybe there's a notch here or catch there on one or the other that makes either preferable.
thanks for any help!!!
john

 

[hpulley]

I find the Solaris ones break more cleanly. Old Kodak ones especially can be somewhat brittle. If you don't care about the film that comes in them then with a knife you could probably do a better job than me trying to break them cleanly from inside the changing bag...

 

[jhw]

Perfect; thanks...that's exactly what I was looking for. I know I'm going to mess up as I learn, but if I can keep from blowing more than a few feet of decent film, all the better. Thanks again, I really appreciate your help.
j

 

[j-dogg]

here's the next question....APS film is no longer being produced? I've been wanting a Canon SLR APS camera for a while to put my awesome L lenses on.

 

[hpulley]

I've heard that APS is still being made by someone but I'm not sure by whom.

Can't you use the nice L lenses on 35mm SLRs instead? They work great on my EOS 650, 10S and 1N RS bodies. Those lenses will be usable for a long time at least, I expect, unless the mobile phone camera somehow kills the EOS system which I doubt (I think it will kill the digital Powershot lines first).

 

[nickrapak]

As far as I know, both Fuji and Kodak still make 400 speed APS film.

 

[railwayman3]

As far as I know, both Fuji and Kodak still make 400 speed APS film.

For some time now, I've noticed only the 200ASA version in 25exp cassettes here in the UK. Not seen any at all from Kodak recently, just Fuji plus one own-label brand which is obviously also from them.

Kodak have cut back on their coating lines, and I've not seen anything definitive about the effect of the earthquake on Fuji....it's worrying that APS is a niche line which might also be fading away, since there seems no practical way to roll-your-own in this size.

 

[Brac]

Unfortunately according to the UK site of Kodak, they have discontinued making APS film after 15 years of production. See:-

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=164/7010/6994&pq-locale=en_GB

It appears Fuji are still making their APS films, but as railwayman3 says, in the UK you can only find 25 exposure cassettes in ISO 200. There is also at least one supermarket (Sainsburys?) selling their own brand version. In Japan, and maybe elsewhere, you can still get the film in 40 exposure cassettes in ISO 400. For example see:-

http://www.japanexposures.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=133

Ferrania (Solaris) still list their version on their site, but whether it is still available is perhaps debateable:-

http://www.ferraniait.com/solutions/photography/photograph.htm

There were some very nice APS cameras made, and if we want to encourage Fuji to keep making it, we will have to keep buying the film. Unfortunately I still have a large quantity in the freezer, so can't really do that at the moment.

As for 126, Ferrania were the last manufacturer and I don't know of anyone who still has some in stock. I was lucky, I got a few rolls from Frugal a few weeks back, but the postage, Royal Mail handling fee and customs charges were so high, it wasn't really a very sensible purchase. At least with 126, you can roll your own (if you're brave enough) but there's not really a way you can do that with APS. I hope Adox do get round to re-introducing 126 but I won't hold my breath. I think 110 is higher on their agenda, and even that seems still quite some way off.

 

[stavrosk]

Ferrania is not a good quality film. It is not worth saving by buying Ferrania. My experience with the ISO800 135 Ferrania was bad.

 

[brucemuir]

How do you guys process it this stuff?
Do you have reels for these oddball sizes?

 

[railwayman3]

Ferrania is not a good quality film. It is not worth saving by buying Ferrania. My experience with the ISO800 135 Ferrania was bad.

That's a bit harsh.....I don't think that there is any really bad color neg film, so many quality-problems are down to poor processing and, particularly, poor printing. Fast colour neg can also sometimes be a bit tricky, particularly with any hint of under-exposure.

(And, we're talking of Ferrania for, maybe, being the only soures of obscure sizes unobtainable elsewhere. )

 

[railwayman3]

How do you guys process it this stuff?
Do you have reels for these oddball sizes?

126 fits a 35mm reel, 110 fits a 16mm reel (obtainable sometimes on Ebay).

APS is 24mm wide....never seen a reel for this, so you would have to use a lab with the suitable (deep-tank?) gear....or I have heard of someone taping it to a length or processed 35mm. Rather fiddly, I guess.

 

[Brac]

Ferrania is not a good quality film. It is not worth saving by buying Ferrania. My experience with the ISO800 135 Ferrania was bad.

I haven't used the ISO 800 film so can't comment on that. On the other hand I have used films made by them in all the slower speeds many times over the past 40+ years. They tend to have fairly high contrast, which is not necessarily a disadvantage, but the quality was perfectly acceptable. As a west European manufacturer, they wouldn't have lasted for decades if they were producing poor quality film.

 

[brianmquinn]

Last I checked Blue Moon Camera and Machine still had some 126 film for sale.

 

[hpulley]

Yes, there's still some for sale, a few cartidges here and there but I don't know of any 126 still being made. With Adox looking at making 110 I hope they'll consider making 126 again too, not really much different, just a different mould for the cartridge and no need to slit down unperforated 35mm film, just tape it onto backing paper and roll it.