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Henrys seems to want to make stuff unafordable. (HC-110)

cmacd123

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Location
Stittsville, Ontario
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just looked at their HC-110, 70 dollars a litre? last time I bought it from them it was 40 dollars

B&H will not ship it since the size went up and Freestyle wants 40 US dollars minimum for shipping.

Argentix only shows the L110 freestyle developer which is not the same stuff.

Are they any alternative ways to get this stuff.

I know part of this is the lousy Canadian Petro dollar
 
well did you consider or are you considering dropping "that HC110"? there are other developers out there that are just as good if not better.
 
I don't know anything about Canadian Petro dollars but I agree with you. That pricing is absurd.
 
I've never used it, but here in Japan it's $103 a litre (although it appears to be sold out/discontinued here). D-76, on the other hand, is $12 a package. I think I'll stick with that. I can get about 170 rolls developed (1:1) with D-76 for the same price as about 100 rolls in HC-110 (although that would depend on dilution too).
 
Contact Beau Photo in Vancouver to see if the problem arises from the distributor in Canada. http://www.beauphoto.com/frames/filmfrm.html

You will need to call or email them, because they have essentially given up trying to keep their stock availability and prices available on the web and up to date, since the Canadian dollar dropped.
 
I see these threads more regularly complain about the price of a $4 roll of film. I personally It's *not masculine* to complain about the prices of the photographer's equivalent of "milk, eggs, bread". We have an expensive hobby gentleman. EVERYTHING is overpriced.
 

This thread is about us Canadians complaining about prices here being 2.5 times as expensive (before adjusting for the different currencies) as prices in New York for a bottle of developer that is made in Germany.

Can you blame us for being grumpy?
 
TheFlyingCamera said:
If the price differential is that big a deal, have you considered driving across the border and making a long weekend of it in The City and doing a B&H run on your way out of town to stock up on everything you need?
Click to expand...
B&H ships to Canada, orders over $99USD qualify for free shipping. They even take care of taxes and duty. However, it would still be best, I think, for Canada to have a viable photo retail environment.
 
Prices in the US are going up on sundries and it seems like the Kodak stuff went way up (a lot of the liquid stuff is now made in Germany) but Dektol and D76 prices are on the way up, too. And Tri-X? Holy cow. A bulk roll of Tri-x or Tmax400 is now $125.99 after discount at Freestyle but 20 rolls of 24 exposure is "only" $84.40 (so it's almost $40 cheaper to buy the same amount of film preloaded!), So there's something squirrelly going on at Kodak. Contrast that with Ilford prices of $73.99 for Delta 400, $64.00 for HP-5 and $43.99 for Kentmere 400, which, as an instructor, I use a lot of Kentmere and it's 1/3 the price of Tri-X.
 
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BainDarret said:
B&H ships to Canada, orders over $99USD qualify for free shipping. They even take care of taxes and duty. However, it would still be best, I think, for Canada to have a viable photo retail environment.
Click to expand...

But B&H can be kind of quirky about what they will and won't ship, even to US destinations.
 
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TheFlyingCamera said:
If the price differential is that big a deal, have you considered driving across the border and making a long weekend of it in The City and doing a B&H run on your way out of town to stock up on everything you need?
Click to expand...
I usually do this once a year. My wife and I love to vacation in NYC and I pick up materials while I am there. This year I was planning to buy less because of B&H's new policy on free shipping to Canada for orders over 99USD. My wife and I take the train so why schlep everything back if it can be shipped for free? As it turns out, we cancelled our trip because of the Canadian dollar (we were planning for June). I can still get materials shipped of course, except HC-110, which B&H does not ship.

I moved to HC-110 initially because it was relatively inexpensive. If you mix directly from syrup, you don't wind up throwing out D76 which has aged out. However, with this new price, it might not be that cheap anymore. I am thinking of switching to D76 or some other developer.
 

But this is for **bulk rolls** which are a pain in the rear to use and have never been very popular compared to ready to go rolls that are less than $5 per. Same thing for 24exp rolls, super low demand = no real price discount. I think Kodak stuff is fairly inexpensive in terms of inflation overall.

Context people, please use it.
 
BainDarret said:
B&H ships to Canada, orders over $99USD qualify for free shipping. They even take care of taxes and duty. However, it would still be best, I think, for Canada to have a viable photo retail environment.
Click to expand...
I'm just saying that if there are certain things that A: they won't ship, and B: are prohibitively expensive in Canada/exponentially cheaper in the US, if you want them enough, why not drive/train down and get them in person? HC-110 isn't the only thing they won't ship... they have good prices on C-41 chemistry too, but they won't ship any of it (ironic that Freestyle in LA will ship it across country, but B&H won't ship it to Washington DC where it can go entirely by truck... and it's something they have to have shipped to them, so how come they can receive it from the manufacturer but can't ship it to customers??).
 
I HIGHLY recommend Argentix. The gentleman how runs it (Jacques) is very helpful, friendly and accomodating. On the website he writes:
"Your suggestions are welcomed. Feel free to write us. Your comments about our products and services help us serve you better."

I have requested that some obscure chemicals be added to the store (CD-3 and potassium permanganate), and Jacques has added them to the store. If you write to him and request that he stock HC-110, he may offer it. After all, I'm sure he wants to sell what people want to buy. Argentix really supports traditional photography in Canada, and there are a lot of things that I wouldn't have access to (or couldn't afford) without it.
 
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Argentix may very well be able to help, but only if the pricing problem doesn't originate from the Canadian distributor.

My conversations with local retailers indicate to me that the prices they have to pay are exorbitant, and constantly changing.
 

TFC, it might not be as easy as you think. I live only about an hour from the American border, but so far I have not been able to find any photo retail stores in the area less than about a 3-4 hour drive one way. If any Americans out there know of a good photo store in the Watertown area, let me know.
 
Just look for a service that accepts deliveries for you in the US border town. The one I use charges me only for the deliveries it receives ($4.00 USD for most parcels) and sends me an email whenever something arrives. I go across the line, pick up the parcel, buy gas for my car and anything else that makes sense due to US/Canada price differences and return to Canada, being sure to declare everything to the Canadian Customs officials. I rarely have to pay any duties or taxes.
The big advantage flows from the fact that I get to participate in the great shipping deals that US retailers offer their US customers.
Some of the online retailers give you problems with Canadian credit cards, but if their web checkout isn't properly set up for them, check with their telephone customer service, because they often are able to process the orders.

Over the years I've used my US address enough that it is a "Confirmed" address as far as PayPal are concerned. That makes eBay much easier as well.
 
I have just received the latest edition of the Darkroom Cookbook. I hope to start making up my own developers in the near future.
 

Context? Sure, let's use it.
Canada is different market size, different inflations rates and different prices. It is not less than $5 per here but after $10 for Kodak stuff per roll.
And with hands growing not from the rear it is easier, smarter and cheaper to use **bulk rolls**.
 
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