I Just Took the Plunge (Film Stockpile)

Andre Noble · Sep 2, 2012

I used credit my credit lines and bought from Adorama, Samy's and B&H:

35mm Fuji Provia 100F
35mm Kodak E100G
120 Fuji Reala 100 (there was a url link here which no longer exists)
120 Kodak Portra 160 (almost as big as Reala stash)
120 Fuji Provia 100F
120 Fuji Velvia
120 Kodak E100G
120 Kodak E100VS
4x5 Kodak Portra 160
4x5 Kodak E100G
4x5 Kodak Tri-X 320 TXP
4x5 Fuji Astia (last box Samy's)

Aside from the TXP 320 these are all slower emulsions by design. I further determined what to stockpile based on looking at my old stuff and also considering what is likely to be scarce in not too distant future. Most crucial for me was scoring some medium format Reala and Portra 160.

Total dent in the financials is about 5K. I am not married and don't own a car - which explains it.

I sincerely hope that the Lord (or Santa) blesses all of you with the funds (or credit) at the right time to stockpile your favorite films as well.

Andre

Alan W · Sep 2, 2012

That's a lot of film-now all you need is time!

dynachrome · Sep 2, 2012

This reminds me of what happened some years ago when it looked like Ilford might end production. Stores everywhere were wiped out. Reala may be my favorite color print film in 120. It isn't quite as fine grained as Ektar 100 but it's easier to use. You have to work at it to get a bad result from Reala. The way things are going you might have to develop the slide film yourself before the last of it is used. I have a dedicated film freezer which has been full for a while. The overflow has gone into the freezer of the second refrigerator which we keep in the basement. My local camera store has a stash of hundreds of rolls of film which a customer left with them. As I understand it the whole batch has been frozen for a long time. Looking though it is like going back in time. I am in the process of testing some of the fim now. The problem is that I don't have freezer room for much more film so I have to think about getting another freezer if I want the film.

Andre Noble · Sep 2, 2012

Alan, correct, all I need is time AND self discipline.

dynachrome, yes I remember the Ilford bankruptcy scare of ~ 2004 too. Ironic that Ilford will be the last of the professional B&W film producers very soon. I expect a noticeable price increase on Ilford B&W films at that time and going forward from them.

RattyMouse · Sep 2, 2012

Is it really the time to stockpile such an amount of film? (Ektachrome excepted).

SkipA · Sep 2, 2012

Andre, you cannot say with certainty that Ilford will soon be the last of the professional B&W film producers. Fuji makes B&W film too. Mirko said that ADOX is going to come out with new films, starting with a 100 ASA film. And it is too early to say what will happen with Kodak.

Andre Noble · Sep 3, 2012

RattyMouse said:
Is it really the time to stockpile such an amount of film? (Ektachrome excepted).

Yes. It's time for self sufficiency.

Once Kodak E6 stocks are completely gone from dealer warehouses (a matter of days for some films), Fuji will jack up the price of their abbreviated E6 films, and then follow suit by discontinuing their E6 films altogether a la Kodak. This is not from any official announcement, but based on a long recent history of Agfa, Kodak, Fuji, etc.

As for the C-41 films, Kodak just signed a contract with the motion picture industry to manufacture color films for them to the year 2015 - but Kodak included a clause stating that Kodak can discontinue making film any time before then... Kodak Portra 160 is almost $40 for a 10 sheet box of 4x5. Fuji doesn't even make color negative sheet film anymore.

Right after I bought most of Adorama's stock of 120 format Fuji Reala 100, they raised the price overnight of their remaining stock by about 15%. I couldn't believe my eyes, so I checked my invoice. Yes it's true.

The writing is on the wall, and with a braille plaque beside it.

Andre Noble · Sep 3, 2012

dynachrome said:
This reminds me of what happened some years ago when it looked like Ilford might end production.

There is one important difference: Manufacturing professional quality color film is exponentially more complex and exacting than making B&W film.

Back then we were worried that we would lose ILFORD B&W film - not B&W film itself.

RattyMouse · Sep 3, 2012

It is depressing, but it appears that saving color film is too hard for this world. Progress must march on.

georg16nik · Sep 3, 2012

Good for You, Andre!
Last week, Mirko wrote on the Fotokemika thread that Fuji Europe has announced 20% price increase on all silver halide products!

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Andre Noble · Sep 3, 2012

So that's where the overnight price increase on 120 Fuji Reala at Adorama came from! Makes sense now.

rbultman · Sep 3, 2012

Maybe paying a little more to fewer vendors means that film will be around a little longer.

Roger Cole · Sep 3, 2012

SkipA said:
Andre, you cannot say with certainty that Ilford will soon be the last of the professional B&W film producers. Fuji makes B&W film too. Mirko said that ADOX is going to come out with new films, starting with a 100 ASA film. And it is too early to say what will happen with Kodak.

Foma too.

Black and white will be ok, I think. I take great solace in this as it's my primary interest anyway.

Andre Noble said:
Yes. It's time for self sufficiency.

Once Kodak E6 stocks are completely gone from dealer warehouses (a matter of days for some films), Fuji will jack up the price of their abbreviated E6 films, and then follow suit by discontinuing their E6 films altogether a la Kodak. This is not from any official announcement, but based on a long recent history of Agfa, Kodak, Fuji, etc.

As for the C-41 films, Kodak just signed a contract with the motion picture industry to manufacture color films for them to the year 2015 - but Kodak included a clause stating that Kodak can discontinue making film any time before then... Kodak Portra 160 is almost $40 for a 10 sheet box of 4x5. Fuji doesn't even make color negative sheet film anymore.

Right after I bought most of Adorama's stock of 120 format Fuji Reala 100, they raised the price overnight of their remaining stock by about 15%. I couldn't believe my eyes, so I checked my invoice. Yes it's true.

The writing is on the wall, and with a braille plaque beside it.

I don't think you can draw those conclusions. It may go that way, maybe not. The price of Fuji E6 has already increased rather dramatically.

And I'm pretty sure Fuji DOES make their color neg films in sheets, they just don't sell it in North America. It wasn't long ago folks were talking about buying all they wanted from Japan. When it was priced similarly to the excellent (superior in my view) and readily available Kodak color sheet film that didn't make a lot of sense to me. Now, however, it might.

And I hadn't priced color 4x5 in a while. Why on earth is Portra a dollar a sheet more than Ektar??

wogster · Sep 3, 2012

RattyMouse said:
It is depressing, but it appears that saving color film is too hard for this world. Progress must march on.

The issue with all film, is that they tend to manufacture film in a master roll that is about 10' (3m) wide and a mile (1.6km) long. A 35mm 36 exposure roll is 35mm wide and 1.5m long, so you get a yield of about 900,000 rolls from one master. Film from the date of manufacture to expiry is about 3 years, meaning it's marketable for about 2 years, so you need to sell 450,000 rolls of each emulsion per year. 120 is about the same area, but has a different thickness and you can't use one for both types. You need to sell one crap load of film in order to make it viable. When you had billions of people using billions of rolls of film a year, this wasn't a big deal. Now that the users are down to a few thousand, the chances of selling that 450,000 rolls is getting difficult. So "specialty" and unusual films are not selling as much as they should, and they are getting discontinued. The issue really though is that eventually you need a smaller master roll, if you can economically make a master that is say 70cm wide and 160m long, then you can make a lot more different emulsions economically even with a smaller market. Either that or you need the ability to change emulsions on the fly, something they can't do right now.

Andre Noble · Sep 3, 2012

Roger Cole said:
... Why on earth is Portra a dollar a sheet more than Ektar??

Because it's next to go.

Roger Cole · Sep 3, 2012

Andre Noble said:
Because it's next to go.

Maybe, maybe not. That doesn't make a lot of sense, or even any sense, unless you WANT an excuse to cancel it. Make the price 50% more, then cancel it because it doesn't sell as well.

georg16nik · Sep 3, 2012

Roger Cole said:
Make the price 50% more, then cancel it because it doesn't sell as well.

total Kodak sense and might be Fuji sense as well.

Roger Cole · Sep 3, 2012

I understand raising prices because of increased materials cost. But unless Portra uses significantly more silver than Ektar, or higher priced dyes or something, that doesn't hold. And raising prices to shore up profit on falling demand is a vicious circle, or at least it is when there's any competition at all. Sadly, that may be why Kodak can do it, but at what point does it get cheaper to import Fuji C41 sheet film yourself from Japan? Maybe it already is? (That's assuming it's still available - it was not too long ago.)

Most of the time when I shoot color in my 4x5 camera though it's 120 using a roll film back. The exception is that I have a box of Ektachrome 100SW I bought here that I've been shooting some of (not processed yet though) and if the scene demands a wider view than my 90mm gives on 6x7. I do have some Portra in the freezer. I have some Optima 100 too but I'd read it didnt' freeze well. I just shot a roll of frozen Optima 400 220 and the results were beautiful.

Rick A · Sep 3, 2012

The OP can use his credit card to buy me a stockpile of film!!!

Ap507b · Sep 3, 2012

Found the local Poundland selling Agfa Vista 200 135 36 exposures for £1. Dated May 2014 so I stocked up with 10 of them. Seemed a bargain at that price.

Andre Noble · Sep 3, 2012

Dear Rick, The OP is about the price of a brand new Toyota in debt right now due to investing in traditional technology photography over the last 3 years. In the future, if you need a roll of film, PM me. I'll send you one on the house.

PS Roger, my suspicion is that Kodak may have coated & cut the last master roll of their color 4x5 sheet film, aren't telling anyone just yet, and are maximizing their cash flow by selling out the remainder of their stock at about 100% more than cost of same box few years ago.

BrendanCarlson · Sep 3, 2012

Hey Andre, is that offer open to anyone else?
I love reala, it's my favorite film for portraiture. I just wish it was still available in 35mm.

Rick A · Sep 3, 2012

Andre Noble said:
Dear Rick, The OP is about the price of a brand new Toyota in debt right now due to investing in traditional technology photography over the last 3 years. In the future, if you need a roll of film, PM me. I'll send you one on the house.

PS Roger, my suspicion is that Kodak may have coated & cut the last master roll of their color 4x5 sheet film, aren't telling anyone just yet, and are maximizing their cash flow by selling out the remainder of their stock at about 100% more than cost of same box few years ago.

I'm obviously kidding, anyone with a credit card and wishing to spend massive quantities of his next three years of paychecks needs to be jibed. FWIW, I have a 14 cuft deep freezer filled with film and paper.

Andre Noble · Sep 11, 2012

Wow! 14 Cubic feet is huge amount. I'm at almost 5 cubic feet of pure film. I'll have to look into paper stockpiling feasibilty. I've heard various things: Good for 30 years. vs Good for only few.

PKM-25 · Sep 12, 2012

After spending around $12,000 this year on film, paper and chemistry, I took inventory of film in my freezer of 22 CU feet. 800 rolls of 35mm, 2,800 rolls of 120 and 3,400 sheets of 4x5, about 26K in film alone.

I think I am set...no debt either, thank god....no more room in the freezer though, lol!

I Just Took the Plunge (Film Stockpile)

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