I Just Took the Plunge (Film Stockpile)

Roger Cole · Sep 15, 2012

Yeahbut a 400' roll is over $400 (saw the price in another thread) and four times bigger than my bulk loader can handle. Might not be TOO hard to cut down to four 100' rolls but it would sure be an expensive mistake if you messed it up.

Someone might be able to make a few bucks cutting these down to 100' rolls for re-sell though.

madgardener · Sep 17, 2012

As long as the developing characteristics are the same as what was recently killed, I'd be willing to try a 100foot roll.
We ask Simon for everything else...Hey, Simon, how about Ilford buying a bunch of that film, splitting it and selling it in 100 foot rolls!

SkipA · Sep 17, 2012

Roger Cole said:
Yeahbut a 400' roll is over $400 (saw the price in another thread) and four times bigger than my bulk loader can handle. Might not be TOO hard to cut down to four 100' rolls but it would sure be an expensive mistake if you messed it up.

Someone might be able to make a few bucks cutting these down to 100' rolls for re-sell though.

Roger, it's $475 direct from Kodak, which seems to be as cheap as it comes. I haven't found cheaper.

This film seems expensive compared to the B&W bulk rolls that we're all used to buying, but it is less expensive than buying leftover stocks of E100VS or E100G. You get 18 rolls per 100 foot bulk, so you should get 72 rolls per 400 foot roll. That works out to $6.60 per roll. Factor in your shipping costs and it's a little more per roll, but still cheaper than the film that has been discontinued. What would it cost you to buy 72 factory loaded 36-exposure rolls of E100VS?

SkipA · Sep 17, 2012

madgardener said:
As long as the developing characteristics are the same as what was recently killed, I'd be willing to try a 100foot roll.
We ask Simon for everything else...Hey, Simon, how about Ilford buying a bunch of that film, splitting it and selling it in 100 foot rolls!

I'm sure it would be cheaper to buy in volume. Maybe someone like John Schwind of International Film Brokers might be interested in breaking down 5285 (the 35mm version of 100D) into 100 foot bulk rolls for resale to 35mm bulk loaders. He is already supplying regular 8mm and DS8 100D movie film made from 7285 (the 16mm version of 100D).

Old-N-Feeble · Sep 18, 2012

Alan W said:
That's a lot of film-now all you need is time!

Not time to play. He'll be far too busy paying off those credit card purchases. By the time he's old n' gray they'll be paid off but he'll be on his last legs. Then... some rotten brat will inherit all the film and either pawn it for a penny on the dollar or throw it all out as outdated junk.

wogster · Sep 18, 2012

madgardener said:
As long as the developing characteristics are the same as what was recently killed, I'd be willing to try a 100foot roll.
We ask Simon for everything else...Hey, Simon, how about Ilford buying a bunch of that film, splitting it and selling it in 100 foot rolls!

What we should do is ask Kodak to publish their discontinued emulsions under a creative commons licence. Then you could ring up Simon, send him a copy of the discontinued emulsion and ask him to get a master roll coated for you, split up and put into 36 exposure rolls. Rent yourself space for a few skids at a cold storage place, and you would have film for life. Of course you would need to buy a 20kg pail of CD4 to make sure you could get it all processed.

michaelbsc · Sep 18, 2012

wogster said:
What we should do is ask Kodak to publish their discontinued emulsions under a creative commons licence. Then you could ring up Simon, send him a copy of the discontinued emulsion and ask him to get a master roll coated for you...

I did a little work around a Fuji plant. Just getting ready to coat their own stuff wasn't a piece of cake. Coating a "foreign" product and getting it "right" is pretty unlikely.

Think about going from one bakery to the next looking at pastries. Even with the chefs using the same recipe the results vary. Ok, Bon Bons might be clearly recognizable as such, but they aren't identical in the way we've come to expect a roll of Plus-X to be identical from batch to batch.

Photo Engineer · Sep 18, 2012

Just as a small aside here, the EK cold storage has a very expensive backup power supply. They have their own electric plant that kicks in if the local power fails. It is seamless and very large. Oh, did I mention expensive??

It is coal powered.

PE

madgardener · Sep 18, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
Just as a small aside here, the EK cold storage has a very expensive backup power supply. They have their own electric plant that kicks in if the local power fails. It is seamless and very large. Oh, did I mention expensive??

It is coal powered.

PE

Interesting. So if they shut down their factory, they could always sell electricity to the local utility.

arpinum · Sep 18, 2012

madgardener said:
Interesting. So if they shut down their factory, they could always sell electricity to the local utility.

If a company runs a backup generator for more than ~40 hours in a year you are subject to increased EPA regulations, very very expensive ones.

Photo Engineer · Sep 18, 2012

The Kodak plant also supplies steam and heat to the entire Park along with hot water which is piped underground. The coal burners have really serious scrubbers to produce little pollution, and one site has burners for chemical disposal.

PE

Andre Noble · Sep 19, 2012

Stick with Fuji While U Can?

SkipA said:
... That works out to $6.60 per roll...

I know the Kodak E6 films are good, but one might be better off stockpiling Fuji Velvia 50 and Provia 100F.

SkipA · Sep 20, 2012

It depends on what you want, doesn't it? Those films are all different, although the Velvia 50 and the E100VS are in the same ball park. If you like E100VS and want to keep shooting it, the 100D is the closest you will get. There's no doubt it's more trouble to deal with the 100D though in 400 foot rolls, and for me personally, I agree with you.

Roger Cole · Sep 20, 2012

I'd like something like E100G/Elitechrome. If it's like E100VS I don't see the point when I can still get Velvia. I do get along somewhat better with E100VS than Velvia, but that seems to be a personal thing.

Poisson Du Jour · Sep 20, 2012

Andre Noble said:
I know the Kodak E6 films are good, but one might be better off stockpiling Fuji Velvia 50 and Provia 100F.

I'll second that. Pile up on Velvia 50, as I have and continue to do. But not Provia 100F good for night/star trails but a bit weak for palette-intensive scenic work.
My growing stockpile also includes the much-maligned, but often useful Velvia 100F which I use to elevate yellows, browns and greys.

I Just Took the Plunge (Film Stockpile)

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