Is Stouffer still around for customers?

[hky0125]

Hi forums,

I am new to the BW darkroom and I am learning basic sensitometry right now... I want to purchase a 4x5 Stouffer wedge for testing personal film speed and development time. I try to contact Donna from Stouffer by phone call and email (listed on their website) but get no reponse at all. Does anyone know if Stouffer still sell those step wedge to perosnal customers?

Many thanks!

 

[Kino]

I bought a 31 step wedge back in June without any problem. They WERE out of 21 step wedges at the time, but stated they were making more.

Contact them via email; worked for me.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Welcome to Photrio!

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Hi forums,

I am new to the BW darkroom and I am learning basic sensitometry right now... I want to purchase a 4x5 Stouffer wedge for testing personal film speed and development time. I try to contact Donna from Stouffer by phone call and email (listed on their website) but get no reponse at all. Does anyone know if Stouffer still sell those step wedge to perosnal customers?

Many thanks!

It must ten years or more since I bought from them directly.

 

[Romanko]

I bought a step wedge from them several years ago and they were very kind to ship it to Australia. Maybe you can try B&H Photo and other large suppliers that sell Stouffer products?

 

[koraks]

Does anyone know if Stouffer still sell those step wedge to perosnal customers?

Yes, they do. Just send in your order via email; they'll get back to you.

In Europe (so not all that relevant to you I suppose) there's also Danes Picta; I have one of their smaller step tablets (TG13), which is truly excellent. But their product selection for our purposes isn't quite as broad as it used to be, and prices are overall a little higher.

 

[hky0125]

Welcome to Photrio!

Thanks everyone. I feel so welcomed as I don't find so many people around me still interested in darkroom (sometimes I feel a little helpless), so thanks for responding!

I bought a step wedge from them several years ago and they were very kind to ship it to Australia. Maybe you can try B&H Photo and other large suppliers that sell Stouffer products?

I tried to search on those big online stores but they don't sell 4x5 size from stouffer unfortunately. BH sells Photographers' Formulary Step Wedge 4x5 but I didn't find any people talking about it nor any images of that product so I am a bit concerned. Plus they are more expensive for some reason

Yes, they do. Just send in your order via email; they'll get back to you.

In Europe (so not all that relevant to you I suppose) there's also Danes Picta; I have one of their smaller step tablets (TG13), which is truly excellent. But their product selection for our purposes isn't quite as broad as it used to be, and prices are overall a little higher.

I bought a 31 step wedge back in June without any problem. They WERE out of 21 step wedges at the time, but stated they were making more.

Contact them via email; worked for me.

Ok I will follow up with them on email... seems like they are pretty slow on emails. I send them one this Monday, tried to make some phone call through the week but no luck. Hopefully they can get back to me soon.


Again appreciate all your reply!

 

[DREW WILEY]

B&H orders them from Photog. Formulary. Both the B&H pictures and those on Formulary's own site show the Stouffer label. Formulary shows three sizes of them, including in the parallel row 4X5 version, which is particularly convenient to use. Bostick and Sullivan also list the 4x5 Stouffer item. Freestyle shows only the strip style 21-step 5-inch long version; but it's quite a bit less expensive than the full 4x5 inch size. There are probably other US suppliers who stock them.

 

[hky0125]

Just get reply from Donna and they are apparently out of office last week. Order one 4x5 step wedge and can't wait for it to arrive! Thanks everyone for reply.

 

[MattKing]

The businesses that service these sort of markets tend to have very, very, very small staffs, each of whom have many responsibilities.
Customer service staffing is quite expensive and mostly a thing of the past - and email contact actually reinforces that.
I generally don't evaluate these sort of businesses on the speed of their response, but rather whether they eventually respond within a reasonable time frame and, most importantly, the quality of that response.

 

[koraks]

very, very, very small staffs

I've always assumed in the case of Stouffer it's just a guy and his wife, really. Sounds like they were visiting their grandchildren or something.

Great to hear they re-surfaced; hope you get your step wedge soon @hky0125, and thanks for following up on it here!