Is there a way to cut down on film costs?

Marcelo Paniagua said:

Is quite good. High contrast so I develop on POTA developer. Use it at ASA 40. Film is thin and tend to curl so need to put between books.

A couple of examples:

Aviphot 40 Gallery

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Very nice. I don't dabble in POTA though.

In order to get 2009 prices all you need is a time machine. Film costs will never return to decade old prices, or if film suddenly drops in price it will be bad news. Means that like 2009 when Agfa, Konica, Forte, ceased making film and Kodak and Ilford had rolls of excess film that they were forced to dump under 3rd party bands and were losing money. End results is that film may not survive. The fact that folks are willing pay up to $20 a roll is a good sign.

I shoot just about everyday, most days just a frame or two of 35mm, other days a roll. To cut costs I use Ultrafine bulk rolls, currently Finesse 100 and 400, I use Kentmere 400 for my point and shoots that need Dx coded cans. For MF and LF I use Freestyle house brands. When traveling, Tmax 400 and 3200.

Paul Howell said:

In order to get 2009 prices all you need is a time machine. Film costs will never return to decade old prices, or if film suddenly drops in price it will be bad news. Means that like 2009 when Agfa, Konica, Forte, ceased making film and Kodak and Ilford had rolls of excess film that they were forced to dump under 3rd party bands and were losing money. End results is that film may not survive. The fact that folks are willing pay up to $20 a roll is a good sign.

I shoot just about everyday, most days just a frame or two of 35mm, other days a roll. To cut costs I use Ultrafine bulk rolls, currently Finesse 100 and 400, I use Kentmere 400 for my point and shoots that need Dx coded cans. For MF and LF I use Freestyle house brands. When traveling, Tmax 400 and 3200.

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Well if you do go back to 2009, be sure to buy all the Hasselblad cameras and lenses you could ever want and then buy more to sell now to pay the expenses.

paper negatives ………….

Use a tripod and treat every shot as a special exposure. Whether 35mm, 6x6 or 4x5 it is possible to keep the costs of film down by being more deliberative when you are shooting.

I have always done that - and used a tripod and a cable release on most of my photography.

My policy : if the shot isn't worth making a print of, don't bother pressing the shutter button. Second, think like a sniper instead of a machine-gunner; you'll get more good shots that way.
Third, switch to 8x10 color film like I sometimes use. At over 30 dollars per processed sheet these days, that will make you think twice before taking just another "what the heck" shot.

Another way to deal with the prices of film, etc. is to make good career and investment choices so that the cost does not impact your lifestyle or the bottom line.

I shall probably ramble.

Firstly, hats off to the poster who mentioned why film seems expensive. Many may prefer not to believe it, but the nature of film manufacture (about which we enthusiasts often know surprisingly little) and contraction of the market mean those £2 or $2 rolls of film in the supermarket are never coming back.

Sure....20 years ago I could send a C41 film off for processing at a cost of £4.50 and get a free roll back. Or I could buy a roll of film and get it processed via a shop near work for £1.99. those were the dying days of film being the only viable image capture option for most people. Then came digital, and in particular phones...which perform all the functions that used to be done by box cameras, point & shoots and so on. There is upswing in film usage, but it is never going to be 1999 again. We need to accept that.

So with the gloom out of the way, how can you save? As others say, buy in bulk. For 35mm I generally have two or three bulk loaders going....with Fomapan 100 in one, Fomapan 200 in another and Ilford HP5+ in a third. If I wasn't shooting in a dim jazz club I'd go for Kentmere 400 instead of HP5+ but I want something I can push to "ludicrious speed". I am strictly amateur, except when someone sees one of my photos and offers to throw money at me (has happened, but I refuse to engage in pre-paid gigs). So while one can argue about the magic of film, I do this because I enjoy it. And while I am not struggling for money, nor am I in any way rich. The days of visiting Paris on EasyJet and shooting 6 rolls up the Eiffel Tower are gone. But then, frankly, only about 10 of those photos were really good anyway. I might as well have more carefully shot one roll and a bunch of digital shots.

So here's what I do. When I am running out of one of those B&W films, I shop around. I look for the best deal and buy another 50 or 100 foot bulk roll. Part of the reason why I use both Foma 100 and 200 is I'll buy which ever I can get a better deal on. I've settled on processing in Ilford ID-11 or Microphen, which are pretty cheap and still widely available. I'll buy three 1 litre kits when I see it at a reduced price. Lasts me months. Maybe 9 months or a year shooting at least a roll a week. I use Adofix fixer which comes as a powder so like the developer, postage costs are low. Again I buy a year's supply at once and it is really cheap. Yes, I could go even cheaper by going the caffenol route and mixing my own fixer as I have access to lab chemicals at work. When doing reversal work, I do actually mix dichromate bleach at work. Honestly, I shoot upwards of 80 rolls of B&W film a year and spend less than £45 on processing it.

Then there was the fact that I got lucky, or was clever. I bought my Jobo tank in 2001 when nobody wanted them and the local shop was selling them cheap. I similarly got my bulk loaders in the 2000's when film gear was being offloaded as everyone "went digital". The deals i got were frankly obscene looking at today's prices. BUT you can still get lucky on eBay or find a relative/friend who has one to spare. I've been gifted dark room equipment in the last five years by people clearing out deceased relative's houses or finding their old stuff in the attic.

If you don't mind hybrid work, then scan your own negatives. I was given an Epson flatbed scanner that handles 135 and 120. Given. But again, you can pick them up cheap on eBay etc. If you really do want to do darkroom prints (and I do occasionally, there is nothing else quite like them) I find that expired B&W paper works great. A friend found boxes of 1970s bromide paper in his deceased father's darkroom and gave them to me. I'm set for years.

For C41 colour, buy more than you need when the film is available....because supplies are sporadic. Look for deals on short dated film, especially if you're sure you'll shoot it in the next 12 months. Find a lab you like at a cost that works for you. I am lucky that for £4 I can have *any* format (110, 120, 127, 135) processed and scanned for £4 flat fee at a lab I can walk to. But that is unlikely to be the case for all. If you find a lab locally where you can actually visit and talk with the staff, that's a huge bonus as you can get almost bespoke scanning (if you wish to have scans made).

For medium format B&W, I use Fomapan mostly and buy bricks when it's short dated. I will happily use Fomapan 400 in 120 as the grain isn't intrusive as it can be in 135. For colour, I may well switch to kodak Gold but I've been using Lomography 400 and Kodak Ektar....often short dated or on sale.

Keep a look out, bid low on auction sites....expect to lose but once in a while you get lucky. Find real old style camera shops, they sometimes have expired bulk rolls. Mine had some 400 foot cine rolls of HP5+ about five years ago, found during an audit of their basement, selling them for £20 a pop. Similarly rolls of 15 exposure Agfa Vista (the real stuff) selling for £1 a go. That's lucky, very lucky, but it happens where you have a proper old camera shop that might have old stock somewhere out back.

Something else I do.....when *anyone* asks if they can buy me a small birthday or Christmas gift...I suggest film....literally *any* camera film will do. I'll find a use for it. I also occasionally get gifted expired film when people find it, and even cameras.

Just my experiences. YMMV depending on where you live, how generous your friends are, how much your national post costs and so on. But possibly some ideas.

McDiesel said:

Feel blessed to enjoy 36 shots (!) for less than $100.

In fact, we all must experience a jolt of guilt every time we pay less than $20 per a roll of film. $20 per roll would actually a far better price. Every shot is a miracle. When it comes to film pricing, I welcome the normalcy.

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Mirko (Fotoimox/Adox) stated that film prices of 2020 were ones that could sustain a healthy, future-minded photochemical industry.

Marcelo Paniagua said:

For 120, look for guys reloading 120 from 70mm rolls (or do it yourself). This is not easy but not impossible. Last batch I got this route was Agfa Aviphot 40 which is a great film not seldom seen/used.

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If you can regularly get 70mm film and use a medium format camera that uses “film backs”, the 70mm ones are currently very cheap. The film canisters can be loaded with a shorter length, although some film is lost in the loading process.

AgX said:

Mirko (Fotoimox/Adox) stated that film prices of 2020 were ones that could sustain a healthy, future-minded photochemical industry.

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Things are a little different now than in 2020. Goods and transportation are much more expensive.

Yes, but his statement on the 2020 price situation at least gives for the first time something as a reference. Even if limited to Adox.

One sure way to save money on film: Engage brain before snapping.
From my observations, this can be difficult for those moving from digital to film, who tend to take multiple shots with the hope one will be satisfactory. Another observation is that people who move from film to digital are a little more selective.

snusmumriken said:

I think if I was shooting a roll every day, I would expect to be selling images to at least cover my costs. Otherwise I would sit myself down and have a frank introspection about why I was doing it.

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I shot for a living for 18 years, AF Combat Photographer, freelance then the wires, when I stopped working as a PJ full time I freelanced, sold to stock houses. Today it is just a hobby, I only shoot to keep me engaged, a daily walk, ect ect ect. My daily cost is less than a pack of cigarettes or about the same for a 6 pack of beer, not the micro brewery stuff the cheap stuff. I have a friend who smokes 2 packs a day and drinks a 12 pack, my addiction is much less when I consider what he will pay in medical expenses.

Marcelo Paniagua said:

High contrast so I develop on POTA developer.

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What the heck is POTA?

It is a a contrast reducing developer from the mid-60's, applied on films with steep characteristic curve.

The name is the abbreviation of "Photo-Optics Technical Area", a department where the inventor of that formula worked.

Used to get normal contrast from high contrast films like aerial and litho. Drawback is that it loss some speed, about one step.

the great thing about apug - there's something to learn every day!

Sirius Glass said:

Well if you do go back to 2009, be sure to buy all the Hasselblad cameras and lenses you could ever want and then buy more to sell now to pay the expenses.

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Well if I had a time machine, back to the 20s for a dozen Leica As new in the box, then 1946 for Kodak Ektars with lens along with Bell and Howell Fotons, jump ahead early serial number Nikon Fs, maybe Sps with motor drives, pick up a dozen AA prints, along with Hasselblads.

momus said:

It wasn't that long ago when I would shoot a roll of B&W film every day. I'd come home and develop/proof scan the negs, then try to get some prints made that same week. The 35mm Tri-X was rebranded as Arista, and only $2.50 a roll. 24 exposure was perfect for a daily shooting schedule.

But when I looked at what it would cost to do that today I came up w/ crazy numbers.....between $2500 and $3000 just for the film, not even counting paper and chemical costs.

So I thought of making the film. Just build a jig to cut edge perforations into a clear base, then coat it and stuff it into used canisters. Hardly seems to be a viable replacement though, maybe just something to try and see if it could be made to work.

Is there any way to make this less expensive, other than buying a quantity and putting it in the freezer?

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Stop making more than one exposure 'just in case'...or perhaps "bracketing' 'just in case' your meter reading was off by 1/3 or more.

Ken

pbromaghin said:

the great thing about apug - there's something to learn every day!

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There is no such thing as APUG. Hasn't existed for years.

One can either ask redundant questions on PHOTRIO to find out what POTA is or just use a search engine:

Sal Santamaura said:

There is no such thing as APUG. Hasn't existed for years.

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You are wrong. To Sean's own statement it still exists. It only has been combined, not deleted, with the Hybrid and the Digital Forum, under one umbrella.

Apug thus is the section of analog-only users at Photrio.

Sal Santamaura said:

One can either ask redundant questions on PHOTRIO to find out what POTA is or just use a search engine:

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One can just say nothing here at all and just "Google" stuff all day long. I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of search engines by now.

Providing the link to a RELEVANT page is a reasonable answer. POTA is also "Parks on the Air"

as well as many threads on THIS site https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/modification-of-pota-developer.44088/

Paul Howell said:

I shot for a living for 18 years, AF Combat Photographer

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You worked fighting against auto-focus photographers? Somebody give this man an award, please.

Well done.