Kodak Tri-X... whatever's left of it

NikoSperi · Nov 4, 2006

Things I still use from the Big Yellow House in the west have by now been pared down to three: what's left of my Technical Pan coming out of my freezer, HC110 goop, and the trusted and lovely Tri-X films.

Now I now we are all prepared for a shrinking market for traditional B&W products, with the ensuing effect on the prices they need to fetch for production to remain viable... but

I realized I'm through my stock of 120 film in 400TX and go to my usual supplier to re-order. It has been about 6 months since the last time I stocked up. Now I'm looking at 4.25 a piece! That's $5 a roll!!! That's also more than twice the price of HP5. Thinking my dealer had been smoking too much, well, stuff... I checked B&H and the proportions are about the same.

$5 per roll of 400TX basically means I am going to make alot of effort to get that HP5 working for me. I just hope my HC110 doesn't run out soon!

At what point of niche market pricing, do you start to feel the pinch?
< /rant >

Oren Grad · Nov 4, 2006

NikoSperi said:
That's also more than twice the price of HP5. Thinking my dealer had been smoking too much, well, stuff... I checked B&H and the proportions are about the same.

As of right now, B&H lists 120 HP5 Plus for $2.75, TX for $2.95 and TXP for $3.19.

NikoSperi · Nov 4, 2006

Ok, so I exagerate a little...

But my normal supplier is showing 4.15 for 400TX vs 2.75 for HP5. If I go to France and ProPhot, you've got 4.50 for the 400TX (admittedly the HP5 is expensive too there)... SilverPrint has 400TX at 2.76 GBP vs 2.02 for the HP5

That's not a cheap roll of Tri-X. I recall paying 2.50 about... not long ago.

Bromo33333 · Nov 4, 2006

NikoSperi said:
$5 per roll of 400TX basically means I am going to make alot of effort to get that HP5 working for me. I just hope my HC110 doesn't run out soon!

At what point of niche market pricing, do you start to feel the pinch?
< /rant >

It cost about $4.25 here in Rochester. This isn't a big deal - as the 400CN is about $3.80 per roll. Ilford is about the same, IF you can get it ....

Anyway - just back my first roll of Tri-X and I can understand what the fuss is about - it's really nice - and the shadows and highlights seem to saturate rather softly, and what grain there is (not a ton), is very pleasant.

Earl Dunbar · Nov 4, 2006

Finding Ilford here in Rochester is very difficult (wonder why!), maybe Rochester Photgraphic has it. I love Tri-X, so am looking for a killer deal on 100ft bulk in 35mm. The Kodak store (for employee purchases) wants $42 for it, and it's ... special order. That price isn't all that good compared to Freestyle or some others.

buze · Nov 5, 2006

I also noticed that price tendency in the UK... At 7 daysshop the TriX 120 is now more expensive (£2.15) than Astia 100F (£1.95) -- thats kind of a wierd thing to notice I know, but it seems to me that Astia is a bit more complicated to manufacture !

Bromo33333 · Nov 5, 2006

Earl Dunbar said:
Finding Ilford here in Rochester is very difficult (wonder why!), maybe Rochester Photgraphic has it. I love Tri-X, so am looking for a killer deal on 100ft bulk in 35mm. The Kodak store (for employee purchases) wants $42 for it, and it's ... special order. That price isn't all that good compared to Freestyle or some others.

Rochester Photographic has Ilford (bought Delta 100, 400, 3200 there), so does RIT Campus Connection (bought HP5 there). The skinny about RIT is that the store is being taken over by Barnes and Noble - so they think the photo store will be shutting down (damn shame, really) in December.

Gerald Koch · Nov 6, 2006

Don't blame Kodak but blame the EU. I suspect that US products are highly taxed. At one time Kodak had manufacturing in Europe which keep prices down, but that has since been closed. The prices here in the US for HP5+ and Tri-X are comparable.

Petzi · Nov 6, 2006

Gerald Koch said:
Don't blame Kodak but blame the EU. I suspect that US products are highly taxed. At one time Kodak had manufacturing in Europe which keep prices down, but that has since been closed. The prices here in the US for HP5+ and Tri-X are comparable.

The import duty on most finished film products is 5.8% and that applies both ways. It's a fairly high duty rate compared to other goods, but not enough to explain vastly different retail prices.

I have some old T-Max 100 film "Made in England"...

Bromo33333 · Nov 6, 2006

Petzi said:
The import duty on most finished film products is 5.8% and that applies both ways. It's a fairly high duty rate compared to other goods, but not enough to explain vastly different retail prices.

I have some old T-Max 100 film "Made in England"...

May be the Kodak of Europe charging more.

Mamiya of America charges considerably more for their cameras than elsewhere - for not rationla reason that because they think they can.

It may come down to that. It could also be that Ilford is discounting their prices to "buy" some market share from Kodak, too.

Well, sorry to hear that the prices aren't the same - will it cause you to switch?

Petzi · Nov 6, 2006

Bromo33333 said:
May be the Kodak of Europe charging more.
...
It may come down to that. It could also be that Ilford is discounting their prices to "buy" some market share from Kodak, too.

I know places where Ilford film costs about the same as Kodak film, with the tendency that Ilford film is a little more expensive.

With regards to Ilford, I have the impression that the distributor in my country makes a good profit. Ilford films appear to be a little cheaper in the US, where the distributor even has to calculate the duties in.

The problem that I have with Kodak's distribution chain is, that the Kodak organization in my country does not sell to retailers. I have tried to buy film products from them. They told me they sell only to distributors and gave me a short list of these, but most of these distributors are actually retailers. They also told me that, in fact, they are in the process of terminating all but the biggest accounts. Kodak's policy may contribute to the Kodak film being more expensive in your place. When a retailer has to buy the product from an expensive source other than Kodak, it will be reflected in the retail price. I have heard a story from Great Britain, where a retailer told me that dealing with Kodak had become just too difficult, so they dropped Kodak film altogether...

Kodak Tri-X... whatever's left of it

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