New Arista Premium 100 and 400 films Made in USA

wogster · Jan 18, 2009

Anon Ymous said:
I can't see any problems, since they change the name when they change the source. There's Arista Premium, Edu, etc... Different films, different names.

You just don't know how lucky you are over there! A 100 ft roll of TriX costs about 60 euros over here! It's just a tad cheaper than buying preloaded...

That does make it a little easier, except just as soon as you get everything working just perfect with a film it's gone, because the contract ended.

PHOTOTONE · Jan 18, 2009

brofkand said:
How long has it been since Kodak has spent a dime advertising film, let alone B&W film?

The only print advertising I have seen is for the Kodak Portra films in such publications as Rangefinder and Studio Photography, and they are not regular, just once in a while.

erikg · Jan 18, 2009

wogster said:
That does make it a little easier, except just as soon as you get everything working just perfect with a film it's gone, because the contract ended.

Well, except for the Forte stuff, it's gone in name and price only, they still can be had under the makers label.

jim appleyard · Jan 18, 2009

wogster said:
That does make it a little easier, except just as soon as you get everything working just perfect with a film it's gone, because the contract ended.

Yes, that could indeed happen, but TXPX have been around for many years and I would expect them around for many more.

I'm also sure that the brains at both Kodak and Freestyle gave this a lot of thought; it could also be a long term contract.

wogster · Jan 18, 2009

erikg said:
Well, except for the Forte stuff, it's gone in name and price only, they still can be had under the makers label.

Providing you know for sure who made it, and what type of film it is, usually rebranded stuff doesn't make this known, people will guess, but there is no guarantee that the guess will be right.

clayne · Jan 18, 2009

jim appleyard said:
Yes, that could indeed happen, but TXPX have been around for many years and I would expect them around for many more.

I'm also sure that the brains at both Kodak and Freestyle gave this a lot of thought; it could also be a long term contract.

While we don't have access to Freestyle's sales data, I'm pretty sure that even if the contract ended they would renegotiate a new one. From what I can tell, Arista Premium 100 and 400 have been selling quite well.

erikg · Jan 18, 2009

With the Freestyle stuff we have more than a guess as to what is what, they have been very upfront about who is supplying the film they sell. There is also a wealth of knowledge and experience on this site. I think one can order Arista stuff with a lot of confidence, and when the deal is gone, the deal is gone, nothing lasts forever.

Poohblah · Jan 18, 2009

brofkand said:
How long has it been since Kodak has spent a dime advertising film, let alone B&W film?

Keep in mind that the marketing budget not only involves media advertisement (magazines, TV spots, etc.) but also marketing their film to distributors and vendors such as B&H, Adorama, Freestyle, and the smaller stores.

brofkand · Jan 18, 2009

erikg said:
With the Freestyle stuff we have more than a guess as to what is what, they have been very upfront about who is supplying the film they sell. There is also a wealth of knowledge and experience on this site. I think one can order Arista stuff with a lot of confidence, and when the deal is gone, the deal is gone, nothing lasts forever.

Other than telling you where the film is made, they won't tell you anything else. At least when I called them to ask which film the Premium 100 is under private label, they stayed mum.

It may vary from sales clerk to sales clerk though. I can say that one time I called them asking about pushing their EDU film, and the clerk was very knowledgeable.

Ed Sukach · Jan 18, 2009

I recently bought 100' of "Arista Premium ISO 400" - and I'm looking forward to wringing it out - and the results.

I also obtained 100' of "Arista Color Negative ISO 400". Anyone know anything about this stuff -Country of origin? -- just what it is...?

MattKing · Jan 18, 2009

If you look at the box on a lot of Kodak film, it says "Made in U.S.A." and the "Finished in Mexico"

The "finishing" involves cost. The warehousing, order taking (from distributors) shipping and customer support costs money too.

With respect to the Arista Premium, all or many of those costs will be borne by Freestyle.

As Freestyle has a very narrow, vertically oriented market, they can probably do a lot of these extra things more cheaply.

Cheaper costs, can lead to both cheaper prices, and higher profit.

On the Kodak side of the question, even with a cheaper selling price (to Freestyle), the limited set of costs can also lead to higher profit.

My $0.02 worth.

Matt

eye_of_wally · Jan 20, 2009

brofkand said:
How long has it been since Kodak has spent a dime advertising film, let alone B&W film?

I guess the "cash cow" of film is paying for Kodak's razor-thin margins in the printer, digital camera, etc. businesses it has entered.

Kodak has run lots of print ads over the last year or so in various Photography magazines I get for the new Tmax B&W films

Mike Keers · Jan 22, 2009

Bump. OK, I sprung for three rolls each of the 100 and 400, haven't shot any yet. I guess it's established the 100 is really Plus-X 125, so...should it be shot at the 100 Freestyle rates it, or the 125 of the Kodak?

jim appleyard · Jan 22, 2009

Mike Keers said:
Bump. OK, I sprung for three rolls each of the 100 and 400, haven't shot any yet. I guess it's established the 100 is really Plus-X 125, so...should it be shot at the 100 Freestyle rates it, or the 125 of the Kodak?

It all depends on what you like/want. If you are using a solvent dev, D-76, 1+0, you may want to shoot it anyway from EI 50-100. Everyone's meter is different, agitation, tap water, temp, personal style, etc., are all different.

Diafine will give a one-stop push with most film and I'd shoot PX at 250.

Rodinal, I would go for 80.

Bracket on the first roll and see what happens.

You'll have to test for yourself, I'm afraid.

Mike Keers · Jan 22, 2009

Jim, thanx for the answer. Since I'm still trying to get all my ducks in a row, I've just been shooting at the rated speed for any film, got enough other variables (Testing! Testing! ;-) at the moment. I'll do some bracketing tho. I've got a roll of the 100 loaded, maybe I'll try the 80-125 or so spread and see what I can see.

jim appleyard · Jan 22, 2009

Mike, check out these well-written articles about exposure and stuff. Lots of other good info on the site, too.

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps bracket.html

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps expo neg 1.html

ampguy · Feb 4, 2009

new arista films trix and plusx?

Has anyone verified if the new Arista films are indeed Kodak TriX and PlusX?

Thanks.

PHOTOTONE · Feb 4, 2009

Consensus is that they have the characteristics of Tri-X and Plus-X, the have the same development times as Tri-X and Plus-X and they are made in the USA, so what else could they be?

David A. Goldfarb · Feb 4, 2009

Four threads merged, title updated.

ssloansjca · Feb 4, 2009

Arista Premium 100 & 400 are now my work-a-day films. Love the stuff!

~Steve Sloan

Kycoo · Feb 4, 2009

I know everyone seems to be convinced that the Arista Premium 400 is Tri-x. After 20 rolls, I am beginning to have some doubt. At least in my process (using Lauder Formula 76), the Tri-x tonality is a little different compared to the Arista -- the Tri-X is closer to the T-Max "black and white video" look relative to the Arista. I also find the Tri-x negatives to curl more. The main difference is in scans -- I find Tri-x easier to scan.

I am not saying one is better than the other, but I am not yet certain the two films are identical. Anybody else feels the same?

Lee L · Feb 4, 2009

Kycoo,

Here's how they matched up for me in terms of development/density, posted earlier in one of the several merged threads. This would speak to the tonality issue.

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

I'm not catching on to your TMX B&W video reference, and I haven't scanned or planned for that as a main use.

Lee

Anscojohn · Feb 4, 2009

randerson07 said:
Awesome, I was thinking about bulk loading soon, this should give me an excuse to buy a loader and a 100ft.

*****
You don't need a loader to put film in the cartridges any more than you need something to take the film out. Keep it simple.

ampguy · Feb 5, 2009

thanks, very good information

I appreciate these details. Thanks!

Kycoo said:
I know everyone seems to be convinced that the Arista Premium 400 is Tri-x. After 20 rolls, I am beginning to have some doubt. At least in my process (using Lauder Formula 76), the Tri-x tonality is a little different compared to the Arista -- the Tri-X is closer to the T-Max "black and white video" look relative to the Arista. I also find the Tri-x negatives to curl more. The main difference is in scans -- I find Tri-x easier to scan.

I am not saying one is better than the other, but I am not yet certain the two films are identical. Anybody else feels the same?

New Arista Premium 100 and 400 films Made in USA

wogster

PHOTOTONE

erikg

jim appleyard

wogster

clayne

erikg

Poohblah

brofkand

Ed Sukach

MattKing

Moderator

eye_of_wally

Mike Keers

jim appleyard

Mike Keers

jim appleyard

ampguy

PHOTOTONE

David A. Goldfarb

Moderator

ssloansjca

Kycoo

Lee L

Anscojohn

ampguy

New Arista Premium 100 and 400 films Made in USA

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Moderator

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