New film purchases for our shop

[JMC1969]

Hello,

I am Jody and work at FotoTechnika in Jacksonville, Fl. In the past 8 weeks or so we have started carrying film and supplies and are not yet known for doing so. We have already stocked a good portion of Fuji films (consumer & pro) and the full line of Ilford. It has gone well so far and we are ready to expand by a little bit. I am going to put in an order by days end to pick up on some of the less used B&W films including:

Rollei Films
Efke
Foma
Adox
Legacy

Efke is a good source for odd size films like 127, 2.25x3.25,3.25x4.25, 5x7.

I've heard many great things about the Rollei films.

So my question for the Florida people (being that you are our demographic) is what you could see yourself purchasing locally? We have yet to sell a single roll of Ilford Pan, so I don't see much of a point in purchasing any of the other brands Pan films. I'm not sure there is a market for Ortho films. Other than that I would love to hear suggestions on which we should be looking at for you guys and gals in our region.

Please continue this list even if the day goes by, I will be placing a order today, but future orders are to come and all input is greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
Jody
http://www.fototechnika.com

 

[Photo Engineer]

OMG, no Kodak film?

Oh well.

PE

 

[Jeff Searust]

Stick it on your web site.

I buy most of my film on-line (even though I work in a camera store) because of the different kinds I like to use and that my store does not stock Efke or Adox or any of the un-orthodox films.

 

[AgX]

We have yet to sell a single roll of Ilford Pan, so I don't see much of a point in purchasing any of the other brands Pan films. I'm not sure there is a market for Ortho films.

So if there is no market for Pan films, and you are not sure about Ortho films, what films do you want to sell??

 

[johnnywalker]

I think he's referring to Ilford Pan F, not panchromatic films in general.

 

[JMC1969]

I think he's referring to Ilford Pan F, not panchromatic films in general.

Yes sorry, I missed the "F".

 

[ArtO]

When will you be adding film prices and ordering info to your website?

 

[Photo Central - AT]

As a photo store owner, I will politely disagree that Pan F doesn't have a market. We sell quite a lot of it (not, say, at the level of HP5, but enough that I certainly wouldn't want to run out of it). We find that it takes a bit of prodding to get people out of their comfort zone (again, HP5 and the like), but after they try something like Pan F, they're usually back for more.

Just my two cents.

Andrew Toews

Darkroomcentral.ca
Photocentral.ca

 

[JMC1969]

Photo Central - Please don't get me wrong, I am not so bold as to say Pan F doesn't have a market. My purpose in the statement was that, as of the moment, we don't seem to have a clientele that is interested, therefore, with a limited amount of funds i don't think we will be purchasing other brands of Pan film. However, to further explain myself, I am referring to the PAN labeling as in ISO 25 mostly regarding the Rollei Pan 25. Though I do want to get some Rollei films.

At this point it looks like a list may look something like:

Rollei R3 (35mm & 120)
Retro 100 & 400
Efke A whole range including the odd sizes. A little of a lot
Legacy Pro 100 & 400

Photo Engineer wrote "OMG, no Kodak film?" Actually yes, We are getting Tri-x and Plus-x along with the Legacy above. I have no experience with this film, but we will see.

Fomapan a few different things (not sure yet)
Limited Adox but hopefully some.

Possibly Fortepan
Possibly Arista because students want it.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I went into one of hte big stores here in Rochester, walking distance from where the film is made by Kodak, and there were only 4 rolls of film on display. There were 4 rolls of Kodak 400 speed B&W, I forget which one there and nothing else. They said that it was moving so poorly that the only got it special order.

Oh well.

PE

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

I went into one of hte big stores here in Rochester, walking distance from where the film is made by Kodak, and there were only 4 rolls of film on display. There were 4 rolls of Kodak 400 speed B&W, I forget which one there and nothing else. They said that it was moving so poorly that the only got it special order.

Oh well.

PE

When I lived in Santa Fe, the three camera stores in town all carried a full range of film, including Ilford Pan F. They carried a full range of black and white, color neg, and transparency films in 35mm and 120 and a smaller range in 4x5. I worked at one of the stores for a while and we sold a LOT of film, especially black and white.

I'm back in Indiana now. My hometown is a midsized city...250,000 people, and the one store in town still carries a full range of Kodak black and white film, but has stopped selling Ilford and Fuji black and white. They still sell Fuji color films. I think the colleges here keep the BW sales high.

 

[JMC1969]

For the record, We have started these sales because the last "real" camera store closed last December. Since then, it has been near impossible to find Chrome even in 35mm. Medium format (anything) is harder than that and no one in town carried 4x5 (anything). We felt somebody in town needs to, so here we are. As well, we are the only ones processing all of the above in house. I think it is vital we stay that way. We aren't going to make a killing on sales by any means, but if it promotes the use, we want to be the ones doing it.

 

[JMC1969]

When will you be adding film prices and ordering info to your website?

Sorry, I missed this earlier somehow. Right now we are re-tooling the main web site, it is up and has most info but not the retail. So for the time being, I have it posted on our Flickr account at: http://www.flickr.com/people/fototechnika/

Thank You for the interest,

Jody

 

[Venchka]

Educate your clientel. Slow films are good. Also, talk about films by speed, not PAN. It is confusing. Why don't you give the new Kodak emulsions a try? Everyone is talking about them on the internet. Tmax 400-2 for example. Surely that information is seeping into folk's brains and they might like to give the new film a try. It seems to me that you are really going out on a limb by stocking so much of the East European films. Or maybe not. You will be the only people stocking those for miles around.

Personally, I buy American. I can't be alone. Can I? If Kodak made paper I would buy that too.

 

[Lee L]

You should probably look up panchromatic and orthochromatic to clear up some confusion.

Panchromatic emulsions are sensitive to blue, green, and red light. Panchromatic films are historically speaking a newer development than orthochromatic films.

Orthochromatic emulsions have no, or very low, sensitivity to red light, recording well in blue and green. They were developed before panchromatic films.

You can have panchromatic or orthochromatic films at a wide range of film speeds, so speaking as if "Pan" is a clear reference to slower films is confusing.

Delta 3200, TMZ-3200, HP5+, Tri-X, TXP, and nearly all medium and high speed films are panchromatic.

Lee

 

[JMC1969]

Venchka, We may move in that direction at some point, but as it is, we are stocking Fuji for color. We can't stretch ourselves out to thin at the moment, it has only been a few weeks since we started this. Trying to expand color is a little more difficult than the B&W. We are however expanding the B&W side of things because it has more of a demand around here. There are 6 colleges in Jacksonville and surrounding area that still offer film based photography classes. Students like to be different (Rollei, Adox) and cheap (Foma, Arista, I'm not critizing, literally less expensive) and have asked for it. We also have been asked for Fuji Neopan Acros 100 4x5 quick loads which are on the way. Kodak B&W at the moment will have to hold at Tri-x and Plus-x, they are old stand bys and we are happy to offer them.

Jody

 

[JMC1969]

Delta 3200, TMZ-3200, HP5+, Tri-X, TXP, and nearly all medium and high speed films are panchromatic.

Lee

Lee, I understand and sorry to all for the confusion. Basically I forgot to Put the "F" in the original post. As in a typo and was referring to alike films as Ilford Pan F when I suggested not purchasing more of these films. I am sorry for the confusion, I am just trying to find what will be best suited for servicing the ones that are most likely to purchase from us.

Thank You,
Jody

 

[Lee L]

Lee, I understand and sorry to all for the confusion. Basically I forgot to Put the "F" in the original post. As in a typo and was referring to alike films as Ilford Pan F when I suggested not purchasing more of these films. I am sorry for the confusion, I am just trying to find what will be best suited for servicing the ones that are most likely to purchase from us.

Thank You,
Jody

OK. I just thought I saw that reference carrying on past that being mentioned. Sorry if I dragged that out.

With the demise of Panatomic-X and Agfa 25, I'd think that Pan-F+ would be the strongest seller at that end of the speed range. I have used, and really liked results from Efke 25, but you might find good sales staff and some good sample prints would help to sell it to a general audience, although students generally like to experiment and try new things, at least up until about two days before the project's due. You might want to stock and promote some developers that do really well with the slow films, and offer them with suggested development times for your customers. Dilute Rodinal with these slow films can be remarkable. As was mentioned earlier, educating your customers can create a market, and sales.

Lee

 

[MattKing]

I find it interesting that Pan F is selling in Manitoba in the winter, whereas it isn't selling in Florida in the winter.

Matt

 

[jovo]

My wife, who is a Jacksonville native, and I will be relocating there when I retire in several (read when I can afford to ) years. I'm thrilled beyond description that you even exist now that so many others have closed. When I get there, I'll haunt your store like one of Scrooge's business partners. You go guys!!!

 

[2F/2F]

I went into one of the big stores here in Rochester, walking distance from where the film is made by Kodak, and there were only 4 rolls of film on display. There were 4 rolls of Kodak 400 speed B&W, I forget which one there and nothing else. They said that it was moving so poorly that the only got it special order.

Oh well.

PE

I am surprised they had any. Those who shoot black and white are probably only getting their film from specialized shops.

If Kodak still made 320T, 160T, Portra 100T, Pan-X, and Ultra and Portra Endura, then I would have something unique to purchase from them. As it stands, they have only three products for which I will pay: Tri-X in 220 format (which Ilford does not have), 400-speed color sheet film (which Fuji does not have), and Supra Endura paper (which I know and love, although it is not a unique paper like Ultra or Portra). I like Kodak fine, but find it easier to continue to use Ilford. Also, while I would prefer if Ilford were a U.S. company, I want to give them my monetary support. If Kodak went under or ceased analog production tomorrow, I don't think anybody would be left all that high and dry. I certainly would not shed any tears. Both Ilford and Kodak are skeletons of their former selves, sadly. I wish one of the two would just die so that everyone would have to go to the other. I would be more prone to use all Kodak if they at least had kept the black and white darkroom stuff available. All those great varieties of papers just shitcanned...ugh.

 

[Phillip P. Dimor]

Sweet! That would be the closest photo shop around for me. I'm not picky, I do like Kodak Tri-X the most but HP5 works for me. I'd buy Pan F but that's just me.

I think that having a fairly good supply of darkroom chemicals is good.
Non-Ilford and Kodak stuff that I could easily see myself buying would be;
Ethol LPD paper developer, Rodinal film developer..
Also Photographer's Formulary kits are nice (Van Dyke Brown/Kallitype/Platinum) too.

Negative sleeves, hanging bars.. I seem to buy sleeves and bars every couple of months. You can never have too many!

 

[Mahler_one]

Jody: Please inform your black and white photographers about the two great analog black and white workshops being given in Daytona Beach at The Southeastern Center for Photographic Studies. Let's take this off the thread. If you are interested, email me privately so that I can provide some of the details. There is a very active Norther Florida APUG group with whom you should make contact.

Ed

 

[Michael W]

At this point it looks like a list may look something like:

Rollei R3 (35mm & 120)

Legacy Pro 100 & 400

We are getting Tri-x and Plus-x along with the Legacy above. I have no experience with this film, but we will see.

According to another thread on this forum the R3 is being discontinued. If I was a retailer I'm not sure I'd want to invest my funds in an emulsion that will get harder to stock.
Also it seems pretty certain that the Legacy Pro films are generic versions of Plus-X & Tri-X so perhaps you are double handling by stocking both. I would consider just stocking the Legacy films as they will be cheaper & more likely to appeal to the student clientele. As long as you explain what they are it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[doughowk]

Jody, at a recent Cummer event with Jay Shoots, another photographer mentioned Fototechnica carrying film. This is really good news. My only problem is your hours - except for a mad dash across the river at lunch time, my only spare time is Saturday. I've tried most of the films you've mentioned, but am trying to standardize on Ilford FP4 and the new Kodak T-Max 400. Good to hear you plan to carry some of the odd size formats.