No bargains in 120 ISO 100 film!

[fotch]

Back in the day, wasn't a lot of mail order film "Gray Market" imported film and that was always cheaper than the USA version. Don't think that happens anymore.

 

[Paul Howell]

I audibly sighed reading this. No, I am most certainly not missing the point, because I created the point: Ten rolls of film delivered to my door here in the USA. Not with other products purchased at the same time. From the only sources I know of. Quite open to brand, but I only found Ultrafine, Arista.edu, and FP4 at the lower prices. Yes, there are more expensive options like T-Max, and, oh, what the hell, let's throw color in, too.

My point, quite well stated I erroneously thought, was that all options fell into a narrow price range, $4-$4.80. And by buying 12 instead of 10 rolls, the highest became mid-range, $4.41. For Ilford and not virtually generic of unknown origin (Ultrafine.)

There have been intimations of deals with Shanghai, but no one has stepped up and sourced it here in the USA. And considering the comments suggesting problems with expiration date emulsion collapse and paper backing imprinting, why would I want to save a few shekels?

So, I'm perfectly open to some additional information and sources. I don't claim to know everything. And, BTW, I'm probably one of the poorest APUG'ers around. I live on a not full bucket Social Security only. And I have a long life history of being niggardly. (Look it up if you think I'm being a racist.)

The day of bargain film is over, there are fewer firms making less film, the lest expensive film I would is rebranded Foma. From what I have read online seems to indicate that Ultrafine which may be Shanghai and Shanghai have quality control issues. A few years ago I know Ultrafine was Foma 100 and 400, had the blue base, not really sure what it is. I still buy Ultrafine paper and have a 100 foot roll of Ultrafine 400 which seems to be fine.

So to answer you question there are no real bargains in 120. You can save a few dollars buying in bulk, then as you said shipping may zero out any savings.

I shoot Foma 200 in all formats, usually under Freestyle house brand, I order 10 rolls at a time to get the most out of handling and shipping. If I need a higher ISO I by Tmax 400 locally roll at a time.

 

[gzinsel]

In the words of Bill Clinton "i feel your pain" Remember: to bite lip right after sayin'

 

[Jager]

The significant diminishment of the film market, and in particular the complete removal of Joe-Six-Pack (the guy who knows nothing of photography and just wants the cheapest drug store film he can find for family snapshots in his point-and-shoot camera) from the marketplace, is probably why the remaining film choices fall in a fairly narrow price range.

The film market today is both smaller and more 'serious.' Less sensitive to price.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

With all the comments of me not being open minded, or not understanding how I could save money with alternative ordering systems, no one has stepped up and shown a source in the US for less expensive 120 films.

 

[eddie]

What price point are you looking for?

 

[DREW WILEY]

All 120 film seems cheap to me. Just how many shots does one have time to print anyway? If it ain't worth printing, don't shoot it.

 

[eddie]

All 120 film seems cheap to me.

I agree. I think it's a small price to pay, considering the possibilities a roll of film offers.

 

[Sirius Glass]

All film, not just 120 which I use the most, is cheap now especially considering the market reduction.

 

[pbromaghin]

There actually is a bargain in 120 film. It's the fp4 being about the same price as the others.

 

[MattKing]

I think 120 T-Max 400 is so good, that it is a bargain even when it costs $9.00 CDN a roll.

 

[DcAnalogue]

I'd definately go for FP4+

Btw. I bought an Agfa Isoly III. She seems like new but she doesn't work (iris don't open) and the repairer told me he can't do the work 'cause he hasn't the spare part which is broken....

 

[Paul Verizzo]

@ several of you: I'm not looking for any price point, I'm not unhappy with price or the value of, say, FP4. There have been posters here saying that my research was faulty and there actually are bargains to be had. Bargain may or may not equate to value. Some pointed out a price but failed to include shipping. I'm just asking, again, where are these bargains to be had in the USA? (Crickets.......)

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Looking for other stuff, I found Shanghai 120 film on eBay. A lot of pricing and number of rolls variations offered, but the bottom line is a typical price per roll is $3.50. All the way from China and maybe going through X-ray scanners. To save 90 cents a roll from Ilford? No thanks. Or, you can buy a roll of expired domestically for only $5!!!!!

 

[flavio81]

I think 120 T-Max 400 is so good, that it is a bargain even when it costs $9.00 CDN a roll.

Similarly, I think that 120 ILFORD HP5+ is a bargain at whatever price it is selling right now, because i'm buying three emulsions on the same roll:
- a pretty good ISO 400 all-purpose film
- a nice ISO 200 film with beautiful tones
- an ISO 1600 film with good sharpness

I always keep about 4 or 5 HP5 rolls in a small box in my bedroom, and always make sure I put an HP5 film in my camera bag, as the "do-it-all, emergency-kit" film.

 

[flavio81]

I've got a simple cure for people who complain about the cost of 120 film: shoot 8x10 for awhile.

So true.

The cheapest film is the one that works for what you intended it for. What is expensive is wasting a bunch of printing paper that doesn't match the characteristics of the film well to begin with.

I feel this applies more to color negative printing.

 

[wblynch]

Just buy fresh ACROS and be so happy with the results you'll forget about the price.

For me anymore, it's the lost opportunities when I use sub-standard or expired films and find out all was unusable. You can't just go back and retake your photos.

I have a couple hundred rolls of film that are substandard by my standards and I'm ready to chuck them out just to eliminate future disappointments. Where is the bargain?

 

[Paul Howell]

@ several of you: I'm not looking for any price point, I'm not unhappy with price or the value of, say, FP4. There have been posters here saying that my research was faulty and there actually are bargains to be had. Bargain may or may not equate to value. Some pointed out a price but failed to include shipping. I'm just asking, again, where are these bargains to be had in the USA? (Crickets.......)

I don't think there are any bargains. The lest expensive is Foma rebranded as Freestyle house brand, and not that much cheaper then other brands. Arista 100 is 3.49 to 3.69 depending on speed. Tmax 100 at Freestyle is 5.57 a roll, Foma 100 is $4.29 for 100 while Delta 100 is $5.49 as is FP4, you might find a few cents cheaper from other sellers.

I happen to like Foma 200 so getting it .80 cents cheaper helps pay for shipping. Sometimes film will show up on Craig's List.

But no bargains in 120-meaning there is no little know web site that sells Tmax 100 for $3.50 a roll.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I just picked up a 5-pk of 120 ACROS rolls last nite at the local retail camera store for $30. ACROS is one of the more expensive 120 options, but the quality is superb. But heck, on 6x7 format, that's only 60 cents a shot. Back in the freezer I had a half brick of EU 120 film still on hand that I probably paid much less for per roll. But which is actually cheaper to use? The EU film has a distinct risk of embedded dust specks etc, a poorer antihalation backing - all of which means I'd shoot something twice as a form of insurance. And of course, sometimes one just doesn't get a second chance. I actually used that particular film for awhile before the quality control dropped, but it did drop. So at this point, which is the better deal? Obviously, the more reliable film, regardless of the price per roll. What works best is generally what turns out to be the most cost-effective. And just like other product categories, one has to be a little suspicious of wheeler
dealer web pricing that is suspiciously unrealistic. It might be poorly stored old product or a bait listing with no actual inventory. After you
factor in the cost of travel, development, then cost of printing paper and supplies... a few pennies of savings on suspect film might just turn
out to be a very expensive error.

 

[flavio81]

I asume that with EU 120 you mean EDU Ultra 120 which is Foma 100.

I never had any quality control issue with Foma films and i've used them many times. OTOH the Foma 100 film appears to be really ISO 64 and the Foma 400 film about ISO 250; which means that if used at EI 100 and 400, respectively, there is a high-contrast look that may not always be suitable to the subject.

I never had any issues with the (lower) antihalation strength of said films; it is not as pronounced as it is on Shangai B/W film, for example.

Just buy fresh ACROS and be so happy with the results you'll forget about the price.

Same for Acros; i feel that when used at EI 100 the contrast is a bit high, looks more like a ISO 64-80 film. (In other words it would benefit from reducing development time). Still, i've used Acros many times, the quality of the image is excellent; but sometimes the contrast is a bit hard.

On the other hand I find Delta 100 and HP5 to give perfect contrast at the box speed. Delta 100 is now my reference ISO 100 film. I need to use Acros at EI 64, though. I bet that would give amazing images.

 

[gzinsel]

sure, there are no deals in the USA for film. I chalk that up to: people want to make money, which probably isn't much. By the time you add brick and mortar costs and a Customer service charge + the cost of film, its always a little more than you want to spend. As i posted earlier a five pack of rollei superpan is 168 grams, buy 10x (5packs) and a box of 350 grams. there is your 2 kilos. With shipping costs thats 4.13 a roll compared to freestyle of 8.99 a roll. Thats my savings from MACODIRECT.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

sure, there are no deals in the USA for film. I chalk that up to: people want to make money, which probably isn't much. By the time you add brick and mortar costs and a Customer service charge + the cost of film, its always a little more than you want to spend. As i posted earlier a five pack of rollei superpan is 168 grams, buy 10x (5packs) and a box of 350 grams. there is your 2 kilos. With shipping costs thats 4.13 a roll compared to freestyle of 8.99 a roll. Thats my savings from MACODIRECT.

Or I just buy 12 rolls of FP4 from Adorama and I'm done with it, $4.41/roll.

 

[gzinsel]

ya fp4 is a good deal @4.41

 

[BetterSense]

I used to buy bricks of Foma 100 when it was $3 per roll. Now the price gap has narrowed to where HP5 from B&H makes the most sense. The extra 2 stops is nice, grain is similar. Ilford are really pricing themselves into my cameras. I used to run nothing but tmax, but I'm getting used to Ilford now.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

I used to buy bricks of Foma 100 when it was $3 per roll. Now the price gap has narrowed to where HP5 from B&H makes the most sense. The extra 2 stops is nice, grain is similar. Ilford are really pricing themselves into my cameras. I used to run nothing but tmax, but I'm getting used to Ilford now.

Amen.