Samsung color film

Paul Howell · May 15, 2006

A local dollar store has a bin bull of Samsung 400 expires in 2008, packaged in Mexico, but I can't find the country of manufactor. Any ideas? If it is made in China I will give it a pass, but who knows maybe repacked Fuji.

Chan Tran · May 15, 2006

Many Kodak films are now made in China too. I don't feel like using them but what do you guys think?

Paul Howell · May 15, 2006

Chan Tran said:
Many Kodak films are now made in China too.

4 or maybe 5 years ago my Mini Lab had a pre fronter Fuji printer which would read the bar code at the bottom of the negative. At that time Lucky Film was reading as Kodak Kodacolor (my guess the 70s or 80s vintage), the 100 was ok for a 8X10, but the 400 was just awful. It may be a Kodak film, but I don't know how many generations behind these films are. The unnamed big box store that sells Afga under the Polaroid name brand is selling off the last of their Afga stock and I am looking for a cheap shoot around color film to replace Afga 200. At a buck a roll the Samsung is attractive, but if it is just rebranded Lucky I will still give it a pass, unless Luck has caught up. I did buy a roll, I guess will shoot it have it developed and then print a 11X14 myself and have my lab print the same negative 11X14.

firecracker · May 15, 2006

Actually I really like the Chinese-manufatctured Kodak film: Kodak Gold (cheap film) is as Kodak as you can get! The quality difference is very slight, and it's good for daily snap shots.

Stop bashing Chinese (or any other Asian countries') productions, or you'll start to sould like Democrats.

firecracker · May 15, 2006

If you can find unexpired film rolls in a dollar store just like that, that's your advantage. Go play with them and have fun!

Paul Howell · May 15, 2006

Stop bashing Chinese (or any other Asian countries') productions, or you'll start to sould like Democrats.[/QUOTE]

I never bash Fuji, and for that matter I liked Sterlin (Indian B&W paper no longer in production) and I even like Lucky 120 B&W ASA 100 film. I will buy a couple more rolls for testing. For a $1.00 a roll what the he##.

firecracker · May 15, 2006

Paul Howell said:
Stop bashing Chinese (or any other Asian countries') productions, or you'll start to sould like Democrats.

I never bash Fuji, and for that matter I liked Sterlin (Indian B&W paper no longer in production) and I even like Lucky 120 B&W ASA 100 film. I will buy a couple more rolls for testing. For a $1.00 a roll what the he##.[/QUOTE]

Sorry I should've put mark to ease out a bit. I was kidding.

In Japan, there are 100 yen (which is even less than a U.S. dollar, about 80 cents) stores everywhere, and they sell all kinds of dollar-store goods. They are sometimes helpful when I need to buy cloth pins, small beakers/plastic cups, etc for my darkroom.

But I've never seen film there. I'm curious. Maybe I need to dig deeper in their bins.

Paul Howell · May 15, 2006

Big Box Stores that start with W sell 4 rolls of Fujicolor 100 for under $5.00 and the 400 for under $7.00 so the Samsung is not really all that much cheaper, but just enough for me to look into it. I am somewhat miffed that the Samsung box does not list the Country of Orgin, just where it was boxed.

firecracker · May 15, 2006

Paul Howell said:
Big Box Stores that start with W sell 4 rolls of Fujicolor 100 for under $5.00 and the 400 for under $7.00 so the Samsung is not really all that much cheaper, but just enough for me to look into it. I am somewhat miffed that the Samsung box does not list the Country of Orgin, just where it was boxed.

You know Samsung is a South Korean company, so just track down its production line. Shouldn't be hard.

By the way this is the first time I heard it's also in the film business.

People often talk about drug-store band films that are repacked Agfa and/or Konica. But what about the grocery-store band fims? Any interesting feedback and/or reports? And are they still cheaper than the bargained films by the well known film manufacturers like Kodak, Fuji, etc today?

srs5694 · May 15, 2006

firecracker said:
People often talk about drug-store band films that are repacked Agfa and/or Konica. But what about the grocery-store band fims? Any interesting feedback and/or reports?

It's the same story, just different names on the boxes. Locally, Walgreens drug store used to be Agfa, but they seem to have picked up a new supplier -- the boxes I see in the store now are marked "Product of Japan." I haven't tried any yet, so I don't know the real manufacturer. CVS and Brooks drug stores are both Konica, as is Shaws supermarket film. Star supermarket film is Ferrania. That's just the major drug stores and supermarkets near where I live (in Woonsocket, Rhode Island); I'm sure a complete list for the US would be several pages long, especially if it were to include camera shops, photofinishers, department stores, etc.

And are they still cheaper than the bargained films by the well known film manufacturers like Kodak, Fuji, etc today?

I don't know about "bargained films," but the supermarket and drug store films are seldom cheaper than equivalent name-brand film from B&H, Adorama, and other mail-order photo stores. Even Kodak and Fuji film is likely to be fairly inexpensive from these sources. The catch, of course, is that shipping on just one or two rolls would be ridiculous; it only makes sense to buy film by mail order when purchasing several rolls or when buying something else from the mail-order outlet. I suspect the average consumer wouldn't seriously consider buying film by mail, either, unless perhaps that person uses a mail-order photofinisher and buys film from them.

roteague · May 15, 2006

firecracker said:
You know Samsung is a South Korean company, so just track down its production line. Shouldn't be hard.

Good luck, Samsung is probably the largest corporation in South Korea, and has hundreds of business units.

Chan Tran · May 16, 2006

I don't think Samsung made the film.

battra92 · May 16, 2006

Paul Howell said:
A local dollar store has a bin bull of Samsung 400 expires in 2008, packaged in Mexico, but I can't find the country of manufactor. Any ideas? If it is made in China I will give it a pass, but who knows maybe repacked Fuji.

Interesting, my local Dollar Tree has Konica 200 film, which isn't bad at all.

I never liked the Agfa/Polaroid film that Wal*Mart sold. It was too "black" for me which made it impossible to scan well.

Brac · May 17, 2006

Paul Howell said:
A local dollar store has a bin bull of Samsung 400 expires in 2008, packaged in Mexico, but I can't find the country of manufactor. Any ideas? If it is made in China I will give it a pass, but who knows maybe repacked Fuji.

I have very occasionally seen Samsung labelled colour print film on sale in the UK. I still have an unused roll expiry June 2004 in 200 ISO speed. It is described as Samsung Prime Colour Film and is quite definitely made by Ferrania in Italy. According to the box it is also available in 100 & 400 speeds.

I don't believe Samsung make film themselves. And that means that the stuff you have located could have been sourced from someone else as rebranders tend to frequently switch suppliers. However we have now reached the stage when only a handful of firms still make colour film and in view of Samsung's high reputation it is not liklely that any film branded by them would be of poor quality so personally I would go ahead and buy some.

As far as Chinese colour film is concerned, Kodak have switched a lot of their lines, such as Gold 200, to their factory there, and one can assume that their normal quality control would apply because they are now bringing this stuff into Europe and no doubt elsewhere. The other big colour film manufacturer in China is Lucky. I have no experience of them but apparently there is a technology link up with Kodak.

Paul Howell · May 17, 2006

Brac said:
I It is described as Samsung Prime Colour Film and is quite definitely made by Ferrania in Italy. According to the box it is also available in 100 & 400 speeds.

Thanks a lot, I have used Ferrania for shoot around film and 400 speed for a U.S $1.00 is a good buy.

Paul Howell · May 17, 2006

Just a passing thought, Major Korean Company selling Italian Film packaged in Mexico and sold in a Dollar store owned by an Indian (Not Native American) family in Phoenix Arizona. Who would have thought?

firecracker · May 17, 2006

Paul Howell said:
Just a passing thought, Major Korean Company selling Italian Film packaged in Mexico and sold in a Dollar store owned by an Indian (Not Native American) family in Phoenix Arizona. Who would have thought?

And the film is purchased by... ?

Meanwhile I went a local corporate-chain photo store (like Ritz Camera) yesterday, not a Dollar (or 100 yen) Store to see what cheap films were available.

I found a roll of Konica-Minolta "JX 100" 100 ASA 35mm (24 exp.) color film for about 75 US cents, 80 some yen. It's not even a dollar or 100 yen. Shocking.

It's the manufacturer's official product, not re-branded one, but it doesn't say where it's made at all.

The 400 ASA version of that film was about a dollar and 10, 15 cents or so, or 130 some yen. There was a whole bin filled with these Konica-Minolta films, and I'm afraid to see if they all have to go in the next few months or so.

But I still prefer the quality of Kodak Gold series as a cheap color film for casual snap shots because I've been so used to using it.

Paul Howell · May 17, 2006

Konica may be dumping film as it leaves the market.

firecracker · May 17, 2006

Paul Howell said:
Konica may be dumping film as it leaves the market.

I agree. I might save some if the results would turn out good.

Paul Howell · May 17, 2006

Is Konica leaving the market or selling it's coating facility, or maybe make film for others?

Paul

firecracker · May 17, 2006

Paul Howell said:
Is Konica leaving the market or selling it's coating facility, or maybe make film for others?

Paul

I'm not sure if they will stop the production of film so soon because there are still several products available.

http://konicaminolta.jp/products/consumer/film/lineup/index.html

However, I don't see the "JX" film on their website. I guess it's really a low-end, abandoned product.

The only announcement I heard recently was that it's leaving the camera market and passing its handling to Sony. But I don't know too much in details.

Myrddin · May 17, 2006

I tried it

It processed like Kodak film.

Paul Howell · May 17, 2006

I have not seen any color film (at least in the last 7 or 8 years) that is not E6 or C41. There may be color Chinese or Russian Films that are not processed in C41 or E6 if transparencies. If Samsung is Ferrina it should be a good consumer grade film. I was a WalMart at lunch and found the new Polaroid shoot and toss cameras are made in China. I wont have an opportunity to shoot the roll of Samsung I bought last weekend.

Brac · May 18, 2006

firecracker said:
I'm not sure if they will stop the production of film so soon because there are still several products available.

http://konicaminolta.jp/products/consumer/film/lineup/index.html

However, I don't see the "JX" film on their website. I guess it's really a low-end, abandoned product.

The only announcement I heard recently was that it's leaving the camera market and passing its handling to Sony. But I don't know too much in details.

Here is what Silverprint, a specialist UK photo dealer, say on their website:

"The New Year continues the photographic gloom and doom of the last two years with the news that Konica-Minolta is making an orderly withdrawal from the photo market in all its forms, film, papers, even digital cameras. So sudden was the decision that many thousands of rolls of fresh film coming into the UK are now being dumped at bargain prices while the decks are cleared. So here, while it lasts, is Konica colour negative Centuria film, 135-36 either 200 or 400 ISO, fresh stock dated at the earliest 2007, at £10.00 for 10! Also in the sale, Konica Neo Super one-shot cameras, expiry dated end of 2007, £20 for 10."

The UK photographic business of Konica-Minolta has already closed. Camera servicing has gone to a 3rd party though I think eventually as far as digital cameras are concerned it will pass to Sony who have acquired the rights to the digital SLR business. At the time of the announcement by Konica-Minolta, they said I recollect that the film manufacturing business would gradually run down, and close on the 31st March 2007. I imagine they have contracts to fulfill with people for whom they supply film (a lot of people have Konica film branded under their own name). Certainly as far as the UK is concerned there is no longer an official channel for its import. If you look at the ebay UK site, it is awash with people trying to dump large quantities of the stuff and with some of the more specialist emulsions the prices are not as reasonable as Silverprint!

Brac · May 18, 2006

Paul Howell said:
I have not seen any color film (at least in the last 7 or 8 years) that is not E6 or C41. There may be color Chinese or Russian Films that are not processed in C41 or E6 if transparencies. If Samsung is Ferrina it should be a good consumer grade film. I was a WalMart at lunch and found the new Polaroid shoot and toss cameras are made in China. I wont have an opportunity to shoot the roll of Samsung I bought last weekend.

I don't think anyone now makes colour film that isn't compatible with C41 or E6. In fact you can count on the fingers of two hands (possibly one) those who still make colour film eg Kodak, Fuji, Ferrania, Lucky and for a few months more Konica-Minolta. Also Polaroid instant films and maybe there are one or two obscure factories somewhere else but I've never seen them mentioned. The last non-standard colour films were probably the Orwo slide films but they went over 10 years ago. Fortunately there is still a large number of companies making black & white film so there is plenty of choice there.

Samsung color film

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