Save 220 film

[dynachrome]

The reason that some older Ektachrome films remain in production is that certain medical and scientific studies were begun years ago and these films were standardized on. These older films cost a lot more than the newer ones but if the people using them are willing to pay the higher prices then Kodak can keep them in stock at least for now. Newer studies would be done with digital equipment so don't look for the exact same current emulsions ten or twenty years from now.

As far as I know Fuji never sold black & white film in the 220 format. It is true that Kodak still makes TXP available for now in the 220 size but this is another reason Kodak wouldn't be interested in doing finishing for Fuji. I think Fuji and Ilford have cooperated in the past with chromogenic b&w films. If Fuji were to finish Ilford b&w films in 220 size, there would be no 220 Fuji b&w product competing with it. It seems doubtful that better availability of 220 b&w film stocks would do much to lower sales of Fuji b&w 120 films. You can see that 220 backs and inserts are selling for very little because the continued availability of 220 b&w film is very much in doubt. I will soon start shooting in the 6X7 format again so more choices in 220 b&w film would be welcome but I will enjoy using 120 film too.

I am sure that Ilford is sincere in its efforts to see whether 220 film production is practical but I wonder how much Kodak or Fuji are paying attention to this. They have other things to worry about now. It's like telling someone he needs to replace the washer on a kitchen faucet because of a slow leak. If his house were not on fire he might think about it.

 

[Brac]

Actually at one point Fuji Neopan 400 was made in 220 and was listed in Fuji's UK professional film brochure (I still have a copy). But it went several years ago. The fact that Fuji are still committed to making 220 film in colour neg & transparency but have discontinued it in black & white rather tells its own story. As for Kodak though they still have TXP available, at one time they also did Plus-X Pan in 220 but that seems to have faded away.

 

[PatTrent]

Hmmmm. Well, I for one, like to use 1 roll of 220 instead of two rolls of 120 when I can, because loading the Hassy 120 back outdoors with the camera in one hand any my dog's leash in the other isn't much fun! Although I can, and often do, shoot 120 film in the 220 back, this causes unnecessary wear on the 120 back. So I prefer to save it for 120.

I just bought 2 stainless 220 reels on eBay today, having bought them because I'm thinking the day may soon come when I need to develop my own color MF film (I already develop all my own B&W), and I'll have the reels on hand. But since I will now have the 220 reels, I was shopping online tonight for B&W film as well. SHOCK!!! The only thing I could find on FreeStyle or B&H is Kodak's 320 Tri-X. I'm sure it was "just recently" that I saw Plus-X and Ilford HP5+ in 220. Guess I haven't been paying enough attention to some of the APUG threads!

Even though the films may have been discontinued, I assumed I could at least find some "cold stored" specials somewhere, and I have room in my dedicated film freezer. :confused: Thankfully, I'll at least get to use the reels for color neg--at least for a while. :rolleyes:

 

[BarryWilkinson]

Fuji have announced that the 'new' Velvia 50 will be manufactured in 220.

Barry

 

[PatTrent]

Fuji have announced that the 'new' Velvia 50 will be manufactured in 220.

Barry

That's a good sign. Maybe we'll also get some B&W films besides the TXP 320 if Fuji can show there's still enough demand for 220. (I have nothing against TXP320, it's just that I prefer TX400 and HP5+ and FP4+, which is my very favorite).

 

[PatTrent]

Switch to 220 color. There are still lots of emulsions available, both negative and transparency material. Scan the negatives with a good quality scanner and you have the best of both worlds in that you can make either color or B&W prints.

Sandy

It just might come to that! The problem is that I love my traditional B&W films and my Rodinal and HC110 (Sorry, Sandy, I'm just not into pyro/cat), and processing color negs is more problematic for me. Not that C-41 developing is difficult. I just don't want to wait until I have enough rolls exposed to mix up a C-41 kit. With B&W, I often develop the film within 24 hours even if I only have a single roll of exposed film.

 

[Brac]

I just bought 2 stainless 220 reels on eBay today, having bought them because I'm thinking the day may soon come when I need to develop my own color MF film (I already develop all my own B&W), and I'll have the reels on hand. But since I will now have the 220 reels, I was shopping online tonight for B&W film as well. SHOCK!!! The only thing I could find on FreeStyle or B&H is Kodak's 320 Tri-X. I'm sure it was "just recently" that I saw Plus-X and Ilford HP5+ in 220. Guess I haven't been paying enough attention to some of the APUG threads!

Even though the films may have been discontinued, I assumed I could at least find some "cold stored" specials somewhere, and I have room in my dedicated film freezer. :confused: Thankfully, I'll at least get to use the reels for color neg--at least for a while. :rolleyes:

Unfortunately you'll be very lucky to find any cold stored "HP5+" in 220 anywhere, as it was discontinued a fair few years back. In the UK only a minority of dealers ever carried it, as demand was so low. You might be lucky with 220 Plus-X Pan as that only seems to have gone in the last year or so.

 

[PatTrent]

Unfortunately you'll be very lucky to find any cold stored "HP5+" in 220 anywhere, as it was discontinued a fair few years back. In the UK only a minority of dealers ever carried it, as demand was so low. You might be lucky with 220 Plus-X Pan as that only seems to have gone in the last year or so.

What's interesting it that Kodak's web site still shows 125PX being available in 220, yet a search on Google does not bring up any source for it. Since no one seems to be selling it, I don't understand why Kodak still shows it as available in 35mm, 120, and 220. Go figure! :rolleyes:

I just received delivery on a pro pack of 220-size 320TXP today. I prefer 400TX, given a choice, but it seems there is none.

 

[Brac]

I magine the reference to 220 Plus-X on the Kodak site is an oversight and that it should have been removed. As far as Tri-X is concerned, as far as I'm aware the 220 version was always 320TXP. I have never seen 400TX in 220.

 

[Chazzy]

Just when i had standardized on fp4+ and hp5+, Ilford stopped making it in 220. I guess my only recourse is to buy a whole bunch of the Tri-X Professional stuff in 220 and sheet film, and say goodbye to Ilford. Some people seem to like the 320 speed Tri-X, but I didn't really want to get used to a new film. I guess I could also pick up some extra 120 backs and send the bill to Simon.

 

[Brac]

Ilford stopped making all 220 films several years ago when the equipment broke (as explained in other threads on here) so any you are using must be a few years out of date. The cost of replacing being uneconomical, they have tried to see if outsourcing was a possibility but seem to have drawn a blank. It's unfortunate but at least these films are available in 120 and using extra backs (or inserts in the case of my ancient Mamiya 645) is really no hardship as they can be changed so rapidly.

 

[kevs]

The trouble is you can't get Panalure paper any more, so scanning is the only route. If we could get panchromatic paper again I'd be happy to do that.

David.

David,

I know this is an old thread, but are you aware of the new Ilford Galerie FB and Ilfospeed Rc pan papers? I realise they're only made in rolls atm, but if enough people badger Ilford maybe they'd cut some sheets for low-volume users.

Just a thought,
kevs

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

There's no 220 B&W film in San Francisco, at least not today. I figured I was a couple of blocks from Gasser's and if they were out I could go to Calumet, so I only brought a few rolls with me, but Gasser's said they don't stock much 220 anymore, and Calumet was out of TXP 220. Most of my shooting on this trip was this morning before the conference I'm attending starts, so I probably have enough to last me for a few days before heading to visit family in Las Vegas. Rather than take any chances with Casey's in Vegas, I ordered ahead from Freestyle.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I ended up not shooting much in Vegas, since I was busy most of the time with family things, but I've been shooting a lot more 220 lately since I got a Linhof 6x7 220 back, and it's been great not having to worry about running out of film so often and being able to process twice the film in half the time. I've had large backlogs of film processing in the past, and this is one way of avoiding that enervating situation.

 

[Curt]

How would Ilford Pan F 220 sell?
Is Kodak TXP the only 220 available now and how long will that last?
Maybe I better make some sculpture model out of my 220 inserts and backs.:confused:

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I think TXP is the only B&W film in 220, but Kodak and Fuji both have lots of color neg and slide films in 220.

 

[jim appleyard]

I'd buy Pan-F in 220, heck I'd buy all film in 220!

 

[SuzanneR]

I'd buy Pan-F in 220, heck I'd buy all film in 220!

me,
too!!

 

[Chazzy]

I'd buy Pan-F in 220, heck I'd buy all film in 220!

I'd settle for having HP5+ and FP4+ back in 220 again. Conversely, I'd be more likely to try the new Kodak T-Max 400 if they brought it out in 220.

 

[jmxphoto]

I shoot Tri-X 320 in 220, it's the only b&w film available in 220 that I've been able to find. I'd buy Fuji Neopan Acros in 220, but I'm not exactly shooting gobs of that either. I just prefer the fewer back changes and faster processing. I will admit that 220 on a stainless reel stinks but plastic ones don't make it any harder than 120.

I have a bit of color 220 haning around but I don't shoot that as much since the local lab went under. I have to send 120/220 color out and the closest place in Detroit charges a flat fee to ship it back (on top of actual shipping) so I tend to wait until I have a pile of color to process before I send it out. They also do 4x5 c41 and e6 which is why I initially started using them.

 

[jamesgignac]

As I don't process C-41 or E-6 myself (nor will I for the foreseeable future) I like to shoot my colour on 220 as my local lab charges 5.99/120 7.99/220, so 100% increase in shots for only 33% increase in price...this drops my per-shot processing expense from $0.50 to $0.33 - a considerable enough margin to make me want to shoot 220 colour as often as I can.

I develop my own b&w so that's less of an issue for me, though I still like the cost savings when purchasing film...I typically can buy my 220 for about as much as I would 120 when I purchase expired online, and a roll of 220 Tri-X 320 at my lab costs $10 compared to $9 for 120.

Also I have 4 inserts for my Bronica - 3 220s and 1 120, another big motivator for me to use 220

 

[jim appleyard]

... I will admit that 220 on a stainless reel stinks but plastic ones don't make it any harder than 120.

QUOTE]

Sometimes you can find the old Nikor ss tanks and reels on ebay. They're like a 120 tnk and reel on steroids; BIG! These are very easy to load, no harder than a 120. I was very surprised on my first attempt at how easy it is.

There is also a smaller 220 reel that fits in a standard 120 tank. These are a pain to load and I have one of these that just collects dust now.

 

[vdonovan]

If you're in San Francisco and need film, I encourage you to go to Just Film, on 8th near Folsom. It's a very small shop, but Volker tries to keep everything in stock. He's bailed me out more than once when I booked a shoot but then found I had no 220 TXP in my fridge.

He's not always there so it's good to call first.

More info at: www.justfilmsf.com

Calumet would be my second choice. I never go to Gasser. I'm not sure what business they are in any more, but it's not the photography business.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Thanks for the tip. They actually advertise on APUG, but for some reason I thought they were a mail order only business. Next time, I guess...

 

[GeoffHill]

On the Ilford tour last year, we got to see the 120 machine, which is about 7 ft high and 9ft wide, and is fed by huge rolls of film, backing paper, little sticky strips, foil wrapper and another machine that straightens the plastic reels.

Its very impressive to watch, and rolls the films totally automatically, and puts them in the foil wrappers, one every 3 or 4 seconds.

When I saw the machine, it was really obvious why is wasn't economically viable to build a new 220 spooling machine. I don't know if Simon would be prepared to post a pic of it here, but it's impressive.