Shanghai GP3 120 film It's back?

[Shoom]

Keep us updated.

I have a feeling that the fakes popping up are feelers to see how popular dropping the price would be and then slowly find a bearing where they could move a lot of film.

Estimated delivery is saying anywhere between now and May 31, so the final update on whatever arrives in the mail might take awhile.
For what it's worth, tracking says something was processed through a Beijing facility yesterday.

One thing that's odd is that the same seller seems to have identical listings at $10.99, $9.87, and $89.87. One of these things is not like the other.

 

[alanrockwood]

It seems to me that unless it gets below roughly $4 per roll you're better off buying Arista Edu Ultra or Kentmere film rather than Shanghai film.

 

[hacked - sepiareverb]

I got some 120 through the fella on LFF. I’ve shot one roll and most of a second, but have not been able to run any yet. Maybe later this week.

 

[Agulliver]

Watching this with great interest.....while my "go to" 120 films for my Zeiss-Ikon folder and Kiev SLR are Ektar, FP4+ and Rollei 400S.....I'd potentially love a cheaper film for my box cameras. And from what I see, GP3 is hardly a bad film anyway.

 

[RattyMouse]

It seems to me that unless it gets below roughly $4 per roll you're better off buying Arista Edu Ultra or Kentmere film rather than Shanghai film.

Kentmere is not available in 120 size.

 

[alanrockwood]

Kentmere is not available in 120 size.

Excellent point!

 

[fjpod]

Hmmmm... going for about $1 per roll, free shipping. Wish it were 400 speed.

 

[Cholentpot]

Hmmmm... going for about $1 per roll, free shipping. Wish it were 400 speed.

We're waiting for someone to receive it before piling on. For $1 a roll I'd shoot 12 speed.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I ordered some on the 17th from ypyf21. I figured it was either a scam or someone works at the factory with big pockets. But you never know. I'm not going to lose sleep over $11.

I wouldn't use it in place of HP5, but for messing around it would be ok. I wouldn't expect it to be that great.

 

[mard0]

We're waiting for someone to receive it before piling on. For $1 a roll I'd shoot 12 speed.

I've ordered 2 boxes of 4x5 for roughly 9 euros. I will post a reply when/if it arrives. eBay says that my order has been send, and I've gotten a tracking number. So fingers crossed.

 

[fjpod]

Maybe I'll try some and push it to 400.

 

[Agulliver]

Well I've bitten....ordered a brick of 120 film for $9.99. I'll let everyone know if and when it arrives in the UK.

I've had good luck with Chinese sellers in the past and sometimes goods are available at very low prices. Though I am highly sceptical I feel I could easily afford the loss of $10 and in any case can claim a refund if nothing happens.

 

[mard0]

Well I've bitten....ordered a brick of 120 film for $9.99. I'll let everyone know if and when it arrives in the UK.

I've had good luck with Chinese sellers in the past and sometimes goods are available at very low prices. Though I am highly sceptical I feel I could easily afford the loss of $10 and in any case can claim a refund if nothing happens.

Do you have a link of the listing for the 120 brick. I was planning to buy both 120 and 4x5, 20 dollar is still not a lot to gamble, but all of the cheap listings have disappeared from the Dutch Ebay site.
Probably an indication that it might all be a scam.....

 

[summicron1]

Are you people TRYING to drive Ilford out of business? From all the posts I gather that this is iffy film at best, with poor quality control, uneven paper backing thickness, and even stray numbers showing up on the negatives.

Meanwhile Ilford and Kodak are producing top-quality stuff, consistent, and priced fairly for what you are getting. Do you seriously think $10 for a brick of this stuff is sane, or will last, or that you are not getting what you are paying for? Even Foma/Arista is a better buy.

 

[Shoom]

Are you people TRYING to drive Ilford out of business? From all the posts I gather that this is iffy film at best, with poor quality control, uneven paper backing thickness, and even stray numbers showing up on the negatives.

Meanwhile Ilford and Kodak are producing top-quality stuff, consistent, and priced fairly for what you are getting. Do you seriously think $10 for a brick of this stuff is sane, or will last, or that you are not getting what you are paying for? Even Foma/Arista is a better buy.

For one thing, reading other people's experiences and experiencing something for yourself are two entirely different things. I'm not going to pass any judgment on the quality of the film until I get some in my hands and back out of the tank. I don't think that $10 bricks of a single emulsion in a single format will represent any major threat to Ilford or Kodak's numbers, precisely because people interested in something like GP3 are a minority of a niche of a subgroup. Even if all of my expectations are blown away and it turns out to be the best film in the world, I'll still be buying FP4+ for my 35mm, as well as Ilford or Kodak's other offerings for other ISOs.

TL;DR: Even if it's crap, live a little. Hobbies are supposed to be fun.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Are you people TRYING to drive Ilford out of business? From all the posts I gather that this is iffy film at best, with poor quality control, uneven paper backing thickness, and even stray numbers showing up on the negatives.

Meanwhile Ilford and Kodak are producing top-quality stuff, consistent, and priced fairly for what you are getting. Do you seriously think $10 for a brick of this stuff is sane, or will last, or that you are not getting what you are paying for? Even Foma/Arista is a better buy.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but for many here it is just another film to buy and try. As for it being an iffy/low quality film? It is a very good film and the last batches I used before the factory make-over were as good as, if not better than the Foma films I use. If all other films disappeared tomorrow I would have no problem using this film until I checkout. I do think all these cheap sellers on eBay are a scam. Of course it could be the company itself doing these listings so as to get a survey as to the potential for future sales and pricing. I will buy bricks of this film at around $3.25, but won't buy a roll at its current price. Your comment about poor Ilford or Kodak suffering doesn't make sense to me. I was always under the impression that competition was a good thing. You worry about this Chinese film, but do you buy anything else made in China? If you want to see what low competition does just take a look at gas prices. When I was a kid there was a different named gas station on every corner and they all had "gas wars" due to competition. You don't have that anymore since the "Big Boys" gobbled up all the little guys. Hey, that's the bad side of Capitalism I guess. JohnW

 

[Cholentpot]

I ordered some on the 17th from ypyf21. I figured it was either a scam or someone works at the factory with big pockets. But you never know. I'm not going to lose sleep over $11.

I wouldn't use it in place of HP5, but for messing around it would be ok. I wouldn't expect it to be that great.

Honestly it's pretty darn good. Not $5 good but $2.50 good.

 

[Cholentpot]

Are you people TRYING to drive Ilford out of business? From all the posts I gather that this is iffy film at best, with poor quality control, uneven paper backing thickness, and even stray numbers showing up on the negatives.

Meanwhile Ilford and Kodak are producing top-quality stuff, consistent, and priced fairly for what you are getting. Do you seriously think $10 for a brick of this stuff is sane, or will last, or that you are not getting what you are paying for? Even Foma/Arista is a better buy.

Do you think either can crank out some basement bargain film? I'm sure they can but they won't because it will eat into their other sales.

If I want perfect consistency I'll shoot digital.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Do you think either can crank out some basement bargain film? I'm sure they can but they won't because it will eat into their other sales.

If I want perfect consistency I'll shoot digital.

OMG the "D" word! I believe you are right in that respect, unfortunately. I have obtain really good results with GP3 using 1hr. stand development in Rodinal 1+100. Also works great with Pyro developers and Pyrocat-HD or MC or HDC. Your result pretty much mirror mine with GP 3. JohnW

 

[Gabo Barreto]

Hello to all new to the forum here..

I've used GP3 several times and like it a lot. Yes is not a match to the other players in the market (quality wise) and I would never dare to use it for something really important. I say this not because I had any problems with it but because I've read and seen issues with other people rolls,
I've always ordered from Chinese sellers and has always been very cheap... so when I found that it was back on sale (two days ago) I ordered a 10 roll brick that should be arriving according to ebay between the end of may and early june. I do have my doubts because the seller is new with no score at all on ebay and it was way cheaper than before. But as someone posted earlier for less than 9 pounds sterling is not a risky gamble and because is ebay we are protected and can get our money back.

Again for less than 1.50 pounds (what I paid the last time) it is a very decent film and looks great in Rodinal

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Now I'm getting emails from ebay telling me that 23 of the 10 packs have sold. 12.68 CDN plus free shipping. This scam is still going on?

 

[Cholentpot]

OMG the "D" word! I believe you are right in that respect, unfortunately. I have obtain really good results with GP3 using 1hr. stand development in Rodinal 1+100. Also works great with Pyro developers and Pyrocat-HD or MC or HDC. Your result pretty much mirror mine with GP 3. JohnW

That's because I used Rodinal 1+100 though with a semi stand. It was shot on a Bronica S2 with a fungy lens.

120 film for me has got to the point where I preshoot on digital and then commit to film when I nail the composition and basic exposure. At $5+ a roll plus processing my costs can run uphill pretty fast. In the old days it would be done with Polaroids.

 

[abruzzi]

First off, in terms of the why, I’m mostly looking for something disposable for practice. Mostly spooling onto the reels, but also developing, and if I don’t use them all up, to test cameras (I’m new to 120, and mostly new to developing myself.). 10 rolls where I don’t have enough invested to care about the outcome is just the ticket.

For the outcome—the first pack I bought the next day ebay cancelled the sale, and refunded me the money, but not before the seller gave me a tracking number. That tracking number was delivered to Florida (not NM where I live) so that one was clearly a scam. There was another seller that had three listings, two for about $10 and one for $80 or $90. So, what the heck, I ordered one of the $10 packs. Interestingly, if I tried to put two packs in my eBay cart, it complained that the seller only allowed someone to buy the item once every 10 days. That’s kind of weird. But whatever, I ordered one pack. It says shipped, but doesn’t give a tracking number.

I’m sure it will be a month or so before I see it (or don’t) but I will report back. If it’s a scam, I'll file a claim with eBay and get my money back. It just means my $10 will be in limbo for a while.

 

[MattKing]

People buy inexpensive film for a lot of different reasons.
When it was still running, J & C offered a couple of choices, including 120 film for, IIRC, about $1.50 per roll in boxes of 20. I bought a box.
The film was okay, but it was on a substrate that must have come from a spring steel factory. I have never, never, never seen so much curl!
It was so curly, it was difficult to use in an enlarger. I had to resort to taping it in the carrier. Good luck with trying to scan it.
I used some and gave the unused portion to a friend - he was warned!
Just think of how much problematic black and white 120 film Kodak could sell for $1.00 per roll.

 

[mshchem]

It's still there, 10 rolls 120 9.99 USD free shipping. I wouldn't use it if it was free. Kodak, Ilford, Foma, and until recently Fujifilm. This is who to support . China dumping film below cost of production, then exploiting postal treaties to use our countries mail services to deliver at a loss. Anyone who bemoans the loss of Plus-X or Acros shouldn't complain if they are buying this stuff.
My Grumpy humble opinion, for what it's worth.
Mama don't take my FP4 away .