Tri-X Pricing, OUCH!!!

Timmyjoe · Nov 20, 2022

My film shooting decreased greatly during the pandemic, and I also had quite a few rolls of Tri-X in the freezer. Went to restock this morning and OUCH!!! What happened?

Tri-X is double what I paid for it three years ago. Do folks think this is a temporary spike, and hopefully it will come back down, or do we think this is permanent and will only go up from here?

Best,
-Tim

BrianShaw · Nov 20, 2022

Many, many retail items are significantly more costly than they were 3 years ago. I'm not holding my breath for price reductions in almost anything. With specific regard to film, I'm hoping that the "product shrinkage" trend eventually brings back the 20-exposure packaging for 35mm.

koraks · Nov 20, 2022

Timmyjoe said:
What happened?

Supply chain disturbances resulting in material shortages and supply outages, strong demand for film products that current manufacturing capacity can't keep up with, and of course overall strong inflation.

Timmyjoe said:
Do folks think this is a temporary spike

That would be nice, but don't count on it.

Anon Ymous · Nov 20, 2022

It's not going to get cheaper. I used to shoot mostly Kodak films, but have switched to Ilford because of their pricing, especially considering bulk rolls.

MattKing · Nov 20, 2022

Anon Ymous said:
It's not going to get cheaper. I used to shoot mostly Kodak films, but have switched to Ilford because of their pricing, especially considering bulk rolls.

And Ilford has now just about caught up to Kodak, in Canada at least.

Anon Ymous · Nov 20, 2022

MattKing said:
And Ilford has now just about caught up to Kodak, in Canada at least.

Not over here...

MattKing · Nov 20, 2022

Anon Ymous said:
Not over here...

Our mid-level distributors may be faster than yours.
We have seen some really large Ilford increases in the last couple of months. On the darkroom paper front, 100 sheet boxes of 8x10 Ilford Multigrade RC "V" paper are now up to $170.00 CDN.

koraks · Nov 20, 2022

Concerning the supply situation, here's an article from our national news outlet: https://nos.nl/artikel/2453184-lege-schappen-en-hoge-prijzen-het-fotorolletje-is-niet-aan-te-slepen
It's in Dutch, but I bet you could run it through Translate and get the gist of it. To summarize: demand for film is strong and has only increased over the past few years, with in particular the younger generation apparently embracing film-based photography. Manufacturers can't keep up, retailers have empty shelves and Fuji Netherlands has about 20k film rolls in back order.

It's an illustration of what is probably happening to a greater or lesser extent all over the world.

Arthurwg · Nov 20, 2022

Unlikely that those prices will come down. When there's less supply competition and demand remains strong relative to supply, prices will rise.

Anon Ymous · Nov 20, 2022

MattKing said:
Our mid-level distributors may be faster than yours.
We have seen some really large Ilford increases in the last couple of months. On the darkroom paper front, 100 sheet boxes of 8x10 Ilford Multigrade RC "V" paper are now up to $170.00 CDN.

Oh, I've noticed Ilford's price hikes lately, it's just that they're still significantly cheaper, especially if you consider bulk film pricing. Still, even Ilford's price's have increased a lot. An HP5+ bulk roll was about 75€ 3 years ago, but 115€ now. Even so, it's more palatable than 11€ for a 36exp Tri-X film. Let's not talk about Kodak's bulk roll pricing in Europe...

runswithsizzers · Nov 20, 2022

Tri-X has been on my list of b&w films which I feel like I ought to try - even tho I am pretty sure it is a film I am not going to like. Last week, when I was making a film order from B&H, Tri-X was $13(US) - which is $2/roll more than what they were asking for T-Max 400. So, I bought the T-Max 400 at $11/roll and some Ilford HP5 Plus and Ilford Delta 400, which were both $9/roll. And also some Kentmere Pan 400 at $5.20/roll for testing used/repaired cameras.

I thought T-Max was Kodak's premium product, so I was suprised to see Tri-X selling at a higher price. But then I think I remember Delta 400 selling for more than HP5+ in the past, and now they are priced the same, so...?

logan2z · Nov 20, 2022

I've pretty much switched over to Ilford film as well. Yes, their prices have gone up too, but rolls of 35/120 are still quite a bit less expensive than similar offerings from Kodak - at least in the US.

Nicholas Lindan · Nov 20, 2022

koraks said:
... demand for film is strong and has only increased over the past few years, with in particular the younger generation apparently embracing film-based photography

Now, if only we could get these young 'uns to stop scanning negatives and start printing in the darkroom like the Lord intended.

Sirius Glass · Nov 20, 2022

Experience has shown at least in photography that the prices of photographic supplies such as film, paper and chemicals are monotonic increases to use a mathematical and engineering term.

grat · Nov 20, 2022

Since 2021, Kodak has added 300 people to their workforce, and are in the middle of filling another round of 175 positions. Apparently they're now running at capacity.

Kodak announces it will hire hundreds to make film

Consumers are turning to products like disposable cameras.

spectrumlocalnews.com

Whether that will lead to prices dropping back down is anyone's guess.

Sirius Glass · Nov 20, 2022

grat said:
Since 2021, Kodak has added 300 people to their workforce, and are in the middle of filling another round of 175 positions. Apparently they're now running at capacity.

Kodak announces it will hire hundreds to make film

Consumers are turning to products like disposable cameras.

spectrumlocalnews.com

Whether that will lead to prices dropping back down is anyone's guess.

Good to hear.

pentaxuser · Nov 20, 2022

grat said:
Since 2021, Kodak has added 300 people to their workforce, and are in the middle of filling another round of 175 positions. Apparently they're now running at capacity.

Kodak announces it will hire hundreds to make film

Consumers are turning to products like disposable cameras.

spectrumlocalnews.com

Whether that will lead to prices dropping back down is anyone's guess.

Well as long as the demand at current prices remains, what would be your prediction? I know what mine would and it largely follows Telly Savalas' strategy when Elliot Gould desperately needs his plane in "Capricorn One"

pentaxuser

grat · Nov 20, 2022

pentaxuser said:
Well as long as the demand at current prices remains, what would be your prediction?

I flipped a coin, and it got stuck in the ceiling-- my crystal ball's in the shop, and I couldn't find a goat.

Short term, I don't expect much change-- Target just raised their price on Superia 200 from $7 / roll to $17 / roll. I think we're looking at supply chain issues, production issues, and the fact that film is now a "niche" product.

In theory, supply chain issues should sort themselves out (it's already better than it was), but that has a knock-on effect on production-- even if Kodak is coating a dozen master rolls a day, are they able to reliably turn that into spools of 135 and 120? How about sheets?

I think long term, prices will either come down.

Huss · Nov 20, 2022

grat said:
I flipped a coin, and it got stuck in the ceiling-- my crystal ball's in the shop, and I couldn't find a goat.

Short term, I don't expect much change-- Target just raised their price on Superia 200 from $7 / roll to $17 / roll. I think we're looking at supply chain issues, production issues, and the fact that film is now a "niche" product.

In theory, supply chain issues should sort themselves out (it's already better than it was), but that has a knock-on effect on production-- even if Kodak is coating a dozen master rolls a day, are they able to reliably turn that into spools of 135 and 120? How about sheets?

I think long term, prices will either come down.

Don’t buy from gougers. I just got an email from reformedfilmlab that said they got a shipment of Fuji 200. $25/3 pack vs Target $17 for 1 roll.

madNbad · Nov 20, 2022

Apparently, Tri-X is Kodaks best selling film. Buy lots of it so they have the money to keep making the less popular films.

VinceInMT · Nov 20, 2022

I just looked through some of my old receipts from 1975 when I was buying film from the Audio and Photo Club at the Air Force base in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Yes, I saved those.)

Kodak Panatomic-X 120: $.60
Kodak Tri-X Professional 120: $.85
Ilford HP4 120: $.65

That seems pretty inexpensive but it was through the club which had little mark up and I keep in mind that my net take home pay black then was $505.00/month.

I don’t remember what I was paying for a roll of Kodak Tri-X 35mm-36 after I returned to the states but it was probably a few bucks, say $2.00. Applying the inflation calculator, $2.00 in 1977 is the same as $9.84 today. That roll at B&H today is $12.99 so it’s gone up a bit.

The big difference is that my income is way more than that $505/month adjusted for inflation.

I guess the question really is, how much would a roll of film have to cost before you just quit using film?

Sirius Glass · Nov 20, 2022

VinceInMT said:
I just looked through some of my old receipts from 1975 when I was buying film from the Audio and Photo Club at the Air Force base in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Yes, I saved those.)

Kodak Panatomic-X 120: $.60
Kodak Tri-X Professional 120: $.85
Ilford HP4 120: $.65

That seems pretty inexpensive but it was through the club which had little mark up and I keep in mind that my net take home pay black then was $505.00/month.

I don’t remember what I was paying for a roll of Kodak Tri-X 35mm-36 after I returned to the states but it was probably a few bucks, say $2.00. Applying the inflation calculator, $2.00 in 1977 is the same as $9.84 today. That roll at B&H today is $12.99 so it’s gone up a bit.

The big difference is that my income is way more than that $505/month adjusted for inflation.

I guess the question really is, how much would a roll of film have to cost before you just quit using film?

If you still have PX privileges you should go back and buy film. It will still be sold for the best price they can.

MattKing · Nov 20, 2022

madNbad said:
Apparently, Tri-X is Kodaks best selling film. Buy lots of it so they have the money to keep making the less popular films.

In black and white, this is true. Probably a lot fewer sales though than HP5+.

madNbad · Nov 20, 2022

MattKing said:
In black and white, this is true. Probably a lot fewer sales though than HP5+.

One of our last remaining large photo shops always has plenty of HP5+ but almost never has Tri-X. When I asked the salesperson, they said it's because the Tri-X sells a lot faster than the Ilford. Generally, Ilford films seem to be available in more places at a better price so it's not surprising they sell more than Kodak.

Huss · Nov 20, 2022

It is understandable that TriX is so popular, especially with young shooters.
After all, Trix is for kids..

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