Tri-X sales up? 'cause something's up.

hdeyong · Nov 10, 2014

I'm heading back to Canada and the US for about 7 months and looking at getting some film, Tri-X to be exact.
About a month ago I said there seemed to be some shortages, and everybody replied that I was imagining it.
Well, right now, Freestyle shows 'out of stock', Adorama shows 'out of stock', Amazon.ca shows 'only 5 rolls remaining' and Henry's in Toronto shows 'ships in 4-6 business days', yet HP5+ shows shipping same day. My favourite supplier here in France is showing it in stock for the first time in 3 weeks, but has dropped the maximum lot from 50 rolls down to 20.
Am I still imagining it folks?
These are facts, not speculation.

Nuff · Nov 10, 2014

Could be various factors, like distribution etc... I did order 32 rolls in 35mm from freestyle. They still have lots of it in 120

Jim17x · Nov 10, 2014

Adorama & B&H both show they have 35mm 120 and large format in stock. Freestyle has 24 exp rolls, 100' rolls, 120 rolls and pro packs.

Xmas · Nov 10, 2014

From June to July this year there was a thread about the absence of Kodak film from Tokyo Ja shops. Eventually it reappeared.

May have cost them sales.

summicron1 · Nov 10, 2014

so shoot ilford.

gone · Nov 10, 2014

A good reason to buy a quantity and put it up in the fridge.

jspillane · Nov 10, 2014

I've never noticed it out of stock at B&H (always see big stocks of it behind the counter there). In fact, there website even lists a pre-order of re-released Tri-X 828 film (!?), so I don't think it is going anywhere.

TheToadMen · Nov 10, 2014

momus said:
A good reason to buy a quantity and put it up in the fridge.

Better yet: A good reason to buy a quantity of fridges ...

andrew.roos · Nov 10, 2014

jspillane said:
I've never noticed it out of stock at B&H (always see big stocks of it behind the counter there). In fact, there website even lists a pre-order of re-released Tri-X 828 film (!?), so I don't think it is going anywhere.

That's weird, although welcome. I didn't even know what 828 format was, and had to google it. It doesn't ever seem to have been particularly popular, so it seems a strange choice to reintroduce, except that it is the same width as 135 so can come from the same un-perforated bulk rolls. Nevertheless, great to see another film format becoming available again!

Ahh I see it's been respooled by filmforclassics.com from bulk rolls. Still it's nice to see.

Roger Cole · Nov 10, 2014

Yeah B&H currently shows all sizes in stock, including the respooled 620, and the pre-order for 828.

Freestyle shows "low stock" (but they have some) in 120 single rolls (unboxed from Pro Packs) and out of stock only in 135-36. Everything else is available including full 120 Pro Packs.

Loren Sattler · Nov 10, 2014

Last week Freestyle back ordered 35mm Tri-X on my shipment, but the order was filled in 1-2 days.

SchwinnParamount · Nov 10, 2014

It could also be that Kodak isn't making as much of it and supplies are getting tighter. With all of that, why does Kodak charge 30% more for Tri-X than Ilford does for HP5+

Roger Cole · Nov 10, 2014

SchwinnParamount said:
It could also be that Kodak isn't making as much of it and supplies are getting tighter. With all of that, why does Kodak charge 30% more for Tri-X than Ilford does for HP5+

They do?

Well in 35mm bulk they do. But the price, at least here, in pre-loaded 35mm and 120 is close enough as to make no difference.

And in any event, it seems to be selling well enough so the next answer is "because they can."

Roger Cole · Nov 10, 2014

135-36 Tri-X at B&H: $4.89
135-36 HP5+ at B&H: $4.75

3% more for Tri-X

120 Tri-X at B&H: $4.85
120 HP5+ at B&H: $4.09

120 Tri-X is just under 19% more.

The 120 difference is a bit more, but honestly the difference between $4.09 and $4.85 just isn't that important to most people.

hdeyong · Nov 11, 2014

I didn't say B&H was out of stock, and AT THE TIME I CHECKED, Adorama showed out of stock. I may live in Canada and France, but I can read English.
Instead of everybody trying to prove I can't read, or telling me who does have Tri-X, or recommending I shoot another brand instead, does anybody feel like commenting on the original question, What's up?
Considering the last month or so, I have never seen so many places either low on, or out of, this product in my 40 years of using it.
I'm hoping somebody may have access to sales figures or other information that will show demand is up, causing these, for me, unprecedented shortages.

MattKing · Nov 11, 2014

My retailer friends are all complaining about how much Kodak films are costing them, and they are buying less.

Distribution - there are too many layers.

Roger Cole · Nov 11, 2014

hdeyong said:
I didn't say B&H was out of stock, and AT THE TIME I CHECKED, Adorama showed out of stock. I may live in Canada and France, but I can read English.
Instead of everybody trying to prove I can't read, or telling me who does have Tri-X, or recommending I shoot another brand instead, does anybody feel like commenting on the original question, What's up?
Considering the last month or so, I have never seen so many places either low on, or out of, this product in my 40 years of using it.
I'm hoping somebody may have access to sales figures or other information that will show demand is up, causing these, for me, unprecedented shortages.

Speaking for myself anyway the point wasn't to tell you that you couldn't read or to argue. The point was that when we checked shortly after the situation had changed so it was just some short term anomaly.

hdeyong · Nov 11, 2014

But, that was one retailer out of half a dozen.
As I said, I have never seen anything like this in forty years, and on two different continents.
And, looking back a number of years, can you imagine a major seller having no Tri-X, even for a short time?

Nuff · Nov 11, 2014

I think you are taking it wrong way. Some people like to speculate and make conspiracy or non-conspiracy theories. Others get on with their lives and do things.
I'm in a former category, I don't want to spend time and effort on speculating about trix, what happens happens and I will use it and recommend it to others as well...

PanaDP · Nov 11, 2014

Tri-X is not a "must have" product any more. They're simply not going to keep huge amounts on hand for us nutty yet charming artist types like they did when everybody on earth with a camera knew what tri-x was and shot at least a few rolls a year.

Nuff · Nov 11, 2014

hdeyong said:
But, that was one retailer out of half a dozen.
As I said, I have never seen anything like this in forty years, and on two different continents.
And, looking back a number of years, can you imagine a major seller having no Tri-X, even for a short time?

40 years ago they didn't have digital cameras either, but can you imagine a camera shop not having one?
The world is changing, get used to it. If you come to australia good luck finding film in this place, unless you want to pay 3-4 times the price.

hdeyong · Nov 11, 2014

PanaDP and Nuff, I guess you're probably right. Times have changed a lot, and even Tri-X is now a second line thing to some retailers.
But, it still makes me want to think that sales must be pretty good, if they're running out from time to time. (Computer controlled inventories are usually pretty efficient).

Roger Cole · Nov 11, 2014

Either sales are better, supplies are not as good, or some combination. Either way it's pretty readily available even if you might have to look around on rare occasions or purchase a bit in advance. Analog photo life is still good - shoot some film and make some prints.

Xmas · Nov 11, 2014

hdeyong said:
I didn't say B&H was out of stock, and AT THE TIME I CHECKED, Adorama showed out of stock. I may live in Canada and France, but I can read English.
Instead of everybody trying to prove I can't read, or telling me who does have Tri-X, or recommending I shoot another brand instead, does anybody feel like commenting on the original question, What's up?
Considering the last month or so, I have never seen so many places either low on, or out of, this product in my 40 years of using it.
I'm hoping somebody may have access to sales figures or other information that will show demand is up, causing these, for me, unprecedented shortages.

Ok I'll try again
same thing happened in Tokyo last summer no film for a month, KA are ex EK and stupid
EK's accounts are published every three months I've stopped reading them too grim
bulk 400 ISO Kodak mono here is > 2x price of Ilford, KA are ex EK and stupid
note the Kentmere I use is x3 times cheaper
bison fute

RattyMouse · Nov 11, 2014

hdeyong said:
PanaDP and Nuff, I guess you're probably right. Times have changed a lot, and even Tri-X is now a second line thing to some retailers.
But, it still makes me want to think that sales must be pretty good, if they're running out from time to time. (Computer controlled inventories are usually pretty efficient).

My film supply store often runs out of Kodak films. I'm told it has nothing to do with sales and everything to do with inability to get stock. Kodak distribution is horrible. In the few years I have been shopping for film here in Shanghai I have seen Kodak shelf space in several film stores dwindle down to less than half of what it once was. With such an irregular supply, my "film guy" pushes Fuji, Ilford, and now Foma films far more than Kodak.

Also, last year I had great difficulty finding any Kodak film in Rome. Same problem, no stock could be obtained from Kodak.

Tri-X sales up? 'cause something's up.

hdeyong

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Tri-X sales up? 'cause something's up.

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