I think it depends to some extent on your geographic location and what kind of film you're looking for.
There's far less choice than 20 years ago. But more choice than 5 years ago.
Kodak are the main company actually manufacturing colour negative film and they seem to have sorted our their supply/demand problems. There now seems adequate supply of their consumer and pro C41 films. They also coat the Fuji branded 200 and 400 consumer films currently on the market and the Lomography 100, 400 and 800 C41 films. And they brought back Ektachrome 100. They also still offer Tri-X, TMAX 100, TMAX 400 and TMAX 3200 B&W films. Though these are more expensive than other brands in most locations.
FujiFilm are still making a lot of Instax and slide film. They don't appear to be manufacturing C41 film at the moment and it is unclear as to whether they'll resume. Some self appointed experts (and some dealers) like to trash Fuji but the basic fact is that Japanese corporate culture means they're not as open as Kodak. For B&W there's ACROS II which has some involvement from Harman (manufacturers of Ilford films).
Ilford still make everything they made 5 years ago and have added Ortho 80 in 35mm. So that's PanF, FP4+, HP5+, Ortho 80, Delta 100, Delta 400, Delta 3200, XP2 Super. These are usually significantly cheaper than Kodak's B&W films in most locations. The same company that makes Ilford films (Harman Technology) also makes the more budget conscious Kentmere 100 and 400 films. And the big news is that Harman recently added Phoenix 200 C41 colour film - though it is an experimental work in progress and doesn't always act like "normal" C41 film.
Foma are still offering Fomapan 100, 200 and 400 along with Ortho 400. These are cheaper than the bigger players' films and in general not quite as good but are used by many people (including myself) with success. Fomapan 200 is a bit more of a modern type of formulation while the others are traditional B&W films.
Film Ferrania has begun to rise from the ashes of the old Ferrania company and are currently offering P30 and P33 B&W films (80 and 160 ISO)
Other smaller companies such as Adox offer various films, Adox mostly coat their films themselves and are another small company absolutely committed to analogue photography.
And you'll find a number of companies offering Kodak motion picture film in 35mm cassettes, such as CIne Still and Candido. These can be of use, especially as Kodak Vision 3 500T makes a good tungsten balanced 800 speed colour negative film. THere are also various small companies repurposing Agfa aerial film as B&W camera film. There's nothing wrong with this film at all but be aware that some companies make out that it's a special product unique to them and charge a premium for exactly the same film as someone else.
Most of these films are also available in 120 too. Ilford/Kentmere/Harman - all products are in 135 and 120. Kodak offer their B&W, professional colour and Gold 200 in 120. The Lomography C41 120 films are almost certainly closely related to 90s Kodacolor. Fuji still offers their E6 film in 120 and ACROS II. Foma offers everything in 120. Ferrania have started P30 and possibly P33 in 120. Adox had some issues but I think they're able to offer 120 again.
Have I missed anyone?
I took a hiatus from film photography from 2007-2014 and was shocked at what happened to the film market in that time. But things are getting better. Hopefully prices have stabilised particularly as Kodak have increased production. The pandemic obviously caused a lot of problems for many industries not limited to the chemical and shipping industries which really affected film production and distribution.
Availability of most film in the USA is good, with the exception of slide film. There are no color slide films higher than 100 speed currently available, and Kodak Ektachrome E100 is the only one being produced in high capacity.
C-41, E-6, ECN-2 kits are all readily available.
Ilford/Harman has just released a prototype C-41 film. Fuji has not stopped making film altogether as was feared, and may get back into the market in a bigger way - that's still unclear.
As far as B&W goes, Adox is doing most of the pioneering, interesting stuff on that front recently. B&W tends to be much cheaper than color these days.
Expired film is mostly going for exuberant prices, like $15/roll for stuff that used to sell for $1.
I think there are enough film today. I don't think I would want to have more variety. However, prices are way too high and rising.
Agfa offers a varity of rebranded or repurosed emulsions, not sure if any are designed in house.
Bergger offered a unique film but has been out of the U.S market for a few years.
The fate of Fuji Arcos is uncertain, the last batch was made by Harman,
I used to buy fuji color film at walmart in a pack of 5 rolls I think. I still have some in my freezer. Superia i think it was called.
I have a box of undeveloped color rolls with images on them, probably 15 rolls. Maybe 5 rolls of 120 undeveloped.
I have plenty of chemicals. I bought powder (unopened) from ilford probably 10 years old by now. Should be ok.
I need to stock up I guess. How long is film good for in the freezer? with no noticeable loss of quality?
I used to buy fuji color film at walmart in a pack of 5 rolls I think. I still have some in my freezer. Superia i think it was called. I have a box of undeveloped color rolls with images on them, probably 15 rolls. Maybe 5 rolls of 120 undeveloped. I have plenty of chemicals. I bought powder (unopened) from ilford probably 10 years old by now. Should be ok. I need to stock up I guess. How long is film good for in the freezer? with no noticeable loss of quality?
In my mind the uncertainty comes with no guarantee that Harman will continue to produce Acros for Fuji.
Bergger offered a unique film but has been out of the U.S market for a few years.
I have been away from photography for 5 years, now I have the opportunity to get back into it. Is 35mm film supply keeping up with demand? What about 120? how does the future look? What about chemistry? Still available and going to be available for reasonable money?
Harman would appear to have no reason to cease cooperating with FujiFilm to produce ACROS II together. And it would surely be a long term deal that the two have reached.
This assumes that Fuji remains interested in distributing the product - distribution costs money!
How long is film good for in the freezer?
I have been away from photography for 5 years
Depends a lot on the specific product. Generally anything up to 200 speed ages fairly well, and the slower, the better it keeps. Anything faster fogs due to background radiation (the slower stuff, too, but it just doesn't suffer as badly because...it's slow after all). B&W keeps better than color, and color negative has more leeway than slide film due to the inherent need for color balancing of the former.
Superia 200 specifically ages reasonably well as long as it's kept refrigerated. Over 10-15 years it builds a pretty hefty dose of fog, but still remains fairly printable (albeit a little grainy). Nothing beats fresh film of course. I've had mildy expired Portra 120 (400 in particular) perform pretty badly with very apparent anomalies on the first few frames. 120 is always a little tricky because of the backing paper that's in contact with the emulsion.
There's presently no shortage of film or chemicals and the outlook as far as I can tell is pretty optimistic, too. The remaining film manufacturing companies appear to be doing reasonably or even very well. As long as there's film, there'll also be chemistry. Chemistry is relatively simple, esp. B&W, since most/all ingredients also have other uses in industry (depends a bit on developer type). At this point in time there's an increase in supply rather than a decrease, so the outlook is a lot more optimistic than it was 10-15 or even 5 years ago.
Welcome back. Shoot the film you've got, and buy some new stuff. It's fun!
Would a lead lined box be ideal to store film?
and what of temperature? Freezer better than fridge?
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