What the Average Prices of the LF Films?

RedSun · Nov 8, 2012

For pro films, 35mm costs about $10 to $20, 120/60mm costs about the same. Sheet film costs about $5/shoot. How about 5"x7" and 8"x10" and the larger ones? I figure the prices dump pretty quickly since they are really special films and not so many make them any more....

Here I'm talking about either BW or color negatives.

Robert Ley · Nov 8, 2012

Are you talking about just the cost of the film or film and processing? For fresh film, check out B&H's prices with shipping and divide by the number of sheets.

Kodak Ektar 100 is about $2.65 a sheet and HP5 is about $1.14 per sheet on a 100 sheet box. Processing is a whole other thing that can be all over the place. I process my own film so can't really give you a good idea as to how much you would have to pay for processing.

Are you just starting out in LF? If you are you will soon find out the the film is the cheapest part of the addiction

Jeff Searust · Nov 8, 2012

For Black and White, I spend $2.50 to $3.00 a roll for 120 film and processing, $1.00 a shot for 4x5 and a quarter more or so for 5x7, so I am not sure where you get your figures.

RedSun · Nov 8, 2012

Film cost only. It varies with other costs since everyone has different setup. I already stocked chemicals for years (they can go bad), so I do not have other important running cost.

RedSun · Nov 8, 2012

Jeff Searust said:
For Black and White, I spend $2.50 to $3.00 a roll for 120 film and processing, $1.00 a shot for 4x5 and a quarter more or so for 5x7, so I am not sure where you get your figures.

I do not know where you get all the low cost numbers. I was talking about fresh roll films, both 35mm and 120/60mm. Not talking about expired, or cut from bulk roll film.

You can check eBay or B&H. Fresh films are not cheap.

Jeff Searust · Nov 8, 2012

I use Efke and Arista film --- You may want to check prices at Freestyle.

My development costs run about 30 cents a roll or for 4 sheets of LF film.

But let's talk expensive film-- Ilford 120 at Freestyle is $4.29--- so developed will be $4.60 and Ilford HP5 4x5 is $1.33 apiece so developed will be $1.45 per shot...

Stephanie Brim · Nov 8, 2012

RedSun said:
I do not know where you get all the low cost numbers. I was talking about fresh roll films, both 35mm and 120/60mm. Not talking about expired, or cut from bulk roll film.

You can check eBay or B&H. Fresh films are not cheap.

http://freestylephoto.biz

NEVER buy film from Ebay. Never. None of it is a good deal anymore.

kintatsu · Nov 8, 2012

I just ordered 50 sheets of 4x5 HP5+ from Midwest Photo, over Amazon. The total price, including shipping, was $69. That works out to $1.38 per sheet. When I ordered from Badger Graphics last month, it was $61.63 for 50 sheets, shipping counted, which comes out to about $1.24 per shot. I got 50 sheets of FP4+ from B&H for the same price as the Badger Graphics, but the shipping was $2.00 more, which adds $.04 to the per sheet cost.

I buy my 120 locally, and all the Ilford films I can get run about 6 Euros each, or about $8.00, which comes out to about $.67 per shot.

The Kodak color 4x5 runs about $3.50 and up per shot, and come in 10 shot boxes via B&H and Amazon.

I hope this is what you're looking for!

wildbill · Nov 8, 2012

go to b&h and look at their film. average prices. just about anyone who sells roll film also sells sheets so just look it up.

kintatsu · Nov 8, 2012

By the way, the Kodak Ektar 100 expires 06/2014, 1 HP5+ expires 12/2014, and all the rest expire 10/2015. So I think you'll find some good stuff from any of these companies.

RedSun · Nov 8, 2012

I have not purchased any new films for some time. I still have a section of my freezer with a bunch of films, some expired too. I'll look to see what the current market is.

BrianShaw · Nov 8, 2012

Red... I haven't bought film for a while too. (My fridge still has enough to kep me going for a while, except for 35mm C-41). I'd check both B&H and Freestyle and then decide who you'd rather do business with. I don't think there are enough options available to do to much "shopping around". For film that has been cancelled, ebay is about the only option. The nice thing about that is that there is enough information available to see the price trend. I'm still shooting PlusX 120 and after seeing some of the recent trends I think I've finally been priced out of that market.

TheFlyingCamera · Nov 8, 2012

Where are you getting $10 a roll for film???? Certainly not on the B&H website -

Kodak Ektar 100 is $4.60/roll for 120 and $5.25/roll for 35mm. Even Portra 800 is only $7.59/roll in 120.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Brand_Kodak&ci=2545&N=4294548524+4291384683

Ilford Delta 100 is $4.19/roll in 120, $5.69/roll for 35mm. FP4+ is $4.25/roll in 120, $5.75 for 35mm.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Brand_Ilford&ci=2545&N=4294548524+4291407242

removed account4 · Nov 8, 2012

RedSun said:
For pro films, 35mm costs about $10 to $20, 120/60mm costs about the same. Sheet film costs about $5/shoot. How about 5"x7" and 8"x10" and the larger ones? I figure the prices dump pretty quickly since they are really special films and not so many make them any more....

Here I'm talking about either BW or color negatives.

black and white large format films vary in price from less than 1$ / sheet to a few dollars a sheet depending
on the format and the brand. kodak tmy/tmx is pricy but it is very good, ilford is very good too, but not as expensive
and european films are good, and even less expensive ... it all depends what you like, what you want and what you can afford.

RedSun · Nov 8, 2012

That is mainly my impression, mainly from eBay. I think some are over-priced.
It is good to know that films are still affordable. I hope that will continue for some time and a long time....

PKM-25 · Nov 9, 2012

Interesting thread. My black and white 4x5 film is anywhere from $1.10 a sheet shipped for Ilford Delta 100 to $1.80 a sheet shipped for TMY. Processing costs me between .07-.20 a sheet depending on chemistry type and dillution, Xtol, HC-110 and Rodinal being less than .15 cents a sheet on average when stop bath and fixer are considered.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that I never go over $2.00 a sheet for black and white 4x5....

DREW WILEY · Nov 9, 2012

I didn't know there was anthing even resembling an "average" price. It's all over the map, depending
on what you specifically need. And personally, I've never found bargain film to end up being a bargain
unless it has exactly the characteristics you need. Large format is especially uneconomical if you
end up wasting shots. But sometimes I have gotten good deals on out-of-date cold-stored film, esp
just for experimenting if the price was tempting enough (that is, cheap enough to actually gamble with). And I'm sure glad my freezer is well stocked with 8x10 film purchased at about half the price
of the going rate at the moment.

What the Average Prices of the LF Films?

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