Where do you buy your film?

Sirius Glass · Jun 28, 2007

Marc . said:
The B&H website does not take orders on their sabbath.

Marc

Exactly the point. It is better that they take orders on jeroldharter's sabbath! Like he can't order one day sooner or one day later. We are talking analog here. D-----l is almost instant.

Steve

Marc . · Jun 28, 2007

Stever said:
Exactly the point. It is better that they take orders on jeroldharter's sabbath! Like he can't order one day sooner or one day later. We are talking analog here. D-----l is almost instant.

Steve

Well, so many online shopping sites are available 7 days a week I understand that jeroldharter was frustrated to find an online site closed when he had time to do his shopping. That's all. I felt the same, but of course he could and I could order later.

Marc

ruben morales · Jun 28, 2007

jasonjoo said:
Sorry, I did a search and could not find any results.

Where do you guys buy your film?

And sorry if this is not the correct forum!

Thanks,

Jason

Hello, excuse me for my poor english... On line in www.foto-r3.com. Is a Spanish company and had a lot of products.

www.rmfotografo.com

copake_ham · Jun 28, 2007

Marc . said:
Well, so many online shopping sites are available 7 days a week I understand that jeroldharter was frustrated to find an online site closed when he had time to do his shopping. That's all. I felt the same, but of course he could and I could order later.

Marc

Marc (and jeroldharter),

B&H is a company owned and operated by very observant Orthodox Jews. I am not Jewish but have friends who are. They have explained to me that the strong beliefs of certain Orthodox Jews both prevents them from working on the Sabbath, and prohibits using mechanical means (e.g. automated software) to do it for them. Similarly, they are not permitted to hire non-Jews or less observant Jews to do the work for them on the Sabbath.

My confusion remains - why does the practice of someone's religious beliefs annoy anyone? I can see that it may seem "odd" until explained. But I do not understand "annoyance" as a reaction.

roteague · Jun 28, 2007

copake_ham said:
Marc (and jeroldharter),

B&H is a company owned and operated by very observant Orthodox Jews. I am not Jewish but have friends who are. They have explained to me that the strong beliefs of certain Orthodox Jews both prevents them from working on the Sabbath, and prohibits using mechanical means (e.g. automated software) to do it for them. Similarly, they are not permitted to hire non-Jews or less observant Jews to do the work for them on the Sabbath.

My confusion remains - why does the practice of someone's religious beliefs annoy anyone? I can see that it may seem "odd" until explained. But I do not understand "annoyance" as a reaction.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that doesn't respect other peoples beliefs if they are outside the "norm".

Lee Shively · Jun 28, 2007

"Unfortunately, we live in a society that doesn't respect other peoples beliefs if they are outside the "norm"."

Unfortunately, we live in a society that sometimes glorifies disrespecting virtually everything.

I buy film from Freestyle, B&H and Calumet.

RobLewis · Jun 28, 2007

Central Camera, Chicago
Lovely 5 minute walk from the office.

And to chime in on the sabbath thing- sure it's an inconvenience for us sometimes. But imagine how non-Christians feel around Christmas time. Talk about annoying. I'm Catholic, and I'm sick of the Christmas season by the end of November.

Sal Santamaura · Jun 28, 2007

"Respecting beliefs"

roteague said:
Unfortunately, we live in a society that doesn't respect other peoples beliefs if they are outside the "norm".

Let me preface this by saying:

I'm a New York City native
I've been a consistent B&H customer since first walking into its store in 1976
I have no problem dealing with B&H's Sabbath closing schedule
I grew up in close association and have been friends with Jews who represented all degrees of observance

The phrase "respect other people's beliefs" is fundamentally flawed. I have no more respect for the orthodox beliefs of B&H's owners than I do for those of any other religious practitioners. Asking people to respect the beliefs of others is a formula for disaster; world history and current events bear this out.

What I do have, and wish everyone had, is respect for the right of other people to hold and practice their own religious beliefs, or to have no religious beliefs at all. That is what must be achieved for a pluralistic society to peacefully exist. Not likely to occur during my lifetime, but maybe someday...

Marc . · Jun 28, 2007

copake_ham said:
Marc (and jeroldharter),

B&H is a company owned and operated by very observant Orthodox Jews. I am not Jewish but have friends who are. They have explained to me that the strong beliefs of certain Orthodox Jews both prevents them from working on the Sabbath, and prohibits using mechanical means (e.g. automated software) to do it for them. Similarly, they are not permitted to hire non-Jews or less observant Jews to do the work for them on the Sabbath.

My confusion remains - why does the practice of someone's religious beliefs annoy anyone? I can see that it may seem "odd" until explained. But I do not understand "annoyance" as a reaction.

George,

I didn't write or imply that their beliefs annoyed me.
To be short, one can feel frustrated while facing a closed webshop, without then being intolerant to the owner's religious beliefs.
In my case I just didn't know their beliefs then ! and just ordered later...
Now I've learned more about them in your post, thank you for the explanation.

It certainly happened this way to jeroldharter too.

roteague said:
Unfortunately, we live in a society that doesn't respect other peoples beliefs if they are outside the "norm".

Robert,

I believe this comes deeper than from society itself, here and now.

Now, back to the thread.

I buy form B&H (NY, USA), Megaperls (Abiko-shi, Japan) and Photostock (Paris, France).

Marc

kjsphoto · Jun 28, 2007

freestylephoto.biz (online)

copake_ham · Jun 28, 2007

Marc . said:
Now, back to the thread.

I buy form B&H (NY, USA), Megaperls (Abiko-shi, Japan) and Photostock (Paris, France).

Marc

The real irony is that I live in NYC but do not buy my film at B&H!

Their store is inconvenient to where I work and I'm not in the City on weekends (including Sundays when they ARE open) but up in Copake. If I were to have them ship it to me - I would pay both shipping AND NYS/NYC sales taxes.

So that's why I haunt eBay and found Hunt's up in New England. Quite close so low cost shipping and no sales tax. The only problem is, I suspect that they are Red Sox fans!

Ole · Jun 28, 2007

www.fotoimport.no
www.pixit.no
www.nordfoto.de

and about a dozen others...

Sirius Glass · Jun 28, 2007

... or having to put up with Blue laws that close all stores on Sunday in some states. [Whether or not the owner would like to be open.]

Steve

copake_ham · Jun 28, 2007

Stever said:
... or having to put up with Blue laws that close all stores on Sunday in some states. [Whether or not the owner would like to be open.]

Steve

Are there any states (US) that still do this?

At least when it comes to 35mm - I've yet to find myself in a place where there isn't an open Walgreens or Eckards where I can at least score a few rolls of consumer stuff. In fact, if you look up above the cash register of most gas station convenience stores - there's usually a couple of rolls of film hanging from a hook.

And goodness knows, there ain't anywhere in America where you can't find gasoline, beer and beef jerky any time or day of the year!

roteague · Jun 28, 2007

I understand B&H and sometimes shop there. I'm a Sabbath keeper as well, although not as strict as they are, so I understand where they are coming from. I personally prefer to shop from Calumet wherever possible.

PhotoJim · Jun 28, 2007

Don's Photo ... local shop, especially for Ilford films
B&H and Adorama... Fuji films. I just used Adorama for the first time and am pleased; very fresh film and they are willing to ship to my office (B&H is not since I'm in Canada).
Freestyle... Efke and Foma films.
I buy a little film at Eight Elm in Toronto, too, when I go there. The prices aren't that great but it's a really neat store and I like to support it.

mabman · Jun 29, 2007

Interesting about Don's in Regina - in Winnipeg their selection of B&W has decreased substantially, along with their staff knowledge. I was in one store a few months ago - their film fridge had a few rolls of Neopan and some TMAX, but that's about it.

I asked a sales associate about either BW400CN or XP2 in 120 format, got a blank stare - she asked someone who basically pointed at the fridge, and she proceeded to show me the Neopan and TMAX. Not impressed.

Also, the last time I brought colour 120 film to get processed (6x6) I was asked if I wanted "regular" prints made - assuming of course being a "professional" shop they knew that "regular" in this case would be square. I got back cropped 4x6 prints. Also not impressed.

So, now in Winnipeg I frequent Photo Central, which has a good selection of film (Ilford, Kodak, Fuji, some Agfa left), paper, chems (Kodak and Ilford, primarily), gear and most importantly has a knowledgable staff (older guys, primarily). They also sponsor a new-ish photography school in the city. (Apparently they outsource their B&W development, which when I used it last resulted in strange development and scratched negatives, so thus far that's the only black mark I've got against them - but I'm buying the stuff to do my own shortly, so that will be much less of an issue.)

PhotoJim · Jun 29, 2007

Don's in Regina seems a lot better. I tell them to make 5x5 prints out of my 120 square negatives (I don't assume anything ) but they know about the black and white films, at least. They don't always have them in stock but they seem to have them in the Winnipeg warehouse most of the time so it only takes a day or two to get them.

Don's price on Ilford films seems better than US mail order prices, even before shipping. Their Kodak and Fuji prices are a little high but not ridiculous.

The darkroom and film stock in Regina has certainly diminished, and I feel a bit like an alien when I go there. Everybody is buying digital this and digital that. I feel a bit like an outcast. At least the staff (particularly the veterans) understand and give me sympathetic comments. I'm sure part of them knows what I'm feeling, even if I'm one of the handful of people they deal with that doesn't do a pixel of digital.

kivis · Jun 29, 2007

http://www.ultrafineonline.com

film_guy · Jun 29, 2007

Too bad the Don's photo here (Edmonton) isn't as good as the other remaining pro lab in town. They have a good stock of Ilford and Fuji color film, but new Kodak B&W stock is slowly disappearing. I'll keep on supporting them as long as I can, until the cost of buying online is significantly better, which I'm sure will happen in the near future.

Craig · Jun 29, 2007

For the Canadians, you might try The Camera Store in Calgary. They still have a good selection from 35mm to 8x10, and a good darkroom selection, although it isn't as good as a few years ago. I buy everything there film wise, as I'd rather support the local guy, plus cross border shipping makes it prohibitive to shop with people like B&H.
www.thecamerastore.com

Where do you buy your film?

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