Where to buy bulk B&W film in Canada

[Andrew O'Neill]

Andrew the OP is in Ontario.....Peter & Julian, the founders/owners of The Camera Store are good friends of mine, but I can't see the economy of buying bulk film in Calgary and paying for shipping to Ontario......?

I have film shipped to BC from there, as well as from Quebec and Ontario. Not much if any difference in shipping costs.

 

[Dennis S]

I usually send an email to Jacques in situations like that (at least for sheet film), and he'll do his best to bring it in. I like supporting him.

If the product is not there at the moment you can message him and it will be ordered promptly. Also it is CDN funds so you don't have to factor in the extra 25% for exchange rate which is a deterrent for me for large orders

 

[GregY]

Dennis & Andrew you guys are a hard crowd on a saturday! How is paying for shipping in Canada cheaper than free courier shipping from B&H? In addition, how is "ordering promptly" like having it in stock....when neither you nor the dealer know if the wholesaler has it in stock to ship? I usually order when i am about to need something.... (I've waited months for Foma FB paper....when it was supposed to take 2-3 weeks.)
As for the 25%.... any calculator can do the math. Is there someone in Canada that offers Arista( =Foma, 35mm 100ft) for. $63 USD ($84.43 Cdn today) ?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Dennis & Andrew you guys are a hard crowd on a saturday! How is paying for shipping in Canada cheaper than free courier shipping from B&H? In addition, how is "ordering promptly" like having it in stock....when neither you nor the dealer know if the wholesaler has it in stock to ship? I usually order when i am about to need something.... (I've waited months for Foma FB paper....when it was supposed to take 2-3 weeks.)
As for the 25%.... any calculator can do the math. Is there someone in Canada that offers Arista( =Foma, 35mm 100ft) for. $63 USD ($84.43 Cdn today) ?

I guess I prefer to keep my money in Canada

 

[GregY]

I guess I prefer to keep my money in Canada

I guess you're not using 5x7" film from Kodak........

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I guess you're not using 5x7" film from Kodak........

Nope...but I am using 8x10 Ilford...

 

[GregY]

Nope...but I am using 8x10 Ilford...

well as much as i like FP4+ in every format..... HP5 is certainly no TMY-2. IMO

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

well as much as i like FP4+ in every format..... HP5 is certainly no TMY-2. IMO

HAHA no it's not! I LOVE TMY-2. Shot a lot of it in 8x10 up until about 2010. I can't afford it on a teacher's salary...

 

[gordrob]

The Camera Store in Calgary ships free on orders over $99

Shipping policy

thecamerastore.com

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

The Camera Store in Calgary ships free on orders over $99

Shipping policy

thecamerastore.com

That's good to know! Thanks!

 

[MattKing]

I'm a buy-in-Canada whenever possible customer as well.
As 5"x7" TMY is a special order item, that comes through Keith Canham, I would have no problem buying through there.

 

[GregY]

I'm a buy-where-you-find-it-in-stock guy.
It used to be nice to drive into Calgary and stock up.
Who even carries a full stock of FB paper? ...& i mean that you can buy with regularity time after time.
Economy has come to mean buy volume.
What stores stock 250 sheet boxes of paper?
Who has Ilford Galerie or Art 300 when you need it?
Who's got Foma FB in 12x16"?
Who remembers buying Ilford FP4 /120 in 50 roll boxes?

Some people economize buy buying rebranded film or using Xray film in LF.
I prefer to stick with Ilford & Kodak and buy volume when it's in stock. I don't buy sheet film or paper in 10sheet boxes. Or Ilford chemicals in a 500ml bottle.
Argentix used to have good stock of stuff like Foma paper that was not available locally.... things changed with the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Have you priced the shipping cost for a single box of 50 sheets of 20x24" paper?
Photo Formulary & B&H Photo have been reliable suppliers for me for decades...& that's something I don't quickly forget.

 

[alanrockwood]

Freestyle photo ships to Canada, but there's an additional charge.

Fotoimpex.com might be worth a try. They are located in Europe, Germany I believe. For some products they have better prices than most sources but not for other products. However, shipping charges are an issue, so

For foma products consider fomafoto.com. They probably have the best prices of any source for foma products, provided that you buy enough to make shipping charges less important compared to the total.

 

[redrockcoulee]

With the price of shipping via Canada Post, it's a hard sell to buy from Vancouver or Calgary & ship to Toronto. B&H courier shipping for free is hard to compete with. As is the choice of 15+ emulsions in stock, for those out to economize, some as low priced as $63 USD (Arista 400,100ft), or at the other end, Kodak Tmax 100 or 400.

the fe es the courier charges are far greater than shipping costs from Vancouver or Toronto.

 

[kmcsmart]

the fe es the courier charges are far greater than shipping costs from Vancouver or Toronto.

For orders over $99 shipping is free to Canada from B&H. For a single roll of 100’ of film, costing less than $99, shipping to Ontario is $8.10 which isn’t bad at all. It’s hard to beat their service.

 

[radialMelt]

I agree it is hard to beat B&H prices. But if you did want to keep it somewhat local you could try Photo Service in MTL. They have a few bulk options, namely Ilford offerings.

Produits | Photo Service: Magasin référence en appareil photo

Photo Service est le magasin référence en appareil photo et accessoires.

photoservice.ca

 

[redrockcoulee]

For orders over $99 shipping is free to Canada from B&H. For a single roll of 100’ of film, costing less than $99, shipping to Ontario is $8.10 which isn’t bad at all. It’s hard to beat their service.

My experience with B&H is they send by courier which collects the GST but charges a large fee for collecting the GST plus a brokerage fee even if there is no duty and it seems like a fee for collecting those fees. I would shop at B&H or Freestyle if they sent it by post rather than FedEx. For larger purcharses it is cheaper for me to drive thevone hour to Havre Montana the pay FedEx. Film photography ships by post. I alsi get a 10 to 25% discount when ordering from Downtown Camera in Toronto.

Yes if you only have to pay 8.10 shipping it is eorth it but if sent by courier the cost wull be closer to $35 from.my experience. Being three hours from anyplace that sells film I have experienced too many over charges in shipping via couriers. If it is better for you go for it. I'd rather a film seller than a courier company tp get my money.

 

[MattKing]

My experience with B&H is they send by courier which collects the GST but charges a large fee for collecting the GST plus a brokerage fee even if there is no duty and it seems like a fee for collecting those fees. I would shop at B&H or Freestyle if they sent it by post rather than FedEx. For larger purcharses it is cheaper for me to drive thevone hour to Havre Montana the pay FedEx. Film photography ships by post. I alsi get a 10 to 25% discount when ordering from Downtown Camera in Toronto.

Yes if you only have to pay 8.10 shipping it is eorth it but if sent by courier the cost wull be closer to $35 from.my experience. Being three hours from anyplace that sells film I have experienced too many over charges in shipping via couriers. If it is better for you go for it. I'd rather a film seller than a courier company tp get my money.

You need to explicitly use B&H's separate shipping to Canada system. That requires you to pre-pay duty and taxes, but includes any and all customs brokerage services in the "free shipping".

 

[GregY]

You need to explicitly use B&H's separate shipping to Canada system. That requires you to pre-pay duty and taxes, but includes any and all customs brokerage services in the "free shipping".

Exactly as Matt said.. pre-pay.....minimal charges.

 

[redrockcoulee]

You need to explicitly use B&H's separate shipping to Canada system. That requires you to pre-pay duty and taxes, but includes any and all customs brokerage services in the "free shipping".

Thanks, that is good to know. Film stilp works out fine at Downtown Camera as I ger 10% off most hrands and 25%off on Kidak when i order a bunch.