120 Current availability and suppliers?

pat36a

pat36a

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The urge that never goes away .............

Following a house move my film kit has lived in a box for over two years - but now it's time to satisfy that nagging urge!

Being out of touch with the film world for more than a couple of years I need a little updating on the following:

120 Film suppliers ............. My trusted supplier was Mailshots, Stoke-on-Trent, but I believe they are long gone.
120 Film availability ........... What is still available? Velvia/Reala? Anything new? Kodak Ektar is new to me (comments welcome) .......... I shoot outdoors, things and places rather than people..
120 Film processing .......... Have been happy with Peak Imaging in the past.

I have done a little forum research, but noticed a few posts were a little old, so just interested in getting a little up to date advice.

Thanks for reading.
 
Ag photographic
 
Amazon usually have some. I use NT Photoworks as well. There's also discount films direct. I used to use Mailshots too.
 
For outdoor things and places, I like Kodak Ektar 100, it gives nice, saturated colours without being too garish; so it should tick the box if you want a good, sharp, virtually grain-free film. It also seems to scan nicely too. You should be able to buy a pack of 5 rolls for less than £25. For black and white there's Ilford XP2 400, which gives me nice results when shot at 200 (but developed as standard 400) in sunny weather. I picked some up from Speedgraphic via eBay, and it was nice fresh stock with good shelf life. As XP2 uses the C41 development process, it usually costs a bit less to develop at most film labs than a 'conventional' black and white film. If you want something with very fine grain then perhaps try Fuji Neopan Acros 100?

I send my films to AG Photolab or Filmdev (see thread on Film developing in the UK for further info). If you want a fast colour 120 I think Kodak Portra 800 is fantastic stuff, but it's not cheap, the Portra 400 is usually cheaper and gives more muted and natural tones than Ektar 100, but to be honest I prefer the look and extra 'pop' of Ektar. Having said that, it's all down to personal taste so perhaps have a look on Flickr and enter the film type you want to look at in the search box and see which ones you like the look of?

Hope this is useful and don't forget to post some of your photos in the Film and Conventional section once you've got started again. :)
 
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...also keep you eyes open for discounts\offers at times and then buy a quantity e.g. in January Ektar and Portra 160 (120 film) were for a 5 pack under £20 with discount and free del from 7dayshop (y)
 
There's a fairly comprehensive list of B&W 120 films that are currently available listed on The Online Darkroom blog: http://www.theonlinedarkroom.com/p/what-black-and-white-films-are.html

The list is a couple of years old and so might be slightly out of date (I know that Bergger Pancro is now available in 120 for instance).

I've used various suppliers. Nik & Trick have a very good selection, 7-Day Shop have some bargains, and as I have Amazon Prime, Amazon can be useful if I want something by next day. I've bought new films from eBay before without problems too.
 
I buy my 120 film from either Amazon, 7dayshop, NTPhotoworks or Morco depending on price and availability. NT usually have a good range of slightly quirky films which can be nice if you're feeling experimental. Other than the expected Ilford, Kodak & Fuji films, at the moment i'm quite enjoying some of the Rollei Black and White film stocks (especially RPX) and was relatively impressed by Lomo 400 in 120 too.
 
pat36a said:
The urge that never goes away .............

Following a house move my film kit has lived in a box for over two years - but now it's time to satisfy that nagging urge!

Being out of touch with the film world for more than a couple of years I need a little updating on the following:

120 Film suppliers ............. My trusted supplier was Mailshots, Stoke-on-Trent, but I believe they are long gone.
120 Film availability ........... What is still available? Velvia/Reala? Anything new? Kodak Ektar is new to me (comments welcome) .......... I shoot outdoors, things and places rather than people..
120 Film processing .......... Have been happy with Peak Imaging in the past.

I have done a little forum research, but noticed a few posts were a little old, so just interested in getting a little up to date advice.

Thanks for reading.
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Have a look at the sticky at the top of the f&c forum page here https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...ion-where-to-find-tutorials-resources.571044/ it has a wealth of useful information.
 
I wanna buy some stuff from N&T but their website doesn't work...:(
 
It doesn't apply a shipping calculation after you've filled in all your details, say's you have to contact the shop or something.
I could do that but by the time I've fannied about I've forgot what I wanted, its not the same as going through the shop on line and adding things to your basket as you go.
If they rang me up right now and asked what I wanted, I wouldn't know..:/
 
joxby said:
It doesn't apply a shipping calculation after you've filled in all your details, say's you have to contact the shop or something.
I could do that but by the time I've fannied about I've forgot what I wanted, its not the same as going through the shop on line and adding things to your basket as you go.
If they rang me up right now and asked what I wanted, I wouldn't know..:/
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Ah, I see, that would be frustrating. I've never had it happen myself on N&T though. Maybe their website doesn't work properly with some browsers / versions? I've had similar issues on other sites.
 
Peter B said:
I was on the Camera Pricebuster site and see that they have a limited selection of film prices. I'm not sure how competitive these are with the specialists mentioned above. :thinking:

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/Film
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That is VERY useful... except I'd like to be able to get a "no p&p" price, or at least a "quantity n" price. It was unnerving to see Calumet's price for Tri-X (which at £5 is the lowest AFAIK) listed as £10 (with p&p).
 
FujiLove said:
I couldn't see 7dayshop listed, and they are often cheapest.
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Also macodirect who are nearly always the cheapest even now if you buy enough to bear their high P&P costs...
 
ChrisR said:
Also macodirect who are nearly always the cheapest even now if you buy enough to bear their high P&P costs...
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I think camerapricebuster only lists uk outlets and doesn't list any grey import sites either.
 
joxby said:
I was thinking for £7 a roll, I'd spend the money on Delta, but after checking Fomapan prices, mebbe Jack isn't competitive

http://shop.silverprint.co.uk/Foma-Fomapan-100/products/195/
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Just worth keeping in mind - Fomapan 100 was not a bad film, and produced quite a nice image - but gosh it can be a difficult film to get onto a developing reel, truly non-compliant. So much so that I would spend a little bit more on the equivalent Fuji Acros/Kodak Tri-X/T-Max B&W film just to avoid it!
 
Peter B said:
Jack The Hat sells Fomapan in 120 and 5x4 as well as 35mm, but I don't know if they are competitive at all? https://www.jackthehat.co.uk/film-c-77.html
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JackTheHats's prices include postage and the price per roll drops when you buy more.

freecom2 said:
Just worth keeping in mind - Fomapan 100 was not a bad film, and produced quite a nice image - but gosh it can be a difficult film to get onto a developing reel, truly non-compliant. So much so that I would spend a little bit more on the equivalent Fuji Acros/Kodak Tri-X/T-Max B&W film just to avoid it!
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Agree totally - my photography costs often include petrol for the day out and the price of that is much greater than the film cost. So why risk having spoiled images due to scratched or kinked film for a few pence per image ?
 
Peter B said:
Jack The Hat sells Fomapan in 120 and 5x4 as well as 35mm, but I don't know if they are competitive at all? https://www.jackthehat.co.uk/film-c-77.html
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The 5x4 isn't much of a deal. With postage at Silverprint, it's about the same, but for 5 boxes at Jack The Hat, the unit price per box didn't go down (£184.95 total), while Silverprint do free postage and want a total of £154.90.

Also, Silverprint seem to have fairly regular 10% off sales, so if it's timed right, it can be had for a smidge under £140 for 5 boxes, or 28 quid a box.
 
I tend to get my film from Calumet. Mainly because I wait until I've run out and buy a load at once and Calumet do free delivery over £50, and have always been competitive and reliable. You also get 5.25% cash back through TopCashback which is a couple quid saved each time.
 
Nomad Z said:
The 5x4 isn't much of a deal. With postage at Silverprint, it's about the same, but for 5 boxes at Jack The Hat, the unit price per box didn't go down (£184.95 total), while Silverprint do free postage and want a total of £154.90.

Also, Silverprint seem to have fairly regular 10% off sales, so if it's timed right, it can be had for a smidge under £140 for 5 boxes, or 28 quid a box.
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And right on cue comes this email from Silverprint: :)

Wishing you a Happy Weekend here is 10% Off All Product


Spend over £100, also receive Free Standard Delivery (See terms below).

Offer runs from now until Midnight Sunday 09th July 2017.

Just apply the voucher code 10OFF at the checkout between 1:00pm Friday and 11.59pm Sunday to receive 10% Off All Products.

If you spend over £100, after the discount code has been applied, you will receive Free standard delivery.
 
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