Have you given up on film due to Film prices ?

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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Hello fellow light catchers

I've been using film on and off since being a child and film photography is what I really enjoy ( particularly manual mechanical cameras). I haven't brought any film for a good while having had quite a stock but looking at the film prices now I think it has just gone too far and I think I'll be giving up. A real shame as for me digital and digital cameras with their menus in menus are just not the same. I'm at a bit of a loss as which way to go next. Have you decided to ditch film because of the prices ?

Brad
 
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Not really, no. Thankfully I'm more of a black and white shooter so the price increases haven't been ridiculous.

I also shoot large format and the discipline from that has influenced the way I shoot the smaller formats.
 
Like Lloyd, I enjoy film shooting, so I'll just be doing even less colour. I mostly dev and scan at home, so the film cost for maybe one or two a month at most is tolerable.
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
Hello fellow light catchers

I've been using film on and off since being a child and film photography is what I really enjoy ( particularly manual mechanical cameras). I haven't brought any film for a good while having had quite a stock but looking at the film prices now I think it has just gone too far and I think I'll be giving up. A real shame as for me digital and digital cameras with their menus in menus are just not the same. I'm at a bit of a loss as which way to go next. Have you decided to ditch film because of the prices ?

Brad
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I know you've probably heard this before but you don't need to go into the menus. I go in to format the card and set the clock and that's honestly about it.

You could always go for a Fuji X100 as you set the aperture and shutter speed with dials and if you don't want to set any focus options you'll only need to go into the menu to format the card and set the clock. Any other camera can be used in basic configuration like this with you only needing to set the ISO, aperture and shutter. Another option is selecting Auto and leaving it there.

Back on topic.
I resisted going digital but the quality of the prints I was getting back nosedived so I just gave up and bought a digital camera. I did briefly go back years later but the urge had died and I quickly gave up.
 
I made the mistake of selling a large MF outfit to buy a digital camera. I soon found that I really missed develpoing film and wasn't having half as much fun with digital.

Fortunately many people at that time were going digital and I was able to acquire a newer MF outfit at really low prices.

I'm mostly monochrome so prices are really not too bad for me at the moment. If they get excessive then I will just cut down the amount I use rather than give up on film.
 
I must admit most of my film over the past few years has been B&W so as you say reasonable prices but I thought I'd run a bit of colour film through the cameras this summer. I had a look at the prices of what was budget film Colourplus 200 and the like. A few years ago buying in bulk it was costing me £2.95 a 36 exposure film the same film now on ebay ( where I had brought it from before) is about the £15 mark ( admittedly a single film) add £10 for postage and developing and I just cannot justify it. Unfortunately some of my other many hobbies have gone the same way with massive price increases and friends I had from these hobbies have also given up so I think other hobbies have been hit hard as well.

I'm thinking of getting rid of all my gear Alan and doing as you say I did try using my many film camera lenses on the Sony a6000 but the crop factor just killed that as I tend to take mostly wide angle shots. I also just hate spending time on the PC messing with photos, the irony is just latley I seem to be down grading them to give an old film/film camera look.I just need someone to bring out a 135 digital film cassette replacement kit that looks like film ! The Sony is a really good camera but I just don't enjoy using it that much hence I don't use it that much ! I think at one point it stayed in the cupboard for over a year.
 
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I've very slowly been getting into it over the last year - my interest and enjoyment from it is increasing.. I use a lab for dev and scan.. so bringing that in house could be a next step for me.

I prefer colour, but also enjoy black and white.

Because I'm new to it, I've not felt the price increase.. the price has just been the price for me
 
Given up on colour at the current prices. Got a couple of rolls of Portra 400 120 and some expired half plate sheets left then that's me done.

Will continue to shoot lots of B&W though in 35mm; 120, 4x5 and half plate. It helps too that I develop my own B&W so that saves me money.
 
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Well, I'd be fibbing if I said I haven't thought about chucking it in. From a practical point of view it doesn't make a lot of sense, and I have far too many cameras all demanding my attention. It's got to me a bit lately. But then I pick one up and do enjoy using it.
 
I used film for more than 40 years but I enjoy the truly instant gratification of digital photography so much, I just can't be bothered with the effort of film processing, or the cost.

On the other hand, I've got four film cameras and a dozen or so rolls of film, not to mention a complete developing outfit, so I might work up the enthusiasm at some stage! ;)
 
I'm a hobbyist so I take the cost of film as "It is what it is"
I've just got into colour negative film as home processing and scanning is far easier and cheaper than slide film.
Regarding cost, everything has gone up but it's not stopping me buying quality food, clothing..............................................

I grew tired of the whole digital thing, constantly chasing the latest and greatest. Not to mention spending more time deleting thousands of images than I did taking them.

I feel for professionals who have to please clients (particularly wedding photographers). Doing payed work sucked all the fun out for me and I'm not going back to it.
 
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BADGER.BRAD said:
I must admit most of my film over the past few years has been B&W so as you say reasonable prices but I thought I'd run a bit of colour film through the cameras this summer. I had a look at the prices of what was budget film Colourplus 200 and the like. A few years ago buying in bulk it was costing me £2.95 a 36 exposure film the same film now on ebay ( where I had brought it from before) is about the £15 mark ( admittedly a single film) add £10 for postage and developing and I just cannot justify it. Unfortunately some of my other many hobbies have gone the same way with massive price increases and friends I had from these hobbies have also given up so I think other hobbies have been hit hard as well.
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70p per shot. Make them good ones :)
 
soupdragon said:
I'm a hobbyist so I take the cost of film as "It is what it is"
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This is my point of view as well, I enjoy using my MF Bronica kit and budget for my hobby to cover one shoot per week (I don't always use it especially in the poor weather months). I also have 35mm kit but TBH rarely use it anymore as I find digital more convenient for the type of shooting I would do with 35mm. I shoot 99% colour and prefer slide film but I am having difficulty finding a lab to dev and scan (large TIFFs) to my satisfaction so have turned to neg film for the time until I can settle on a lab for E6.
 
I've been really wanting to get into it for a few years now, but every time I look at the prices involved it instantly puts me off again.

£5 for a roll of cheap B+W, plus another £20 or so for dev/scan/print, or invest £100+ in home dev kit and still have to buy chemicals. You know it's bad when shooting Instax is cheaper.
 
If I had to pay for developing and printing, I would have given up using film years ago.

I dev/scan/print b&w at home and if I had a bit more space I would do the same with colour.

I only buy film in bulk (mostly HP5) when it's on offer and once my current stock of DD-X has run out will be changing to Rodinal as it's a lot cheaper.
 
In truth, when Velvia & Tetenal E6 become available again I won't bat an eyelid at the cost (and no, I'm not wealthy).
Plus I bought the very best camera and scanner I could afford which, if I gave up film, would either have to be sold or treated as expensive ornaments.
Quality trumps budget every time.
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
Hello fellow light catchers

I've been using film on and off since being a child and film photography is what I really enjoy ( particularly manual mechanical cameras). I haven't brought any film for a good while having had quite a stock but looking at the film prices now I think it has just gone too far and I think I'll be giving up. A real shame as for me digital and digital cameras with their menus in menus are just not the same. I'm at a bit of a loss as which way to go next. Have you decided to ditch film because of the prices ?

Brad
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Actually my favorite camera is an old Yashica 635 twin lens camera shooting 120 film. But I live on a social security check so pretty much stick to my digital cameras. No film cost and no printing cost, print all my own. Of course it didn't help having the trouble getting 120 film developed anymore. No idea what film cost anymore, have some Provia 120 and some Illford HP5 in the fridge for emergency! :) Something special about waiting for film to get back even when I can't really afford it anymore!
 
I haven't given up on film, but I'm staring to give up on getting any slide film.
I have a Mamiya C220 with some nice lenses, and I'd like to see how they look with slide film. Same goes for my dad's Leicaflex which has some good lenses with it.
 
jimmyjamjojo said:
You know it's bad when shooting Instax is cheaper.
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This is something I have considered, Mrs Badger wants one but the traditionalist in me and modern Polaroid story pull me in . I'm not really interested in super sharp technically brilliant photos so one may be ideal !
 
Topsy said:
This is my point of view as well, I enjoy using my MF Bronica kit and budget for my hobby to cover one shoot per week (I don't always use it especially in the poor weather months). I also have 35mm kit but TBH rarely use it anymore as I find digital more convenient for the type of shooting I would do with 35mm. I shoot 99% colour and prefer slide film but I am having difficulty finding a lab to dev and scan (large TIFFs) to my satisfaction so have turned to neg film for the time until I can settle on a lab for E6.
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Have you tried Jack's Lab in Bristol? They seem to do large TIFF files as a default. And from what I've seen they seem to do a pretty good job.
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
This is something I have considered, Mrs Badger wants one but the traditionalist in me and modern Polaroid story pull me in . I'm not really interested in super sharp technically brilliant photos so one may be ideal !
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I really enjoy mine. I picked up an old Instax Wide 210 for about £20 on ebay. It's certainly not sharp, but that's all part of the charm!

I'd love a fully manual instax camera with a moderately fast lens for some bokeh, but it seems only one or two companies make them and they cost about the same as a very good digital camera...
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
Hello fellow light catchers

I've been using film on and off since being a child and film photography is what I really enjoy ( particularly manual mechanical cameras). I haven't brought any film for a good while having had quite a stock but looking at the film prices now I think it has just gone too far and I think I'll be giving up. A real shame as for me digital and digital cameras with their menus in menus are just not the same. I'm at a bit of a loss as which way to go next. Have you decided to ditch film because of the prices ?

Brad
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You are right that it has just gone too far, but i love films. So what i am doing is that I try to limit the use of film to what is absolutely necessary. I mean, twenty years ago I was taking pictures without thinking about the number of pictures I'm going to take. Now I'm very careful...
 
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I have tri
Plain Nev said:
Have you tried Jack's Lab in Bristol? They seem to do large TIFF files as a default. And from what I've seen they seem to do a pretty good job.
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Thanks Neville, I have tried them and so far they are front runner but their turn around time is the issue, when I sent them a film it was 2 weeks before I got the scans and a further week for the slides. My last Lab (Spectrum in Plymouth) would get my scans back the same week and the film by mid the next week and still do with my C41 stuff but they have downsized and no longer do E6. I've been spoiled by Spectrum I think.
 
Topsy said:
I have tri

Thanks Neville, I have tried them and so far they are front runner but their turn around time is the issue, when I sent them a film it was 2 weeks before I got the scans and a further week for the slides. My last Lab (Spectrum in Plymouth) would get my scans back the same week and the film by mid the next week and still do with my C41 stuff but they have downsized and no longer do E6. I've been spoiled by Spectrum I think.
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Not considered doing your own dev/scan?
Certainly C41 is a doddle with the Cinestill powder kit.
E6 is doable with the Tetenal brew but the full 6 bath process is painful with just a kitchen sink.
There is a considerable investment in a scanner though. I get really good results from my Epson V850 pro but it was over £800.

Maybe it's just me, but I like having control over the whole process.
 
soupdragon said:
Not considered doing your own dev/scan?
Certainly C41 is a doddle with the Cinestill powder kit.
E6 is doable with the Tetenal brew but the full 6 bath process is painful with just a kitchen sink.
There is a considerable investment in a scanner though. I get really good results from my Epson V850 pro but it was over £800.

Maybe it's just me, but I like having control over the whole process.
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Hi Tony, yes I have considered it several times but keep holding off, I still have my tanks and reels from my B&W processing days (pre the digital revolution). Yesterday after reading your earlier post I went back to the internet to look at buying the chemicals but I couldn't find a supplier in UK that had any (Tentenal) in stock. I'd go for a 1 ltr set and give it a try if I could get the chemicals but still have the scans done at Spectrum initially.

soupdragon said:
In truth, when Velvia & Tetenal E6 become available again I won't bat an eyelid at the cost (and no, I'm not wealthy).
Plus I bought the very best camera and scanner I could afford which, if I gave up film, would either have to be sold or treated as expensive ornaments.
Quality trumps budget every time.
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Topsy said:
Hi Tony, yes I have considered it several times but keep holding off, I still have my tanks and reels from my B&W processing days (pre the digital revolution). Yesterday after reading your earlier post I went back to the internet to look at buying the chemicals but I couldn't find a supplier in UK that had any (Tentenal) in stock. I'd go for a 1 ltr set and give it a try if I could get the chemicals but still have the scans done at Spectrum initially.
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There is no Tetenal available globally. All I could get was Bellinifoto 6 bath E6.
Whilst slide film is my preferred medium I have warmed to negative stock with particular reference Kodak Ektar.

The scans I'm getting using a fluid mount are super quality and it won't be long before I recover the cost of the scanner through not using a lab.
 
Not really - film costs are bearable for the quantity I shoot, but the processing prices are ridiculous so I'm reverting to developing them myself, and only b&w.
 
soupdragon said:
There is no Tetenal available globally. All I could get was Bellinifoto 6 bath E6.
Whilst slide film is my preferred medium I have warmed to negative stock with particular reference Kodak Ektar.

The scans I'm getting using a fluid mount are super quality and it won't be long before I recover the cost of the scanner through not using a lab.
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I can see why you have warmed to Ektar, in my experience it is the closest a neg film gets to Provia (my preferred slide film) and I do use it sometimes in preference to Portra if I want to get those boosted colours. TBH the only reason I am looking at home processing for E6 is that my usual lab no longer does it, although I am also not wealthy I can afford to use a lab as I don't shoot a tremendous amount of film. If I do get into home processing again I'll probably still send the films to that lab for scanning rather than get into scanning myself at least in the beginning. Interesting that you say about the fluid mount, I'm not familiar with that technique and whilst I did see some posts on here (different thread) I didn't look closely because I don't scan at home.
 
I just looked at fluid mount scanning, it looks interesting if you want to get very high quality scans. Thanks for mentioning it!
 
I went on a film GAS rampage in 2021/22 with a pentax 67, fuji gw690ii and a chamonix large format. I've since realised I have too much stuff to shoot so now only have the Chamonix as all other formats are fulfilled by my dslr

Like others its all about the process, shoot, dev and wet print. Thankfully bnw film is relatively easy to produce so should be around as long as enough people want it. I don't think enough people want to shoot colour to make it worthwhile if the movie studios decide they are done with their film projects
 
I still shoot and dev at home but it's mainly black and white... Fortunately, I have an Epson V600 for scanning so unless I've got something special, I don't really have much in the way of print costs.

I have at least 15 films cameras here but I tend to reach for the same few. It's too expensive to try and run film through all of them although I do rotate through some of the lesser used ones on occasion.
 
I used and processed my own film from the early 1940's I gave up using it as soon as digital became, in most respects, its equal.
I have no intention of ever using it again , although I have cameras, film and dry chemicals.
Were I to want to do so, the present cost would certainly be a major factor. and probably a deciding one.

I enjoy digital processing rather more than dark room processing and printing. not to mention the effects of allergic metol poisoning blistering my hands after many years of heavy prolonged use.
 
I gave up on film around 20 years ago. Three megapixel jpegs were much better for my purposes. I ran a roll of HP5 through about ten years ago and it wasn't worth the money or the faff.
 
I started with film years ago. Thought I'd try and get back into it about 5 years ago so bought a little Olympus OM-10. Quickly realised it was a very expensive and slow way of getting incredibly mediocre images so I rather quickly gave it up again.
 
Topsy said:
I can see why you have warmed to Ektar, in my experience it is the closest a neg film gets to Provia (my preferred slide film) and I do use it sometimes in preference to Portra if I want to get those boosted colours. TBH the only reason I am looking at home processing for E6 is that my usual lab no longer does it, although I am also not wealthy I can afford to use a lab as I don't shoot a tremendous amount of film. If I do get into home processing again I'll probably still send the films to that lab for scanning rather than get into scanning myself at least in the beginning. Interesting that you say about the fluid mount, I'm not familiar with that technique and whilst I did see some posts on here (different thread) I didn't look closely because I don't scan at home.
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There some examples of Portra 160 I scanned using the Epson fluid mount.
They are in the show us your film shots thread.
The pictures are a bit grainy as I push processed the film to increase the saturation but, other than that, I've never had better or even as good as scans from a lab.

I'm guessing high resolution drum scans would be better but I'm not paying the price.
 
soupdragon said:
There some examples of Portra 160 I scanned using the Epson fluid mount.
They are in the show us your film shots thread.
The pictures are a bit grainy as I push processed the film to increase the saturation but, other than that, I've never had better or even as good as scans from a lab.

I'm guessing high resolution drum scans would be better but I'm not paying the price.
Click to expand...

You would be hard pressed to find anyone with a drum scanner these days, they were mostly used by repro houses. Which is all obsolete technology. Digital is all about direct to plate etc.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
You would be hard pressed to find anyone with a drum scanner these days, they were mostly used by repro houses. Which is all obsolete technology. Digital is all about direct to plate etc.
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By all accounts large format professionals still use drum scanning labs.
Granted the facilities are not common these days but they remain the best option for digitising film.
 
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