The cost of film

The cost of film seems to jump up and down all the time. Presumably it's just down to retailers taking advantage when supplies are hard to come by. Whatever goes up now will be back down in time so I just wait it out and then stock up once it is a sensible price.

Not colour film but I was surprised when Harrison cameras dropped the price of HP5 and FP4 recently. They were competitive to begin with but a month or so back their prices dropped, particularly for 120 film.
 
FishyFish said:
Is there any particular reason that the price of certain films has skyrocketed lately?

A few months back it was relatively easy to get a five pack of 135 Portra 160 for around £25. Now it's more like £35.
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Well, the pound is buying a lot less than it was a few months ago...
 
It must be difficult for stockists to keep a stock of film, that is both fresh and at the right price.
Makers have to keep it moving, and will inevitably have to resort to special offers at times to achieve this.
Consumers are fickle, and can not be relied on, in the way they once could.
The only tool the sellers now have, to achive some sort of balance, is price.
 
Market forces. Not that many people (apparently) want to buy it, not as many shops want to stock it. It's you die hard film guys keeping people like me working in this industry.
 
I think it's down to supply and demand (AKA market forces). I think the trick is to fill your fridge if you spot a good offer on a film you that appeals to you, and hope this tides you over if prices rise and/or stock availability becomes limited.
 
With black and white film the cost of silver has been going up in the last few years as currencies around the globe are becoming worth less and less. I don't know about colour just possibly in the summer there is higher demand as people tend to shoot more as the weather is better.
 
I usually buy my film in winter and stock up for the coming year. Prices seem lower then.
 
No look at the the UK economy it is bright it is future and it is growing.

Film may cost more,but,a little price to pay for our future.

See sense you remainer,s or should I say cowards and people that do not believe in their country.
 
Jeez..... :banghead:
 
medwaygreen said:
No look at the the UK economy it is bright it is future and it is growing.

Film may cost more,but,a little price to pay for our future.

See sense you remainer,s or should I say cowards and people that do not believe in their country.
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The cost of everything is going up and it all adds up. Wage growth isn't matching inflation. Our economy is currently the worst performing of the G20. The costs will never outweigh any benefits.

At least Ilford is a British company. I wonder how Ilford will fare against Kodak and Fujifilm. I'm guessing they'll ultimately all increase because the costs of imports will rise, and the material costs to Ilford will rise. The only winner will be Ilford who'll be able to export more cheaply.
 
an1uk said:
The cost of everything is going up and it all adds up. Wage growth isn't matching inflation. Our economy is currently the worst performing of the G20. The costs will never outweigh any benefits.

At least Ilford is a British company. I wonder how Ilford will fare against Kodak and Fujifilm. I'm guessing they'll ultimately all increase because the costs of imports will rise, and the material costs to Ilford will rise. The only winner will be Ilford who'll be able to export more cheaply.
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A very astute reply,but,I feel that apart from America the largest market for film is the UK (England) and so as Kodak as you say is a UK company there cost to other counties will rise,but,the UK?
 
medwaygreen said:
A very astute reply,but,I feel that apart from America the largest market for film is the UK (England) and so as Kodak as you say is a UK company there cost to other counties will rise,but,the UK?
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Like most things even if its British owned company the actual work is done elsewhere so unless we're importing hopes and dreams (we might need to) the cost of everything is going to go up.


an1uk said:
The only winner will be Ilford who'll be able to export more cheaply.
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See above. We don't mine silver, we don't produce acetate, backing paper is produced else where, as are 35mm spools, we don't even make bloody plastic spindles. Everything will go up unless we have excellent trade deals and what incentive do other countries have to give us a good deal when they can screw us over and we still have to trade with them.
 
steveo_mcg said:
Like most things even if its British owned company the actual work is done elsewhere so unless we're importing hopes and dreams (we might need to) the cost of everything is going to go up.




See above. We don't mine silver, we don't produce acetate, backing paper is produced else where, as are 35mm spools, we don't even make bloody plastic spindles. Everything will go up unless we have excellent trade deals and what incentive do other countries have to give us a good deal when they can screw us over and we still have to trade with them.
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I have to agree with your view Steven,nothing at all to do with the current negotiations we are currently undertaking. It is therefore a world wide price problem. No one gets it cheap.
 
steveo_mcg said:
thats the same bull squirt argument the SNP pull when ever someone disagrees over Independance. Blind patriotism... Fools game.
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Agreed with your last post. This one is just plain stupid,but,understandable.
 
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:lock:it and leave it boys.
 
medwaygreen said:
Agreed with your last post. This one is just plain stupid,but,understandable.
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Why is it stupid? When the SNP or Trump or Brexit make unfounded claims and are called on it the caller is told to stop putting Scotland/America/UK down with no answer to unfounded claim. If you're going to have a reasonable discussion you need to be able to back up your statements not just cry foul when someone disagrees.
 
excalibur2 said:
Well I dunno Andy as the title is "cost of film" and any explanation why film costs is going up..... is interesting. As for silver (used in photography) the price for 2017 is at it's lowest now https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/silver-price/5year/ounces/gbp/
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Thats the raw price traded at the metals exchange it only really has a passing resemblance to the actual cost of silver halide which has to be heavily processed before its of any use to us.
 
steveo_mcg said:
Thats the raw price traded at the metals exchange it only really has a passing resemblance to the actual cost of silver halide which has to be heavily processed before its of any use to us.
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Well if spools, 35mm cases, final printed cardboard boxes are made say in China for pennies, then that just leaves making film and assembly (onto spools and packaging)........maybe all too complicated to continue this thread. ;)
 
excalibur2 said:
Well if spools, 35mm cases, final printed cardboard boxes are made say in China for pennies, then that just leaves making film and assembly (onto spools and packaging)........maybe all too complicated to continue this thread. ;)
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This is where my knowledge breaks down I'm afraid. I don't know if Ilford buy raw silver and have their own chemists to produce their secret sauce or if they buy processed silver halide and then add their own stuff to make the emulsion. Either way the cost of Silver is like the cost of Crude Oil its only a passing relationship with cost of film or petrol. When the raw materials increase in cost this will be absorbed by the processor as long as possible to remain competative but once that elastic band snaps the price shoots off. The price of finished goods are often slow to come back down inline with the raw material due the producer hoping to recoupe some of the costs they absorbed as the price went up (not to mention its good for profits)
 
medwaygreen said:
No look at the the UK economy it is bright it is future and it is growing.

Film may cost more,but,a little price to pay for our future.

See sense you remainer,s or should I say cowards and people that do not believe in their country.
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Oh dear.

steveo_mcg said:
Why is it stupid? When the SNP or Trump or Brexit make unfounded claims and are called on it the caller is told to stop putting Scotland/America/UK down with no answer to unfounded claim. If you're going to have a reasonable discussion you need to be able to back up your statements not just cry foul when someone disagrees.
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Exactly.
 
I always wonder where people get their figures from when they say "look at the UK economy, bright and growing" when every financial institution shows the £ tanking. Nothing like a bit of delusion, eh?

I just shelled out £25 for a 4-pack of Fuji Superia 800 for an upcoming festival - can't wait to take some night-time shots of all the lights and busy scenes. I was pondering Cinestill 800, but it's probably best to save that for when I'm not going to be swaying so much when trying to take photos.
 
mothdust said:
I always wonder where people get their figures from when they say "look at the UK economy, bright and growing" when every financial institution shows the £ tanking. Nothing like a bit of delusion, eh?

I just shelled out £25 for a 4-pack of Fuji Superia 800 for an upcoming festival - can't wait to take some night-time shots of all the lights and busy scenes. I was pondering Cinestill 800, but it's probably best to save that for when I'm not going to be swaying so much when trying to take photos.
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Well I've decided to using my Nex 3 for low light shots IF I can't use flash...as to me high iso film is a silly price. Of course sunsets and other low light shots with a tripod would still use 200\400 ISO film.
 
I've just updated my film cost spreadsheet, which was interesting. I only want 135, so only checked those prices. I find Calumet is pretty good, particularly if there's one near you and you can pick up. I ordered £50 worth the other day including some marked as out of stock, and they all arrived the next day, free delivery! Discountfilmsdirect appears to be generally a bit dearer than either AG or Calumet. Mr Cad seems somewhere in the middle: some dearer, some a bit cheaper, but interestingly seem to have dropped, yes DROPPED the price of some Ilford film to £5.29. Silverprint has some good prices but Kodak colour seems expensive. 7dayshop is as always a bit of a mishmash: some with delivery included, some without. Notable though was the small amount of stock, so no Tri-X or Pan-F or FP4, and Delta 100 and XP2 were very expensive. Most prices on macodirect seem to have stayed the same, though Provia has gone up, as has FP4 and Vista 400. The Euro has also increased recently, but even so I could only find a couple of prices where maco was not the cheapest £ price. The €12.90 delivery charge is a humdinger though, unless you buy big. They do have a huge stock, though, so it's probably possible to batch up your orders so it doesn't make too much difference.

By the way, Agfa Vista 400 is £3.96 from AG, £4.25 from discountfilmsdirect and £3.28 from maco... and somewhere I saw Fuji Superia 400 (the same film) at £8 for a 24-shot roll!
 
ChrisR said:
By the way, Agfa Vista 400 is £3.96 from AG, £4.25 from discountfilmsdirect and £3.28 from maco... and somewhere I saw Fuji Superia 400 (the same film) at £8 for a 24-shot roll!
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It's also worth mentioning Amazon is still selling Fuji Superia 400 135-36 in 3-packs for £11.99. Buying two of these packs (6 rolls) will take you over the £20 minimum for free shipping without Prime, so that's £4 a roll delivered.
 
Retune said:
It's also worth mentioning Amazon is still selling Fuji Superia 400 135-36 in 3-packs for £11.99. Buying two of these packs (6 rolls) will take you over the £20 minimum for free shipping without Prime, so that's £4 a roll delivered.
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Ooooh that's nice... except for it being Ama$on, whom I don't like. I wonder if a similar deal is available on fleabay...
 
Haven't seen it quite this cheap, though ebay dealer photofactoryltd sells the 3-packs for £13.95 delivered (£4.65 a roll).
 
I think Ilford are running a 15% discount just now, from their site...
 
I had the email. I noted that 25 sheets of 10x8 FP4 cost a few pennies (four or five, from memory) less than SIlverprint's normal price. A discount doesn't always mean a low price (Mr Cad undercuts - from their website - by about £8).
 
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