What's a good place to buy film in bulk

[herbet]

film in Canada is at outrageous prices. the 35mm/36 roll of Provia or Astia is going for about $12 Canadian dollars and our currency is roughly at par with the US dollar. add to that the $10 processing and I'm forking $.60 every time I click the shutter.

I mainly shoot fujichrome and the occasional Kodak TriX. I've seen Astia for as low as $4.99 a roll at Adorama. given this outrageous (and somewhat dishonest) difference I'll have to forgo supporting my local camera store and order in bulk from the US. can anyone suggest a good place that would ship up North?

[spydrxx]

Check Ebay listings...I've had some pretty good deals on B&W film there.

[peter_n]

I buy B&W bulk from three places (I don't use color film). I've found all three to be excellent for my needs:

Photo Warehouse (Ultrafineonline) has good prices on some things, not so good on others. I bought a huge stack of Agfapan 100 from them at US$21.95/100ft, now it's at US$28.95. They do sell Kodak but their price on Tri-x is not good at US$54.95.

I've bought a lot of Ilford (HP5 & XP2) from B&H in New York and find their service to be really superb. They currently have bulk Tri-x at US$48.95.

For Fuji there is only one place and that's Megaperls. They do have a limited range and I've only bought B&W there, mostly Super Presto (which is what NP1600 is called in Japan). Dirk Rosler is a wonderful guy and if you email him he'll try to help you. One thing you would want to ask is the western name for some of the films there, which look unfamiliar to me. Also some of their prices don't compete with B&H for example. They are based in Japan and it takes about 3 weeks for film to arrive. They have a menu of shipping choices.

Links to all 3 below:

Ultrafine - Traditional Black-and-White Films

B&H - 35mm 100' Roll Tri-X

Megaperls Webshop - Color slide films

[rob_x2004]

Yea good one Pete
That is where all the APX went.


Oh well

[peter_n]

LOL they are still selling it Rob. It's just 33% more expensive. They also still have 24exp. rolls at US$1.99/per.

Agfapan was always an inexpensive film but even at US$29 it's cheaper than the nearest thing to it, Fomapan 100 selling at US$33.50 from Freestyle.

Freestyle - Fomapan 100

[rob_x2004]

I will have to look harder. I saw nothing on their ebay listings or on line shop. Add postage and I kind of need to buy multiple reels. Saw the dollar ninety nine but its 20exp in 400iso. They have another site?

[peter_n]

Here's the page Rob. I clicked through & found they're out of stock on the rolls. :

Ultrafine - Agfa APX 100 B & W Films

[rob_x2004]

Thanks Pete. Never seen. I've only ever seen the online store linked to ePrey.

ps...ah....in my haste I clicked the link before reading the sad news in your post.
Guess it is all Rollie in wooden boxes at twenty times the price now.

[vieri]

Just for your information, I just emailed Ultrafine for info requests (I intended to buy 2 Watson bulk loader and 2 rolls of Agfa APX 100), and I received the worst customer service in years of Internet purchase, from some guy whose rudeness is beyond belief. I assume Ultrafine doesn't need much business, and you can be sure they will not have mine. Here the last email I got from them:

My question:
--
Hello ***,

I was thinking about UPS as a shipping method - if you would send me a final quote using UPS, I will immediately send you the PayPal payment.

Is the Agfa expired, by the way?

Thanks, best

Vieri
--

Their answer:

--
I could see that you really don't want to purchase anything.
I will not continue answering your questions one at a time, this is just a waste of time. So please on your next reply ask all you want, buy the film send the money or find some else that those have the time to waste. We are trying to give you the best price but obviously you just like to ask questions.
--

Beside the need for a quick course in English grammar, the guy is not the kind of salesman I would like to give my business to.

Be warned.

[peter_n]

Wow, I guess s/he got out of bed on the wrong side! That is pretty bad, you should forward this thread's link to their sales email address so someone can see how badly they screwed up. This is the last time I'll recommend them to anybody! A great pity because they also sell Agfa papers and if you're an Agfa fan you'll know how hard their stuff is to find.

BTW I bought my bulk Agfapan 100 from them in February 2006. The rolls are dated 07/2010. I bought a lot, I won't run out for years.

[rob_x2004]

Sounds like you have been doing the two step shuffle with them Vieri? How many emails?
Why didnt you just request postage and buy something.
I emailed them they responded, and relisted more of what I wanted.
Ive bought from them in ... Jan Feb 06 and last year no problems.
I just (24hurs ago) bought more and there was no problems.
If they keep listing APX, then I will keep buying.
The only reason I wouldnt recommend them to anyone because Pete will just buy up all the stocks again

[peter_n]

Not if you've cleaned them out mate! Actually when I was buying this stuff I used to get 10 rolls at a time and I did that a few times. It will run out eventually and I'll probably be happy with Fomapan 100 when that happens.

I just remembered that foto-impex were supposed to have bought the old Agfa film machinery, so I did a bit of rooting to see if they sell it. Not on their German site, but on the UK site they are selling APX 100 in 36 exp rolls at US$32 or AU$33 for a 10 pack. That's not bad... Here's the link:

retro photographic - Agfa

[rob_x2004]

Rollei took over what was left I think and their 100/400 is rebadged apx from what I can gather. THeres another member here "fotohuis" is up on it. Here in Aust all the chemical prices for agfa more than trippled overnight. Rodinal went up thirty forty percent, their papers stayed ok on price but dried up. And all the Rollie stuff is very very expensive, at least where I shop. I still have plenty of APX but ran out of 400 after going on a learning spree.

[vieri]

Originally Posted by rob_x2004

Sounds like you have been doing the two step shuffle with them Vieri? How many emails?
Why didnt you just request postage and buy something.
I emailed them they responded, and relisted more of what I wanted.
Ive bought from them in ... Jan Feb 06 and last year no problems.
I just (24hurs ago) bought more and there was no problems.
If they keep listing APX, then I will keep buying.
The only reason I wouldnt recommend them to anyone because Pete will just buy up all the stocks again

The one posted here is my third email - first, I asked if they ship internationally; then, I specified my order; then, in the one you saw, I asked them if they can quote me an UPS charge for the order (regular mail is very unreliable where I live)

Definitely no two step shuffle or anything like that, I find your comment - and the snappy "why didn't you just requested postage and buy something" remark - frankly unnecessary and insulting, especially seeing you don't know what has happened in the first place. I am glad you enjoyed their customer service, seeing your attitude here this is no surprise: as far as myself, I will not give them any of my business nor recommend them to others. The net is full of great places to shop, this is most definitely not one of them in my book, wether they have Agfa or not.

[stnami]

I used them a couple of time sent them money they sent film ........ simple

[vieri]

Originally Posted by stnami

I used them a couple of time sent them money they sent film ........ simple

Not that simple if you live out of the US, I am afraid; plus, there is something called "customer service" whose job is to answer questions, isn't it? As I said before, good for you if things turned out well with them; as far as I am concerned, they will not get my business nor will I recommend them to others.

There are so many places and much better places to shop around, that it strikes me as self-destructive to have such an attitude if one wants to survive on the market. More, I find it really interesting that customers are justifying such attitudes: well, a matter of taste and different education & expectation I suppose. To each its own.

[stnami]

I don't live in the States well I do but the ones here are sorta run by Australia.............