Price rising, do you still shoot film?

[tiefsinker]

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I was doing a lot on film, developed myself color and b&w, also went to the darkroom myself.
The problem is that its not only the price of the film roll, the whole rest around it adds even more up. One time I shot 40 rolls on a trip. That's really not worth it right now - for me at least.
And bringing all that into a laboratory... 10 Euros for one B&W roll here, about 6 I think for a color roll. Right now, buying that film, letting it to be developed would be the cost of the whole trip 🤣
Not to add up that also the analog cameras went up quite a lot
 

Edited October 19, 2022 by tiefsinker

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[250swb]

26 minutes ago, tiefsinker said:

I was doing a lot on film, developed myself color and b&w, also went to the darkroom myself.
The problem is that its not only the price of the film roll, the whole rest around it adds even more up. One time I shot 40 rolls on a trip. That's really not worth it right now - for me at least.
And bringing all that into a laboratory... 10 Euros for one B&W roll here, about 6 I think for a color roll. Right now, buying that film, letting it to be developed would be the cost of the whole trip 🤣
Not to add up that also the analog cameras went up quite a lot
 

So you are adding the cost of what you don't want to do yourself (processing film) onto the price of analogue cameras (don't you already have one?) and decide it's the price of film that is your problem? 

I think you need to sit down and think that one through.

[tiefsinker]

vor 50 Minuten schrieb 250swb:

So you are adding the cost of what you don't want to do yourself (processing film) onto the price of analogue cameras (don't you already have one?) and decide it's the price of film that is your problem? 

I think you need to sit down and think that one through.

Film drastically increased and processing cost too, no matter if I do it myself or outsource it. And when I process, I want to bring it to paper afterwards.
However you turned that a bit around, the camera price increase was just some side note, I don't add it up to the film price. The overall analog experience got just a bit out of hand
But actually... who wants just one analog camera when there is so much interesting stuff outside? 🙂

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by tiefsinker

[erl]

4 hours ago, Pyrogallol said:

An outsider might wonder why people who have the most expensive cameras that money can buy are getting upset by the price of film?

Fact is, people with 'cheaper'  cameras are equally upset about the cost of film as well. I own both expensive and cheap film cameras, but the concern to me is NOT the cost of the cameras, but the cost of 'feeding' them. It is a real cost that is ongoing. Cost of the camera, broadly speaking, is a once off cost.

Probably tomorrow I am heading out to spend approx. AU$200-300 on film, that not long ago would have only cost me (say) AU$50.

Another frightening statistic: I own more film cameras than digital cameras! 😂

[EddieJ]

5 hours ago, Pyrogallol said:

An outsider might wonder why people who have the most expensive cameras that money can buy are getting upset by the price of film?

I thinks the biggest LOL was a truck load of millenniums walking around with Leica M6's, MP's, M7's not the regular schmo but the Japanese LM with the Leica script, some with Leica grips, Rapid winders, the odd M2/M3 with the ubiquitous 35 ASPH, Summilux, v4's.

A Liquorice All-sorts.

It was nice to see the odd Canon AE-1, Nikon FM, FE, point and shoots.

 

There was no getting upset, they were just ... How much? No worries. Cash or Card?

[erl]

The bottom line of all this is that those that are cashed up will pay whatever, those on limited/pension incomes cannot.

I liver on limited savings and a pension, so I wonder how much longer I can afford the luxury of film and maintaining a comprehensive darkroom.

[Stevejack]

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1 hour ago, erl said:

The bottom line of all this is that those that are cashed up will pay whatever, those on limited/pension incomes cannot.

I liver on limited savings and a pension, so I wonder how much longer I can afford the luxury of film and maintaining a comprehensive darkroom.

I really feel for you there. When I first got back into film I planned to do everything myself (dev + scan). I just don't have the time between running a business and family commitments. So I've been sending the film off to the lab and that certainly adds up very quickly, but even as one of those who is probably 'cashed up' in comparison to a pensioner I can't see myself doing it indefinitely. The cost per shot is insanely expensive.

[Pyrogallol]

Actually I notice the price of darkroom paper more than film.

[colonel]

I dont notice much price difference over 3 years

I can get 200 colour film from £6-10, and develop well and scan at 15.5, so thats 25.5/36 = 71p per photo (and I normally get 38 from a 36 film)

If I use 800 portra, thats £17 a film which comes to 90p per picture

If I look 3 years ago, maybe the 200 film is £6 but the processing hasnt changed, so thats 60p a picture

I dont think 11p a picture makes much difference as:

1. I shoot less film the digital because I think about it more

2. I think film is worth it, as whatever the mystical reason, I always get better photos

So I'm good ...

Edited October 20, 2022 by colonel

[tom.w.bn]

I think I bought the last film three years ago and lived from what I had in the freezer (I don't shoot a lot of film, maybe 10-12 rolls per year). The only thing I noticed was the drastic price increase of Portra because they talked about it in our local film community meeting. Now I have to restock and the prices for Ilford went up approx. 2 EUR per roll. For the usual 10-12 rolls this is not nice but of course mangeable.

But it may impact my decision for a personal project I planned for next year. My estimation is approx. 20 rolls for that and I'm not sure if I'd rather use digital instead. Additionally this project includes a flight or two and I'm not sure if flying with film in 2023 is still a wise thing to do. Need more information about the current situation at airports.

[Sandokan]

@tom.w.bn - I havent had a problem with film through x-ray machines and that includes 4x5 film which I position to be edge on against the x-ray direction. 

[aesop]

22 hours ago, Sandokan said:

@tom.w.bn - I havent had a problem with film through x-ray machines and that includes 4x5 film which I position to be edge on against the x-ray direction. 

 

     ...interesting, this. How do you determine the x-ray direction? Thanks.

 

[Sandokan]

19 minutes ago, aesop said:

 

     ...interesting, this. How do you determine the x-ray direction? Thanks.

 

When I worked at EG&G (RapidScan), the xray generator is either top or bottom of machine. You can see this on the monitor where the bags are lain flat and you see this in the xray image on the monitor. 

[Steve Ricoh]

On 10/20/2022 at 12:58 AM, erl said:

The bottom line of all this is that those that are cashed up will pay whatever, those on limited/pension incomes cannot.

I liver on limited savings and a pension, so I wonder how much longer I can afford the luxury of film and maintaining a comprehensive darkroom.

More or less the same for me. I doubt I’ll buy any more film as a) I have a reasonable stash in the fridge and b) by the time I do consider restocking it will be too expensive. You mentioned in another reply having more film cameras than digital. Again I’m in exactly the same boat and with the price of film going up I hope I get a reasonable return on the cameras when I do sell.

Edited November 10, 2022 by Steve Ricoh

[Doug A]

On 10/19/2022 at 7:58 PM, erl said:

The bottom line of all this is that those that are cashed up will pay whatever, those on limited/pension incomes cannot.

I liver on limited savings and a pension, so I wonder how much longer I can afford the luxury of film and maintaining a comprehensive darkroom.

Another pensioner here. I bulk load 12-exposure rolls of 35mm Kentmere or Foma and develop with Rodinal so one roll of film every week or two is not a problem yet. But ink cartridges for the Epson P700 are becoming prohibitive. I'm looking at the EcoTank ET-8550 as a possible alternative. I print mostly b&w so the reduced color gamut of the dye-based EcoTank printers is not a real issue. 

[Steve Ricoh]

To get a handle on the current pricing, I looked at the the on-line store claiming to be a wonderland of film. Some people must have money to burn if they’re willing to purchase. Not me!

[erl]

40 minutes ago, Steve Ricoh said:

To get a handle on the current pricing, I looked at the the on-line store claiming to be a wonderland of film. Some people must have money to burn if they’re willing to purchase. Not me!

Steve, I understand your reaction, but the full story is rarely told.

Let me equate it to an all too common experience of dining out with friends. 6 or 8 of us (dogwalkers) occasionally go out to dinner together. One couple invariable (to my annoyance) always work out exactly what they had and just pay for that. Another is a non drinker but always pays a proportion of the 'corkage' fee on the bill for the BYO drinks. My wife has the appetite of a sparrow. And so the variations go on.

My firm belief is that we pay for not just the food but also the 'dining experience' that we all enjoy. I always suggest we divide the bill by the number of heads and pay equally, after adding in a tip. Th experience is what we can only enjoy if we actually go out together. It has a price. Pay it.

Now, I suggest that shooting film is a parallel argument. I will say that shooting a film camera, especially a fully manual one, is an experience like nothing else. Shooting digital does not even come close! I say that as someone who earned a very nice income from shooting both. I made more money shooting digital, for obvious reasons, but some how I find myself owning twice as many film cameras as digital. The darkroom experience is something I have always enjoyed. Especially the solitude it offers. 😁 Every stage of the analog experience allows me to 'value add' my influence so that at the end I can point to a print and declare 'I made that'. OTOH, digital tends to be so automatic and instant that its real value is purely commercial rather than indulgent. I enjoy indulgence. Who doesn't?

So, my point is this. The inflating cost of shooting film is the price one must pay for what is virtually now a privilege. I remember that once, it used to be a privilege to be a photographer. Now I think it is a privilege to be a FILM shooting photographer. It is what it is, so enjoy it whilst you can.

I just paid around AU$20/120 roll of Portra. I still think it is worth the extra to ensure a reliably predictable film over the cheapies. At least until my pension runs out! 🙄

[Mr.Prime]

Price rising, do you still eat?

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Hallo,

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[erl]

42 minutes ago, Mr.Prime said:

Price rising, do you still eat?

Yes! But I don't know for how much longer.

[Steve Ricoh]

11 hours ago, Mr.Prime said:

Price rising, do you still eat?

I don’t really think you need me to differentiate food from film. Granted the first letter in each case is the letter ‘f’, but that’s where it ends.