ejg1890 Posted August 17, 2022 Share #1 Posted August 17, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) I am kicking off my retirement with a 3+week trip to the French Riviera and northern Italy, specifically Nice, Turin (Torino), Florence and Milan (day trips planned at all these locations). I plan to take several camera’s including the Leica M4. I have several BW films along with 5 boxes of Portra 400, however, I have had no luck in acquiring additional boxes of color film in the US due to back orders. I would accept 200-400 ISO and would settle for Kodak Gold, Portra and even Fuji Supria Extra 400. However, I am not able to find any of these in the area for several weeks, including Kodak UltraMax. What is the “true” availability of film within these cities. I know these films are sold at all these locations but are they actually in stock and available for purchase? Thanks 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 17, 2022 Posted August 17, 2022 Hi ejg1890, Take a look here Availability of color negative film in Northern Italy. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Simone_DF Posted August 17, 2022 Share #2 Posted August 17, 2022 If you plan it well, you could order from some local websites and have the rolls delivered to your accomodation. The folks at Ars Imago are very nice and have a good selection https://www.ars-imago.com/en/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted August 17, 2022 Share #3 Posted August 17, 2022 12 minutes ago, Simone_DF said: If you plan it well, you could order from some local websites and have the rolls delivered to your accomodation. The folks at Ars Imago are very nice and have a good selection https://www.ars-imago.com/en/ That they have, but they're out of stock for practically all brands: https://www.ars-imago.com/en/shop/category/films-color-films-665 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejg1890 Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share #4 Posted August 17, 2022 14 minutes ago, Simone_DF said: If you plan it well, you could order from some local websites and have the rolls delivered to your accomodation. The folks at Ars Imago are very nice and have a good selection https://www.ars-imago.com/en/ Indicates they are out of stock on almost everything as well. Interesting that a number of stocks say “discontinuous” including Gold, UltraMax, Pro Image,. . . . Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simone_DF Posted August 17, 2022 Share #5 Posted August 17, 2022 OH that's weird, I got some film from them just a couple of weeks ago. It could also be because August in Italy is usually a holiday month and most shops are closed, including Ars, so they got rid of whatever they had in stock until September Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted August 17, 2022 Share #6 Posted August 17, 2022 2 hours ago, Simone_DF said: OH that's weird, I got some film from them just a couple of weeks ago. It could also be because August in Italy is usually a holiday month and most shops are closed, including Ars, so they got rid of whatever they had in stock until September They have a branch in Switzerland, and that branch is out of stock on practically all color films as well. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejg1890 Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share #7 Posted August 17, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) A quick search at B&H and Adorama in the US B&H - 85 color negatives 35mm film type listed but only 4 in stock; one of which is FPP 1.6 ISO so really only 3 in stock Adorama - 47 negatives 35mm film (color & BW) listed only 1 35mm is in stock Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_parker Posted August 18, 2022 Share #8 Posted August 18, 2022 Congratulations on your retirement and I hope you enjoy your trip to a lovely part of the world. This is a UK company that ship internationally, using DHL might be an option but please be aware of import duties Delivery Details | Prices and Delivery Times | Analogue Wonderland An alternative might be to use the Italian or French version of Amazon on arrival, who will recognise you as a customer, to have film delivered locally to your hotel. Hope this helps Best R. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted August 18, 2022 Share #9 Posted August 18, 2022 (edited) 7 hours ago, robert_parker said: This is a UK company that ship internationally, using DHL might be an option but please be aware of import duties Delivery Details | Prices and Delivery Times | Analogue Wonderland The only 35mm colour negative films they have in stock today are Portra 800 at £18.50 ($22.29) a roll, Cinestill, and some novelty films. If a specialist supplier like this, which aims to have everything, can't get stocks of anything then the situation must be pretty desperate. I suspect Northern Italy will be the same as everywhere else. Colour negative film is just incredibly hard to find, and expensive when it does (often briefly) become available. It's like we've gone back to the 1940s (B&W is easy to buy). Incidentally, when travelling with film, beware of the new CT scanners at airports: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/335098-long-haul-multi-stop-film-carrying-report-2022/page/2/#comment-4487973 Edited August 18, 2022 by Anbaric Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotomas Posted August 21, 2022 Share #10 Posted August 21, 2022 Looks like it is critical. Nearly no color film nowhere. Only things I found that are claimed in store: At Calumet they have Portra 400 & 800: https://www.calumetphoto.de/category/negativ-farbfilme and at PPL you can get Portra 160 & 400: https://www.ppl.de/filme-labor/filme/farbnegativfilm/2189/kodak-portra-400-135-36/5er-pack?c=198 https://www.ppl.de/filme-labor/filme/farbnegativfilm/3640/kodak-portra-160-135/5er-pack?c=198 That's from Germany, but I guess it shouldn't be an issue to deliver it to Italy. Don't know Italian stores. Wonder what they are doing in the film factories? Looks like they must run 24/7 to fill up the markets. There was voices that they abandoned films (Fuji) because their production lines was to big for the need. But now there is hardly any Fuji film available nowhere. Hard to imagine that it wouldn't pay to fire them up again, especially with the prices they took now for film. Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted August 21, 2022 Share #11 Posted August 21, 2022 (edited) If they run film production at a steady rate all year round, or in regular same-size batches, then perhaps it is not surprising there is a shortage at the time many people in the northern hemisphere go on their summer hols. Let's hope that's the reason anyway. A week ago I bought 15 rolls of Portra 160 from 35mmphotostop, which sells on Amazon and ebay - the only place with stock that I could find in the UK. Edited August 21, 2022 by LocalHero1953 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotomas Posted August 21, 2022 Share #12 Posted August 21, 2022 But I see these shortages building up over years here. They are all year long. It's not temporarily in this summer. It only become a bit more extreme now. Wonder if the current production capacities have become to small or what other problems could cause this? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted August 21, 2022 Share #13 Posted August 21, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, fotomas said: But I see these shortages building up over years here. They are all year long. It's not temporarily in this summer. It only become a bit more extreme now. Wonder if the current production capacities have become to small or what other problems could cause this? One comment I've seen about Kodak: "The problem seems to be that Kodak greatly underestimated future film demand when it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in 2013. It closed its plant in Guadalajara, Mexico where 35mm film was “confectioned” – a delightful term that refers to the processes of slitting, cutting, edge marking, perforating and packing it – and shifted production to the company’s base in Rochester, New York. Only two out of sixteen expensive machines called spoolers, crucial to the manufacturing process, were saved and shipped to Rochester. Kodak thought it would never need any more than two. Then demand for film unexpectedly boomed. Now it needs more machines but can’t easily recreate the lost devices – it’s a case of once they’re gone, they’re gone." https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/opinion/jon-bentley-solving-the-colour-film-shortage-171346 To that, we have to add global supply chain issues (Covid, etc.) and whatever is going on at Fujifilm. It has been rumoured for years that they were simply eking out frozen stocks of some popular films and not making any more - prices were rising and availability was falling (no more multipacks of Superia, etc.) long before the current crisis, a pattern that had been seen with earlier films before they were discontinued altogether. It's perhaps telling that they got Kodak to make the new 'Fujicolor 200' and Ilford to make Acros II. Edited August 21, 2022 by Anbaric 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejg1890 Posted August 21, 2022 Author Share #14 Posted August 21, 2022 15 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said: A week ago I bought 15 rolls of Portra 160 from 35mmphotostop, which sells on Amazon and ebay - the only place with stock that I could find in the UK. Curious what Portra 160 and 400 35mm film costs in the UK, or even in the rest of Europe. Of course that’s based on the fictional assumption one can find it in stock anywhere. I have seen prices of 400 between USD $15.99 (out of stock) to $30.15 available through Amazon stores (I originally had $24.99 but saw it has gone up again.). A store near me received in 32 boxes of 400 several weeks ago. I bought 1 box, went back to acquire another 1-2 boxes but they sold out of all 32 boxes in 1 week!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frame-it Posted August 21, 2022 Share #15 Posted August 21, 2022 hilarious that in Korea, kodak colorplus that used to be around $7 is now almost $16!, only rollei, foma and ilford are at their original prices., for portra 160,400 and 800 120 film is now cheaper than 35mm 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejg1890 Posted August 21, 2022 Author Share #16 Posted August 21, 2022 14 hours ago, fotomas said: But I see these shortages building up over years here. They are all year long. It's not temporarily in this summer. It only become a bit more extreme now. Wonder if the current production capacities have become to small or what other problems could cause this? I think there was a big reduction of film photography from 2010 to 2018/19 that many dropped/decreased manufacturing. That included cutting lines, labor and material. There has definitely been a move back to film (but wont return to 1990 levels) in the last 3-4 years as many people under 35 are making the discovery of film for the first time. They are looking at the artistic opportunity film offers rather than the digital perfection. For myself, I have changed my photography substantially the last 4-5 years - moving from DSLR/auto focus to mirrorless to auto focus to rangefinder to older film cameras. In stead of taking hundreds of digital pictures a day, I’m slowed down. The DSLR/auto focus are nothing more than large P&S camera. Film even requires more concentration and provides a look that digital doesn’t. What will be interesting is if film manufactures see this as a continue in trend to ramp up manufacturing and reintroduce film (or even film cameras) or believe its a nostalgic phase and let it pass. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejg1890 Posted August 21, 2022 Author Share #17 Posted August 21, 2022 5 minutes ago, frame-it said: hilarious that in Korea, kodak colorplus that used to be around $7 is now almost $16!, only rollei, foma and ilford are at their original prices., for portra 160,400 and 800 120 film is now cheaper than 35mm Correct. No problem getting 120mm Portra 400 in the US. Also Fuji 400H, Kodak Gold 200 are all available in the US in 120mm format. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted August 21, 2022 Share #18 Posted August 21, 2022 26 minutes ago, frame-it said: hilarious that in Korea, kodak colorplus that used to be around $7 is now almost $16!, only rollei, foma and ilford are at their original prices., for portra 160,400 and 800 120 film is now cheaper than 35mm Colour 120 even seems to be easier to find than 35mm in our bizarre mirror universe! Maybe I need to buy a Rollei or something. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frame-it Posted August 21, 2022 Share #19 Posted August 21, 2022 13 minutes ago, Anbaric said: Colour 120 even seems to be easier to find than 35mm in our bizarre mirror universe! Maybe I need to buy a Rollei or something. yes, and ilford 120 is dirt cheap here average price is $3.50-$4.50 a roll Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted August 22, 2022 Share #20 Posted August 22, 2022 There are a handful of 'half frame' 120 cameras that shoot formats like 3 x 4.5, which suddenly look a lot more attractive as you'd get maybe 24 shots on a roll... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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