Film price increases … again

[Mute-on]

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I’ve just scanned four of the local online film suppliers in Australia, and it appears that the prices of 35mm Kodak film have increased by at least 10% in the last few weeks. One vendor now has Ektar at AU$30+. Less than six months ago it was around AU$25. 

Is this price phenomenon limited to the local Australian market, potentially reflecting exchange rate movements, or is it an international trend?

I’m keen to hear your observations. 

Edited March 28, 2024 by Mute-on

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[tiefsinker]

I haven't checked the prices on Ektar in the last time, but its 17.99€ at my nearest dealer. Probably can find it a bit cheaper, but not much - and then there would be delivery fee on top.
Portra also seems a bit more expensive than last time I looked. 

 

[250swb]

Shouldn't that be 'Kodak film price increases again'?

I'm not saying you haven't but generally speaking shopping around in a wider sphere can get better deals nowadays when we'd normally stay nearer home. I recently wanted some Adox HR-50 and there was just one roll available in the UK (not that it wasn't most likely back ordered). But being impatient I went to the Fotoimpex web site in the EU and despite the overall minimum order being for 160 Euro (to the UK) the film itself was two thirds the price it had been selling for in the UK, £4.19 a roll of 36 rather than £7.00! It wasn't difficult to make up the order to reach 160 Euro and all the other film I got was also cheaper than the UK. It arrived with no Customs duty to pay.

[Danner]

I find the Kodak prices are generally higher compared to the overall market.  Don't know why that is, and it seems like Kodak could actually underprice the market if they chose to.  Anyway, I have transitions to other brands because of it.  Mostly Ilford.

[Mute-on]

36 minutes ago, 250swb said:

Shouldn't that be 'Kodak film price increases again'?

I'm not saying you haven't but generally speaking shopping around in a wider sphere can get better deals nowadays when we'd normally stay nearer home. I recently wanted some Adox HR-50 and there was just one roll available in the UK (not that it wasn't most likely back ordered). But being impatient I went to the Fotoimpex web site in the EU and despite the overall minimum order being for 160 Euro (to the UK) the film itself was two thirds the price it had been selling for in the UK, £4.19 a roll of 36 rather than £7.00! It wasn't difficult to make up the order to reach 160 Euro and all the other film I got was also cheaper than the UK. It arrived with no Customs duty to pay.

Strictly speaking, yes it should be Kodak film price increases again, although I doubt they are the only manufacturer to do so more recently. 

As to your shopping widely point, I used to shop for film from the US. Higher postage but far cheaper film prices, so cheaper overall. Since then (some years ago) exchange rates moved against the AUD, closing the gap. On top of this, certain vendors in the US started collecting consumption tax that would usually be collected in Australia, if applicable (the GST). The problem with that is we are not required to pay GST on private imports less than a certain total value. Since I would never purchase enough film to exceed that value, the ‘tax’ collected by the US vendor on behalf of the Australian Tax Office is unwarranted. At recent prices, it is actually cheaper to buy locally than pay a tax and exchange rate loaded price from the US.

Prices in the UK and Europe are similarly affected by the weak AUD.

In any event, there is no escaping high film prices, but I was curious as to whether others had seen 10% and more increases in the last month. 

[Tom R]

24 minutes ago, Danner said:

I find the Kodak prices are generally higher compared to the overall market.  Don't know why that is, and it seems like Kodak could actually underprice the market if they chose to.  Anyway, I have transitions to other brands because of it.  Mostly Ilford.

This might be the case for color films. Recently, Kodak dropped the price of TriX, which is arguably one of the most widely used (and until recently over-priced) film in the 35mm sphere. I haven’t checked this morning, but TriX should be priced about the same as Ilford HP5 (again, in the 135 format).[Of course, these are “traditional” films … rarely use Kodak’s T-Grain and have never used any of Ilford’s Delta films so I couldn’t say.]

[Mute-on]

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8 minutes ago, Tom R said:

This might be the case for color films. Recently, Kodak dropped the price of TriX, which is arguably one of the most widely used (and until recently over-priced) film in the 35mm sphere. I haven’t checked this morning, but TriX should be priced about the same as Ilford HP5 (again, in the 135 format).[Of course, these are “traditional” films … rarely use Kodak’s T-Grain and have never used any of Ilford’s Delta films so I couldn’t say.]

To be honest, I was only looking at colour film. Kodak TriX is about 50% more expensive than HP5 in Australia. Regardless, B&W is generally not only much cheaper (particularly Ilford) but more stable in price over time.  Colour neg film (not just Kodak) has really started to run away in price over the last year or so.

Edited March 28, 2024 by Mute-on

[sometimesmaybe]

im sure kodak having a near monopoly on colour film doesnt help either...

[Martin B]

Seems like there are some regional differences with ups and downs for film prices, but in general prices continue to go up even Kodak here in the US announced for some selected films a decrease after they increased too much earlier and saw a decline in sales. To me it sounds like going two steps forward with higher prices and sometimes one step backward which is still an increase. In addition, retailers also want to benefit from these risen prices and often don't even provide customers with the slightly decreased price. 

Each on their own how to cope with this situation, but I made already last year the decision to fully give up color film and venture back to 100% digital for this. For B&W, I added the Leica MM 246 which is excellent and allows me to use film much more selectively now for film. I roll my B&W film from 100' rolls. 

[Mr.Prime]

I find my biggest expense with film, is not having enough 'keepers'. If I could avoid wasting film it would make a big difference in the cost per good frame. I waste film in many ways, one is the itch to finish a roll. Once I've shot 30 frames I tend to discount the value of the remaining frames and am less choosy how I use them. I still have an occasional boo boo, wrong exposure or (more rarely) wrong focus / shake but to be honest, most of the rejects are simply because the image is boring, kind of 'what was I thinking of' or 'I must have thought of some cool interpretation here but now I don't remember and I don't see anything', or 'that person has the wrong expression / eyes closed'. Some rolls yield better than others of course.

[johnwolf]

47 minutes ago, Mr.Prime said:

I find my biggest expense with film, is not having enough 'keepers'. If I could avoid wasting film it would make a big difference in the cost per good frame. I waste film in many ways, one is the itch to finish a roll. Once I've shot 30 frames I tend to discount the value of the remaining frames and am less choosy how I use them. I still have an occasional boo boo, wrong exposure or (more rarely) wrong focus / shake but to be honest, most of the rejects are simply because the image is boring, kind of 'what was I thinking of' or 'I must have thought of some cool interpretation here but now I don't remember and I don't see anything', or 'that person has the wrong expression / eyes closed'. Some rolls yield better than others of course.

That’s a tough one. More keepers usually means greater care, but greater care is often the enemy of creativity.

To me, that’s the most compelling argument for digital; one can shoot freely, even with abandon. If anything were to turn me to digital, that would be it.

John

Edited April 3, 2024 by johnwolf

[TomB_tx]

I still find 36 exp rolls wasteful, as I tend to take snapshots in short groups when I find something interesting. Over the past years a roll of slides might take months to use up. Now I shoot mainly B&W with film, and I've been bulk loading for over 50 years - so I often load about 20 exposure rolls, which cuts down waste of film and chemicals.

[sometimesmaybe]

thanks to my half frame P&S (konica recorder) - i just spray and pray 😅 

it's a styled like a walkman and i usually end up with around 74 frames. i use it like a sketchbook.

this was shot on respooled Aerocolor IV ISO 100

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[Doug A]

I did not find having only 12 exposures on a roll a significant limitation when I was shooting medium format. I just took more care with the individual shots. About 10 years ago I realized that I could do the same thing with 35mm by bulk loading shorter rolls. I recently bought a 100' roll of Kentmere 400 for $72.00. It will yield forty 12-exposure rolls which works out to $1.80 a roll. I do carry a second 12-exposure FILCA cassette in my jeans coin pocket but I very seldom use it on a one day outing. 

Edited April 3, 2024 by Doug A

[Ko.Fe.]

On 3/28/2024 at 1:54 PM, Tom R said:

This might be the case for color films. Recently, Kodak dropped the price of TriX, which is arguably one of the most widely used (and until recently over-priced) film in the 35mm sphere. I haven’t checked this morning, but TriX should be priced about the same as Ilford HP5 (again, in the 135 format).[Of course, these are “traditional” films … rarely use Kodak’s T-Grain and have never used any of Ilford’s Delta films so I couldn’t say.]

Here is zero evidence of TriX been most used/sold. Maybe decades ago. But not now.

[chris_livsey]

Note this quote: Time dated 26 January 2017: “The film market peaked in 2003 with 960 million rolls of film, today it represents roughly 2% of that,” says Manny Almeida, president of Fujifilm’s imaging division in North America.

This article from 2023 goes into the market in some detail:

Rising Film Prices: An Analysis — Y35 Mag

 

[Sandokan]

CHF17 for a roll of 36 Ektar but there was also a deal for film with 9 months to live of 5 rolls for CHF60, but sold out. 

[Mr.Prime]

We have to be careful in comparing film prices to the past when film was on it's way out and pricing was being cut to try and shift more volume. 

I read last year that Kodak was raising prices partly to help fund capacity expansion as they were running at full tilt and were hiring a lot of staff.

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[Herr Barnack]

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[grahamc]

These film prices seen in London are not for the faint hearted !   (Double for Australian dollars) Although, I’d bought Kodak Gold & UltraMax elsewhere the day before for 11 pounds so I’m guessing these aren’t typical . 

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