Beginner Where do you buy your film?

Tom Pinchenzo

Tom Pinchenzo

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I’ve had a look at AG Photographic and had a peruse of Amazon. Is it cheaper to buy it in a real shop to save on postage? Or do people buy in bulk?

Cheers,
Tom
 
7 day shop is usually the cheapest and they often have free delivery. AG are also good, Analogue Wonderland are new on the scene and seem to be doing a good job, Ffordes sell film and I often use Shariff Photographic, they also sometimes have out of date or short date bargains. There are a few more but my brain has stopped working again so someone else will have to do the remembering for me. :D
 
I buy on line, and compare prices at the time of ordering. I've bought film from SIlverprint, Mr Cad, B&H (USA), Maco Direct, probably Ag. Plus sometimes film from a couple of local shops. It depends what you're trying to buy. I use 120 and large format film, and if any supplier stocks the full range of available films (with the possible exception of B&H) I haven't found them. For some emulsions, there's only one place to buy. 35mm users have a comparatively easy time of it. I mentioned a couple of local shops; one doesn't go above 120, and the other doesn't go above 5x4 (Ilford film only). Outside those parameters, on line is the only option.

Edit to add: I bought some 10x8 FP4 the last time I was in West Yorkshire Cameras in Leeds.
 
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I've got a list of suppliers bookmarked... Price and availability can vary.... It's the only thing I have a drop out list for on my bookmarks bar.

AG Photographic
StudentPhotoStore (website being revamped over Christmas)
Analogue Wonderland
Mr Cad
Nick & Trick
WestEndCameras (though eBay mainly)
Ilford (direct is often cheaper than elsewhere)
Speed Graphic

Then there's bigger players like Amazon, eBay, & 7DayShop.

If it's a film I use a lot of (Rollei 400 or Pan F) I'll try and buy in bulk. If I'm experimenting, I'll go where it's cheapest - or where it's in stock. I'd rather order everything in one go (paying postage once) than bits and pieces here & there. Just got a bunch of 400 B&W films in to test so I bought them all at the same time to save postage. I don't shoot that much 35mm at the moment, but I was going through 120 like it was toilet paper during the summer.
 
As there are no local camera shops for me to buy from and support any more (which should be an important consideration if you want to keep your local camera shop if you're lucky enough to still have one!), I buy my film on-line. As Andy has said, 7 Day Shop seem to have some good offers to choose from (with offers/stock changing fairly regularly), but allow around 5 to 7 days for delivery. It's usually quite a bit cheaper to buy rolls of film in '5 packs', so bear that in mind once you've found a film that you like the look of.

This raises another issue... how to choose film. I find that doing a search on Flickr using the film name and make you are considering buying can give a good general idea of how a film looks. However, bear in mind that not all photos on Flickr (or elsewhere) have been scanned at the same resolution, exposed properly, etc. So I find that looking at a photos from quite a few different people tends to give me a general idea of how a film might look if I used it. Hope this is useful. (y)
 
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I often find that one or two retailers are notably cheaper than the rest for a particular film, and that others are cheaper for other films. If you're buying in anything approaching bulk, it can work out cheaper to order different films from different sellers, even after postage is accounted for.

Silverprint often have 10% off sales that usually last a weekend (several a year). It's worth being on their mailing list so you can scoop up the deals when they happen.
 
Thanks all - that gives me lots to go on esp @Harlequin565 ’s master list!

Mr Badger said:
This raises another issue... how to choose film. I find that doing a search on Flickr using the film name and make you are considering buying can give a good general idea of how a film looks. However, bear in mind that not all photos on Flickr (or elsewhere) have been scanned at the same resolution, exposed properly, etc. So I find that looking at a photos from quite a few different people tends to give me a general idea of how a film might look if I used it. Hope this is useful. (y)
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As you say, I’m still in the process of experimenting with film stocks (in fact I’m still in the process of getting my head around shooting film as I have a fully manual camera - not helped by going down google rabbit holes about pushing and pulling and which films can be pushed or pulled how far in what direction :confused:)
 
Calumet used to be good, free postage for £50 order, which is surprisingly easy to get to with film, and their Tri-X was about the cheapest around. Wex have upped the prices a lot after the takeover.

I have a spreadsheet of film suppliers of my favourite films, and just update it when I'm looking for more.
 
The convenience of Amazon with prime's free next day delivery is often what tempts me to order from them.
 
Bristol Cameras are quite good. I’ve used them a few times - competitive usually and quick delivery.
 
ChrisR said:
Calumet used to be good, free postage for £50 order, which is surprisingly easy to get to with film, and their Tri-X was about the cheapest around. Wex have upped the prices a lot after the takeover.
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I was in Calumet in Edinburgh for the first time a few weeks ago, very friendly folk. They said they could get anything that was on the website pretty much next day and no postage to pay. Obviously you'd have to visit the shop to pick or up though.
 
Tom Pinchenzo said:
Thanks all - that gives me lots to go on esp @Harlequin565 ’s master list!



As you say, I’m still in the process of experimenting with film stocks (in fact I’m still in the process of getting my head around shooting film as I have a fully manual camera - not helped by going down google rabbit holes about pushing and pulling and which films can be pushed or pulled how far in what direction :confused:)
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if I was looking at different film stocks I wouldn't worry about over or underexposing them ,,,just use them at box speed until you find something you like then maybe consider playing about with them ,,,
 
donut said:
if I was looking at different film stocks I wouldn't worry about over or underexposing them ,,,just use them at box speed until you find something you like then maybe consider playing about with them ,,,
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This. Try a few, see which you like then perhaps commit to a couple and use them to then learn what happens with them, how to shoot them and then start to push and pull them to see what they do. I have my go-to films now with the odd one of something different thrown in for fun.

As said, Calumet used to be very good before the take over from WEX. I have most recently used @Analogue Wonderland a few times and the service has been really good with the prices on some films being quite competitive.
 
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