Where (on-line) can I find Kodak & Ilford film & paper CHEAP?

I am taking a beginning photography class at the local college and am looking for a good site to purchase basic supplies at the best prices. Any ideas or good experiences? Thank you.

B&H in New York and Freestyle on the West Coast.

I just ordered some stuff from Freestyle and the address is

http://www.freestylesalesco.com/

B&H tends to be the cheapest reputable supplier. www.bhphotovideo.com

 

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Adorama and Freestyle are also good suppliers at good prices.

In about 15 years of dealing with B&H and Freestyle, I have been

satisfied with both of them. A couple of points:

 

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For quality and consistency I would go with B&H. They have NEVER

gotten my orders wrong, nor have they ever tried to 'pull a fast

one.'

 

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Freestyle is not constantly the cheapest. You have to know what

prices are, and what you are looking for. Usually their best deals

seem to be their Arista house brand stuff, which I understand, is

mostly Ilford material. They do get 'cute' once in a while with such

thing as calling outdated film specials 'cold storage,' never

mentioning the fact that it is out of date.

 

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Another big factor is WHERE you live. If you are on the East Coast,

like I am, Freestyle takes ten days or so. When you are on deadline,

or in school, that might be a bit slow.

 

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With B&H you have to watch out for their holiday closings. They are

very strict about that, and if you are not aware of the Jewish

holidays, you might experience too much of a delay.

Christian wrote:

 

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>With B&H you have to watch out for their holiday closings. They are

>very strict about that, and if you are not aware of the Jewish

>holidays, you might experience too much of a delay.

 

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FYI...B&H posts its religious closing dates on its website, well in

advance of the holidays. http://www.bhphotovideo.co

I can speak about the Arista films that Freestyle offers. They are

very good materials. I have used the 120 and 4x5 both their 125 and

400 ISO. I havent yet tried their papers, so I cannot comment about

them. I will continue to use the films for as long as they offer them.

They respond very well to HC-110 and seem to do expanded or compacted

"Zone System" development quite nicely.

My experience with the Arista 120 films, both 125 and 400 speed, is

that they actually give no more than half of their rated speeds.

Get a few rolls and test them for yourself before you buy in any

quantity.

I have bought a lot (for me) of Ilford film and paper from B&H, and

for film they can't be beat by anyone reputable and reliable (that

I've found.) But I'm about to switch to my local store for the paper.

Paper is heavy, and after checking the DELIVERED price on a 250 sheet

box of 8x10 that came last week, I noticed that it was only a couple

of dollars cheaper than my local supplier. There is value in having a

well stocked local store, so for an extra few bucks occasionally, I'll

buy my paper down the street. Depending where you are relative to the

mail order supplier of your choice, you may find that similar price

comparisons apply.

 

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Cheers.

Stick with B-H!! I've tried working with Adorama (they're okay, I

guess), and Smile Photo (Horrible service, horrible salespeople, and

when they back order they never tell you in time to decide whether to

cancel), but B-H has been consistently attentive as long as you know

exactly what to ask for. I have called and told them that I was

clueless about certain things, and you know what? They actually

helped me anyway!!

cheers,

jmkoskinen