Absolute cheapest film right now, color or black and white

I don't care about quality. If its film, I want it.

 

Why? Because have (recently acquired) a Canon Eos-1v HS. I dont do the whole birding animal scene at all, but one of my good friends does and invited me out for a photo day in a place known for moose, deer, owls, other creatures. Normally I would attend and take artsy pictures with my 50mm, but not this time. This time I am borrowing a telephoto for the day and putting the HS grip back on:eek:.

 

Ok, I won't do this all the time, just this once. I promise.

 

I'm going to need 20 rolls. Is there anything available now for 2 dollars a roll (new, not expired)? Anywhere? I can't seem to find anything under 5. Normally this is ok, but I don't usually look in the category.

If you can roll your own you might be able to come in close to that. Most of the sites i was familiar with which offered multiple sources for film seem to be out of date. Otherwise, you are probably best off checking some of the major online camera houses and the large general sales internet sites. There are some student oriented films that are relatively inexpensive & widely used. Best of luck! Edited November 22, 2018 by Sandy Vongries

Richard,

OK, I don't understand.

You are going to spend money on film and processing, and an entire day shooting, and you want the cheapest film :confused:

 

 

Sandy, If he does not already have the empty cartridges, bulk loader, and changing bag, he is not going to get his price down enough. The cartridges alone will eat up his $40 budget.

• $40 for cartridges, 2x $20 for 10.
   
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/Ultrafine-Reloadable-Plastic-Cassette-Loading/dp/B00SHZM6ZW
    

  [*]$25 for the bulk loader (eBay, including shipping)

  [*]$45 for a 100 ft roll of film

  • https://www.amazon.com/Ultrafine-Xtreme-Black-White-35mm/dp/B007ALZSTA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1542933485&sr=8-6&keywords=35mm+100+foot+bulk+film
    

  [*]? for a changing bag (to load the bulk loader)

Total cost is about $110 +

I think the best you're going to be able to do is bulk loaded Arista.edu.

 

A 100ft roll is good for 18-20 36ex rolls, and if you do all of your loading in a darkroom or changing bag you can get that full length without fogging the ends.

 

It's $50 for a 100ft roll, which gets you somewhere in the ballpark of $2.50-$2.75 a roll depending on how efficiently you use it.

 

Arista.edu is good film(I've only shot 100 ASA sheets) but it's gone up a bit from what I remember. Still, it's about as cheap as you can get for in-date film.

 

Back when I got seriously into photography around 2004, I use to buy 24 exposure 5 roll packs of Superia Xtra 400 for about $8 from Wal-Mart and then send off $3 processing with 3x5 prints. I think those days are behind us.

Richard,

OK, I don't understand.

You are going to spend money on film and processing, and an entire day shooting, and you want the cheapest film :confused:

 

Your processing cost will be significantly more than your film cost. So if you want to save money, lower the number of rolls you shoot, rather than go for cheap film.

 

20 rolls x 36 exposure/roll = 720 shots.

I suggest shooting less and doing 10 rolls (360 shots) of your $5 film.

 

Sandy, If he does not already have the empty cartridges, bulk loader, and changing bag, he is not going to get his price down enough. The cartridges alone will eat up his $40 budget.

• $40 for cartridges, 2x $20 for 10.
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/Ultrafine-Reloadable-Plastic-Cassette-Loading/dp/B00SHZM6ZW
    

  [*]$25 for the bulk loader (eBay, including shipping)

  [*]$45 for a 100 ft roll of film

  • https://www.amazon.com/Ultrafine-Xtreme-Black-White-35mm/dp/B007ALZSTA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1542933485&sr=8-6&keywords=35mm+100+foot+bulk+film
    

  [*]? for a changing bag (to load the bulk loader)

Total cost is about $110 +

I won't be buying a bulk loader. I probably won't develop these for a while so I don't really care too much about the costs of developing at the moment. I will do them myself anyway one day. Probably some other year though. Maybe not even all of them, once I see this first few. Right now, this year, I just care about the first purchase, the film.

 

This is just for fun. Don't stress too much about it. I was hoping someone came across a sale that I had not seen. Maybe I will happen to get an amazing photo of a grey owl on film at 400mm, that would be worth it. If not, well trying was fun.

 

Anyone see any black Friday sales?

Shouldn’t that be a “Black and White Friday Sale”.....

I think the best you're going to be able to do is bulk loaded Arista.edu.

 

A 100ft roll is good for 18-20 36ex rolls, and if you do all of your loading in a darkroom or changing bag you can get that full length without fogging the ends.

 

It's $50 for a 100ft roll, which gets you somewhere in the ballpark of $2.50-$2.75 a roll depending on how efficiently you use it.

 

Arista.edu is good film(I've only shot 100 ASA sheets) but it's gone up a bit from what I remember. Still, it's about as cheap as you can get for in-date film.

 

Back when I got seriously into photography around 2004, I use to buy 24 exposure 5 roll packs of Superia Xtra 400 for about $8 from Wal-Mart and then send off $3 processing with 3x5 prints. I think those days are behind us.

Ok thanks. I will look for this

 

Actually, I might do the bulk loading. I never considered it, but it might be useful for me anyway going forward. I’ll read about it.

 

I’d be scared of messing it up though and ruining 100 feet all at once haha

 

Thanks for the suggestion

I probably won't develop these for a while so I don't really care too much about the costs of developing at the moment. I will do them myself anyway one day. Probably some other year though. Maybe not even all of them, once I see this first few. Right now, this year, I just care about the first purchase, the film.

 

The cheapest solution might be just to pretend to shoot if you're just going to be social. :D

The cheapest solution might be just to pretend to shoot if you're just going to be social. :D

Lol. Yes, but there has gotta be something on the line to make it more interesting. Haha

 

No one else shoots film, I could just load a dud cartridge over and over an no one would know the difference haha. But seriously, there is a grey owl there sometimes In late afternoon . I’d love to get one on black and white actually

I've cranked my F5 up to 8fps before, but only when it's empty.

 

It's quite a sight to behold and makes a fun racket, but I'd hate to think about shooting film that fast these days. Cameras like the Nikon D1 killed film for Photojournalism BECAUSE they kept the same 8fps of the F5, but with a 40 shot buffer depth(that with a reasonably fast card can clear a LOT faster than you can rewind and reload) and with enough image quality to print a photo in half tone. I forget what current DSLRs are up to with speed-I know Nikon made it to 10fps with the D4(11 if you lock focus and exposure) and I think the D5 might do 12 fps. The current Sony A9 can do 20 fps...

 

This isn't relevant on any EOS camera, but Nikon every Nikon "single digit" film camera has had a rewind crank(including the still cataloged F6)-integrating a motor drive in the F4 didn't change that. Canon's last manual advance film camera-the New F-1-has a clutch in the rewind crank so that when it was spinning at 5 fps, if it caught on something it would just slip. I guess Nikon counted on the rounded shape of the crank to save them, since there doesn't seem to be a rampant problem with folks getting caught on the rewind knobs.

Ok thanks. I will look for this

 

Actually, I might do the bulk loading. I never considered it, but it might be useful for me anyway going forward. I’ll read about it.

 

I’d be scared of messing it up though and ruining 100 feet all at once haha

 

Thanks for the suggestion

 

If you learn the steps and are very careful, bulk loading is not difficult.

The most dangerous step is loading the bulk film from the package/can into the bulk loader. This has to be done in ABSOLUTE DARK, and correctly.

Then you need to learn how to properly load film. It can be done wrong, I've seen it happen.

The most dangerous step is loading the bulk film from the package/can into the bulk loader. This has to be done in ABSOLUTE DARK, and correctly.

Then you need to learn how to properly load film

 

Aside from this, with a high speed camera I would want to be VERY careful with how I attached the end to the spool. For most "normal" applications, I use a piece of Scotch tape or masking tape wrapped around the spindle.

 

At least on an F5(the fastest camera I've used) you can use a custom function to tell it to stop at frame 35 or 36, rather than going to end of the roll as is its default behavior. Of course, the Nikon MD/MD-2/MD-3/MD-4 along with the Canon AE Motor Drive FN and its predecessor for the original F-1 had a count-down counter that was intended to be set to the length of the roll and would stop the drive when the counter got to zero.

 

As I recall(although it's admittedly been a little while since I used mine other than exercising the shutter last weekend) the T90 would read the length of the roll from the DX coding and automatically stop when it got to the end. Since the first EOS-1 was heavily based on the T90, it wouldn't surprise me if it did the same and/or that the EOS-1V HS had a custom function setting similar to that found on the F5. With that in mind, it might be worth hunting down bulk loading cartridges that are DX coded for 36 exposures, or alternatively learn to/practice cutting DX codes yourself(I've done it before with aluminum foil, packing tape, and careful use of an Xacto knife with a factory cartridge as a template). I like squeezing the 37th frame out of my F5, but then I almost exclusively use factory loaded film these days(no one makes color film anymore in bulk rolls, and I'm 75% a Kodak shooter in B&W-films like Tri-X are basically a wash when bulk loaded considering the waste). About all I bulk load these days are the long expired film I've bought already loaded in bulk loaders that I use when I just want to spool off a few frames to test a camera or lens...or if I have a REALLY strong urge to shoot Ektachrome 64T since I have a few loaders I bought already loaded with some of unknown age. I can't forget the Nikon F cartridges, too, which I use occasionally(Gary, I'm sorry that you and I never could get the F2 ones).

 

One last thing-when I was checking Freestyle earlier, I saw that their house brand of loader was about $80. The Watson ones are ubiquitous in the US, and I don't think I've ever actually BOUGHT one-and I got most of mine with at least a partial roll in them already :) .

Shoot less, use good film. False economy to go cheap. As to cartridges, they can still be had for very little - as can bulk loaders. Tape? Motor drives or not,even with longer than 36 exp.rolls in cartridges, never had a failure over a lot of decades. Lots of talk, which I suppose, was the point of the IP. ;)

I used masking tape to attach the film to the spool. Funny, I did it so much that I did not think about it.

But I also used all manual cameras, so my thumb knew when it hit the end of the roll. I did/do not like the added weight of a motor drive on an already heavy camera. I got a F3, and removed the drive, to get the carry weight down.

Kodak ColorPlus 200.

Don't like it much, but it's cheap.

Even if not bulk loading, the Arista EDU 100 and Kentmere 100 films are about as inexpensive as you'll find depending upon where you are located. Another option is film that is short-dated or slightly past date. I don't shoot enough color to give an informed answer for cheapest color, but I generally buy a four pack of Fuji Superia 200 at Wal Mart when I do want some color.

If you should consider bulk loading look for a used Alden bulk loader. They are (in my experience) one of the better made loaders and have a open/close light trap rather than felt (traps grit and scratches film if not kept clean) in the film path. With shipping 45 USD is about the least expensive fresh dated bulk film in most places. Slightly past date bulk can be inexpensive or you might consider splitting the cost of a bulk roll with one or two other photographers. A long shot, but you might find a vendor that sells "short ends" motion picture film. Eastman 5222 (also called Double-X) is a popular stock that several of us use here and its box speed is ISO 250. However, the only stock of seen of this cost as much or more than most factory packed bulk film.

Store near me has Fomapan 100 in 135-36 for $4.49/roll.

 

For 100 foot rolls, they have HP5+ for $63/roll.

 

It isn't so hard to do without a bulk loader, but it takes longer.

 

The way I used to do it when I was young, as suggested by my father, is to put a camera

into the changing bag (or dark enough closet) cut a tongue and shoot off 38 exposures,

tape to the spool and rewind, not all the way into the cartridge. (Be sure to use a camera

without any lights.)

 

Some time later when I needed to spool some, had an actual darkroom, but no other

equipment. I put two tape marks on the wall, taped the end to one, cut off at the other,

taped to the spool, hand wound them up, and inserted the spool into the cassette.

 

Used bulk loaders aren't hard to find, though.

 

As above, I use my bulk loader in the changing bag, so as not to expose the far

end of the film.

Freestyle has Arista, Fomapan, and Kentmere 100 foot rolls for $50.

 

I suspect that they also have empty cartridges and bulk loaders.

50 years ago, I would buy 100 foot rolls of Panatomic-X Aero, which is ASA 40, for $5/roll.

It is somehow different from normal FX, but worked fine for me, and my budget was low.

 

I used it for yearbook photography in 7th and 8th grade, and now have hundreds of negatives

from those days. I presume it was somehow military surplus respooled.

 

In any case, there are times when you want a low cost film, especially when you are young

and can't afford more.

 

I now have a roll of PanF+ that I got slightly outdated, and kept cold, from a nearby store.

But that doesn't happen very often. It might be half gone by now.

Freestyle now has Fuji Xtra 400 in 135-24 for $2.79/roll.

 

I presume the OP wants a black and white film, though.

 

Labs I know charge the same for 24 and 36 exposure rolls, so it

isn't quite as good a deal as it might be.

 

I haven't priced C41 chemistry lately.

B&H has Arista 100 Foot bulk (Free Shipping) at $49.99 /20 = $2.50 per roll. A popular Art & Crafts sales site has a bulk loader at just under $13 and 20 - 25 empty used cartridges for about the same. There may be some shipping. First time cost per roll $3.80, with film, loader and cartridges. The next per roll cost will be the price of the bulk roll / 20, with film still at $49.99, $2.50. Hard to beat, unless the need is a one off.

I won't be buying a bulk loader. I probably won't develop these for a while so I don't really care too much about the costs of developing at the moment. I will do them myself anyway one day. Probably some other year though. Maybe not even all of them, once I see this first few. Right now, this year, I just care about the first purchase, the film.

 

This is just for fun. Don't stress too much about it. I was hoping someone came across a sale that I had not seen. Maybe I will happen to get an amazing photo of a grey owl on film at 400mm, that would be worth it. If not, well trying was fun.

 

Anyone see any black Friday sales?

 

 

If you want to shoot film, shoot like an amateur films shooter (one who does not have a newspaper buying the film for them). Digital has made some people lazy; they go for many, many shots (it doesn't cost anything) and then find the "keepers" in post. The spray and pray mentality. With film each shot costs - film costs and processing costs. Film shooters shooting for their own amusement, not professionals who might sell the prints to recoup costs and make a profit, learned to pick and choose.

 

Buy two rolls of 36 exposure Tri-X. Take your time and get good shots. Will all of them be "keeper"? No, but about 1/3 to 1/2 should be. Then when you get that "amazing photo of a grey owl", it will be worth printing and hanging on the wall. There is nothing worse than getting a great shot and have it ruined by cheap grainy film or film with a lack of tone. When I shoot film, I have a hard time using up one roll of 36 exposures.

 

Another option is take your digital camera, shoot thousands of shots, and if you get "an amazing photo of a grey owl", convert it to black and white in post. Both Lightroom and Photoshop do excellent black and white conversions.

 

Otherwise, I agree with JDMvW (above), take an empty camera. Or better yet, take no camera, just a good set of binoculars and enjoy the day and the company.

Ultrafine Online has an ISO 100 for $33.95 and ISO 400 for $34.95. I believe that we have someone in this forum that uses one of these films.

Freestyle has Arista, Fomapan, and Kentmere 100 foot rolls for $50.

 

I suspect that they also have empty cartridges and bulk loaders.

 

I have found a bulkloader for almost nothing locally and going to give arista.edu a go. But, what is this though? Ultrafine Xtreme Black & White Film ISO 100 35mm x 100'

 

And while maybe not the cheapest, I think I am going to load up on Fuji Fujicolor C200. Both of these will be in my "to burn" pile.

 

Had a look at color plus and ultramax samples, meh. Dont think I want.

 

 

EDIT: I see someone has suggested ultrafine as I was typing this. Investigating....