Kodak and Grey Market Film

[scott_k.]

Hi guys, its been months since i've been to this forum and months

since i've needed to buy film (Tri-X); Now that i need to, i find that

greymarket film is nowhere to be found! What happend to buying a roll

for $2.19? Surely someone has an answer to this or relevant links that

point to one. I used the google search tool but could find nothing on

photo.net.

 

Anyone?

 

-Scott

[pics]

I believe I read somewhere on here that Kodak no longer makes Tri-X overseas.

[nikos peri]

I read that thread too, and out of curiosity checked my recent films. They say "Made in the USA, finished in the EU"... that's for 400TX bought in Europe. At this point, totally lost. All I know is I'm paying 3 Euro a film (135)

[silent1]

With the shrinking film market, it's pretty much coming down to getting what you pay for. "Gray Market" film seems to be pretty much gone; if you want Kodak, you're stuck paying Kodak prices. If you want cheap film, check at J&C Photo, Freestyle, photowarehouse.biz, etc. for their house brand films; J&C has Pro 100 (seemingly custom made or custom cut for them in China -- but *not* Lucky, according to J&C) in 120 for as little as $1.19 a roll (qty. 10 or more for this price), and it comes packed in a plastic protective tube! Same film is also available in 35 mm, resized 620 (120 trimmed to fit most 620 cameras on the supply side) 4x5, 8x10, and a few other sheet formats. The J&C Classic 200 and Classic 400 are also attractively priced with discounts for 10 or more.

 

None of these will be mistaken for Kodak -- typically they're grainier and less forgiving of exposure errors than corresponding Kodak products; some have curly base and there are occasional reports of a batch with emulsion defects such as pinholes or tiny bubbles -- but depending on what format you shoot and what you're after in your negatives, they may do the job for you at much less than half the price of Kodak.

[pics]

I noticed on B+H that Kodak sells "USAW" Tri-X which is made in the U.S. for overseas use. It runs a little cheaper than the regular version. You can still get T-Max as an imported grey market film or as a USAW film for less money as well. Also, fuji film is available through grey market. Looks like there are still plenty of alternatives.

[al_divenuti]

No, 400TX is still being produced overseas.

 

EK is just cracking down on the grey market stuff. One reason (beyond EK simply making more money per roll) is that the grey market stuff flies below the radar and it makes it impossible for EK to determine true US consumption of their film.

[andrew_hull]

What Al said, and the fact that a portion of the grey market always was "made" here, in that the emulsion was made in the US and then sent overseas for assembly.

[richard_trochlil]

Is there any significant difference, other than price, for TRI-X made for overseas consumption as compared to us home folk?

[rowland_mowrey]

Guys;

 

Kodak often markets idential films in different markets with different names. This is legal. It is illegal to market the same film under different names in the same market.

 

This practice of having the same film have a different name in the USA and Europe for example is confusing to photographers, and I have discussed this with management at EK, but they insist that it is necessary to prevent 'gray' and 'black' marketing of film which may be of slightly different aims or which may be substandard due to keeping or any number of other factors which may give less than optimum results.

 

For example, developers in the EU are different slightly than those in the US, and may give different resluts.

 

Therefore, with grey or black market films, you are on your own. What you get is what you pay for.

 

Ron Mowrey

[wickedmartini]

Kodak has also been in the process of moving much of its film manufacturing out of the US. Or, in some cases, various processes may be completed in different locations.

[zachariah_edwardson]

Also, finally, the weak dollar is making the grey market not that great of a deal to be worth it. In fact, if the dollar keeps slipping, you might be seeing reverse of the grey market ;)