70mm film, being discontinued?

[kott]

I have been searching for 70mm films-there is very little selection

and it's only available in 100' rolls.

I'd like to find a source for 5m prerolled cassettes.

Anyway with the difficulty of finding this format, I'll ask:

Is 70mm film probably going to be discontinued in the forseeable

future?

 

Thanks,

 

Jonathan

[robert_kennedy]

No. It is used in film quite a bit.

 

It is NOT a practical format for most people though. It only comes in HUGE lengths and if the lab screws it up or YOU screw it up there goes a BIG investment. Yeah, if you are shooting school portraits or some sort of scientific endevour, then it can work. But your average shooter is highly unlikely to use it or need it. So you aren't going to see it widely available like 120 or 220.

 

Sorry.

[felipe_sangines1]

If you shoot 6 x 6 on 70mm film you can get up to 80 exp. per roll,

for b/w film probably even more.

Pre-loaded cassettes are expensive, the better choice is to load

the cassettes yourself from bulk.

As far as I know the only 70mm films available for normal

photographic purposes

are from Kodak ( double sided perforation ).

Processing is a little complicated, not every processor is

capable of handling the 5 m + of film

length, most will slow down due to friction within the processor,

this leads to a unevenprocessing.

Loading film into the camera is easier than 120/220 , although

you will need a lot of cassettes, for each film you need two of

them.

[david_m._young]

feh....

<br><br>

Buy it in 100 foot rolls, get a daylight loader from B&H, Adorama, or used on E-Bay. Process it yourself in a JOBO where you've bought the 70mm reels (comes in 5 or 15 foot length reels).

<br><br>

I do it because it's the only way I can reliably shoot Kodak Infrared in medium format. Why would you want to??? Cheaper and easier to use 22O film that you can have processed at any pro-lab.

<br><br>

Cheers, D.

[robert_kennedy]

The kack of HIE in 120/220 still burns me. Kodak needs to wake up and smell the D-76....

[david_m._young]

You mean the same Kodak that has discontued HSI (High Speed Infrared 4x5 and 8x10 sheet film).

<br><br>

You can buy 70mm HIE cut down to 120/220. You can shoot Maco in 120 (Not the same effect)

<br><br>

You can get a 70mm back, a loader, a couple of cartridges, and a back, shoot medium format HIE and process it on a Jobo. Works for me and it's highly unlikely that Kodak will discontinue it as it's used extensively by the military and ariel agriculture photographers.

<br><br>

Cheers,

D.

[wayne_crider4]

A conversation with a school photographer last month revealed that she uses 70mm in her Hassey, but noted that Kodak has discontinued preloaded cassettes and now she must load her own.

[Aoresteen]

I have 2 70mm backs. Using 70mm is a labor of love. You must load your own. Any pre-loaded 70mm is expired by now but are a good buy because it includes the reloadable cassette! A couple of yeras ago you could buy 15' loads of Tri-X for less than what Hasselblad charged for an empty cassette

 

I use Tri-X 700 and I'm down to my last 100' roll in my freezer. I wish HP-5 was available.

 

Good luck!