Mail order purchase of chemicals.

[dave_s3]

I see from past threads that folks have been having a good experience purchasing

mail order film and paper (please post if otherwise, those threads were from 2004).

<p/>

My questions is: what about chemicals?<p/>I went up to B&H and they're

saying:<p/>"Due to shipping regulations, we cannot ship this item at this time.

It can only be bought in our store"<p/><p/>Others (Adormama) do not have this

when browsing. Although, I haven't tried to check out with these chemicals in my

shopping cart.<p/><p/>When you do order chemicals, do they arrive in good

condition? <br/>Are there suppliers without this limitation?<p/>Any other

comments about this, please.<p/><p/>P.S. I have a local supplier here that has

reasonable prices if you consider the shipping and handling that the mail order

houses charge, but they don't have everything. Special orders are marked up

quite a bit. And when I asked the owner how long he plans to carry the B&W and

(very limited) Color chemistries, he said as long as people buy them and the

companies that supply them are still in business. He is the only shop in the

area that sells darkroom chemistry that I know.

[david_lyga]

Google ARTCRAFT CHEMICALS or PHOTOGRAPHER's FORMULARY or simply photographic chemicals. Also Freestyle in LA has some.

[sattler123]

Adorama will ship without any problems

[john_gleason1]

As David said, Freestyle. They have a decent collection of chemicals, and they'll ship by UPS. I just received a shipment from them a week or so ago --- delivery was quick and not all that expensive.

[mharris]

Freestyle and Adorama both send chemicals. For color chemicals I use Freestyle because the shipping is cheaper. I just ordered some from Adorama and it was quite a bit higher.

[david_starr3]

Calumet also ships.

[dave_s3]

This helps. It's always important to have multiple suppliers.

[nealcurrie]

henrys.com is excellent for Canadians.

[walter_degroot]

www.ultrafineonline.com

photowarehouse has items similar to freestye

and has reduced minimum to $35.00

still has agfa film and lower costs on B&W

you can add a few rolls of color neg to complete the $35.0o0 minimum

[philip__b_temple]

B & H USED TO MAIL OUT DARKROOM CHEMISTRY BUT DOES NO LONGER. A MONTH OR

SO AGO I WROTE THEM ASKING IF THEY WOULD CONSIDER CHANGING THIS POLICY. THEY

REPLIED SAYING THAT SOME INCIDENT [ SPILL?] HAD DRIVEN THEM TO THIS, AND THEY

REGRETTED MY DISAPPOINTMENT, BUT THEIR POLICY WILL BE UNCHANGED.

 

ADORAMA HAS A GOOD SELECTION, GOOD PRICES, AND HAS FOR ME EXCELLENT SHORT

DELIVERY TIMES EVEN FOR THEIR REGULAR SURFACE DELIVERIES.

[larrydressler]

Porters and Ultrafine also ship I though get many of mine from Freestyle.

 

Larry

[g._armour_van_horn]

As reported, Adorama is fine in my experience, but for me that's a lot of freight. If you have somebody local, give them your money and tell them what else you want them to carry. If you're buying most of your chems from them, they're a lot more likely to add a few special items for you. If you don't support them, they may not be there next year.

 

I'm NW of Seattle, and I buy all my chems from Rainier Photo near the SeaTac airport. They've always gotten things out the same day I call, and it's in UPS Zone 1 so it's a lot cheaper than Adorama. They tape the tops before shipping, and I've never had a problem. I hope they stay in business forever, so I tell everybody I run into to patronize them! (rainierphoto.com, but their site isn't all that much.)

 

Van