TMY Price Shock

[steven nelson]

Today I visited one of the few places that sells 4x5 film in the Bay Area,

Keeble & Shuchat in Palo Alto, to purchase a box of T-MAX 400 4x5 50 film. Just

last month the price per box was approximately $46.00. Today the new price is

$67.76 for the same box of film. When I expressed shock to the sales person, he

said they raised all their prices on film because their film volume has declined

sharply. Fortunately B&H is still selling the film for $46.95. Anybody else

seeing such price increases?

[yann1]

Last time I was in France (a year ago), I found all the films unaffordable. Coming back to Taiwan (where I live), I bought a lot of films and store them in my freezer. Now the price has increased about 20-30 %, and some films like Velvia, or even tri-x are very hard to get. I'm not surprised about what you say.

[bob_sunley]

You might want to stock up, Freestyle are asking $61 for a box of the new formula.

[pvp]

It has silver in it. Silver is now over $17 per ounce. What did you expect?

[Monophoto]

Principles of marketing 101:

 

The price of silver is up.

 

The volume of sheet film being sold is declining. As a result, the base cost associated with manufacturing film has to be spread across a smaller number of units produced. Therefore, the manufacturer has to raise the wholesale price to stay afloat.

 

The rent paid by the dealer is the same or increasing, while the volume of film being sold is declining. Therefore, the dealer has to increase his markup per unit sale to stay even.

[john_shriver]

Remember that unlike magazines and trade paperbacks, if a dealer buys film, and it expires on the shelf, they don't get any money back from Kodak, Fuji, etc. So if they are having trouble selling the minimum order (probably 20 boxes) of TMY in 4x5 before it expires, they should increase the price so they don't lose money. But, raising the price may become a self-fufilling prophecy.

 

That said, the dollar is sinking like a brick, and precious metals (silver and gold) are soaring. We're paying for the current war through currency dilution, not taxes, not bond drives.

[hitam_jantung]

How much do you spend on a round of golf, or a nice dinner? I think $67 for 50 4x5 exposures on the best film ever made is a good value, but I really enjoy photography. There are cheaper alternatives; check Freestyle for their Arista films.

[mahonri_moriancumer]

"How much do you spend on a round of golf, or a nice dinner?"

Don't play golf, too much of a time waster, not a sport and highy subsidized by government handouts for the few who do 'play'. As for a good dinner, by the time we drive ninety miles to a large town (35,000) it gets expensive and the $9.99 all you can eat Chinese Buffet helps make up for the gas cost a bit.

Kodak charges through the nose for their films. The TMax 100 has a UB Blocking layer that makes it all but useless for many alt processes without some added procedures to get rid of the UB blocking. Why they make such dopey decisions that make the film basically unusable for many LF and ULF shooters is beyond understanding.

Even with the cost, Ilford still makes some excellent films. Steve Anchell, in the Darkroom Cookbook calls FP4+ the film standard to judge all others by.

I wish Ilford made Delta 400 in 8x10. Sure had a nice look to it.

[dave42]

K&S have always been a bit pricey so its no surprise that they are expensive.

 

last time i went in the sales guy in the pro/LF shop across the street from the main store complained that they are selling LF equipment for next to nothing and that no one is buying that kind of equipment anymore.

 

the guy had major attitude problems and left as soon as i could extricate myself from the conversation.

 

K&S has changed dramatically over the years from a place i would hang out and chat at the use equipment counter to a place i only would go to when necessary.

 

since you are in the bay area go up to the city to Adolph Gasser camera store the guys downstairs in the film dept. know their stuff and the prices are always very reasonable.

 

cheers

[oistrakh]

In the Bay Area, the cheapest place to get film is likely going to be Calumet in SF, not Gassers or K&S. You might also try Looking Glass in Berkeley, although I have not bought any film from them.