Slide film expensive?

[bjscharp]

Just ordered a batch of film from my usual dealer, and realized that slide film is more than three times as expensive

compared to negative film. (45 euros for 5 rolls of Velvia vs 27 euros for 10 rolls of Superia).

 

Is this normal, or is this store ripping me off big time?

 

Regards,

Bernard

[BernardMiller]

Wow, that's pretty high. If you're in Europe, why not try buying online from 7dayshop.com?

<p>

It sounds like, at current rates, you're paying over £7 per roll. They advertise 35mm Velvia <a

href="http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cat=1&type=1200&man=27&filterwords=velvia&go=SEARCH&comp=">here</a>

at less than half what you're paying.

<p>

They're located in Guernsey, so they don't charge VAT, and their shipping, at least in the UK, is very cheap. I

buy all my film from there, and get most of my E-6 120 processing done there as well--their service is excellent.

Why not check with them and see if you can get it cheaper from them? (And, no, I am in no way affiliated with the

company--just a highly satisfied repeat customer!)

[fred_rooks]

Though I often buy my Velvia for somewhat less, I think the price you paid is not that unusual if they were 35 mm rolls. Considering how good Velvia is, it is still a bargain.

[bjscharp]

I'm not in the UK, unfortunately.

 

And indeed, Velvia is good enough to warrant the cost. But I'm currently torn apart between Superia 400 and Provia 400X for my 400 ASA needs. The first is a lot cheaper, but I'd prefer a slide film...

[machts gut]

Take into account that Superia is an amateur film and Velvia a professional film. If you compare it to Fuji Reala the difference may be smaller. For Fuji Sensia or Elitechrom I pay 20 Euro for 5 rolls. And then, Velvia is probably made in much smaller numbers, as slide film in general, and Velvia specially, is demanded less frequent.

[fred_rooks]

Slide film does seem costly at first. But because you don't need prints or scans to view or show your work, slides start to make sense financially. An occasional public slide show brings me a small income every now and then. I can't imagine gaining a paying audience with prints. And there's another trick to justify buying good slide film: get some good deals on used analogue equipment, think how much you've saved thanks to the digital hysteria and spend part of the sum on film.

[bjscharp]

That's true. I bought my EOS 30 for 45 euros. So compared to the nearest digital equivalent, a 5D at 1500 euros, I can shoot over 160 rolls of Velvia before I would've been better off with digital :-)

 

@ Stefan: Reala is just as expensive as Superia (at least at this store, haven't looked around). Sensia is indeed cheaper, but still more expensive than negative film.

[BernardMiller]

Hi, B.J.

<p>

Yes, I gathered you weren't a UK resident. However, you might drop the folks at 7dayshop.com an e-mail--they have been pretty good about communicating with me.

<p>

While their website doesn't explicitly give postage costs to the continent, it does make clear that they do post to other EU countries. Even with the extra postage and possible sales tax at your end, you <i>might</i> very well still come out cheaper purchasing (and perhaps processing) with them. Especially since right now, you are paying more than double what it would cost you there.

[jim_devlin]

For comparison purposes, here in the U.S. I can shoot and have developed a roll of Fuji Provia 100 36-exposure slide film for approximately $10.50 total. My son shoots Fujicolor 100 print film and he recently paid $9.75 total for film and processing.

[hugh_hutcheson]

Just had an email today from the Fuji Choosefilm.com website saying they are now going to sell film direct, with no minimum order. That will include all types of Fuji film ... in the UK ( sorry USA ). That's got to be a good thing, but I expect some wholesalers like 7dayshop will undercut their prices.

[bjscharp]

I shot the guys at 7dayshop a message.

 

I am slightly hesistant though, as ordering film abroad greatly increases the chance of it being shoved in some form of scanner on the way, exposing it to X-rays. I'm still not sure how much of that `danger' is myth nowadays.

[patrick_mont]

This price increase is normal. I have noticed an increase of at least 20% in most film I use.

[douglas_vitello]

Benard,I found if I buy film by the brick (20 rolls of 36 exposures) and freeze it then have it processed by Kodak (sorry,I shoot mostly Elitechrome 100) it works out to about .27 cents US per mounted exposure.Not a lot of money.I'm sure things are more expensive in Europe but if you buy in quantity the price goes way down.Then again I don't need to shoot 100 exposures of the same subject in order to get something of value,the current accepted norm it seems these days.Take your time and savor the scene before pushing the shutter - works every time for me.

[fred_rooks]

Perfectly true, Douglas. Who wants to look at thousands of slides anyway? The goal is to increase the value of the film material with each exposure, which should be possible even with the high European prices. I recommend capturing a really good scene at least twice, though, as your best slides will most likely be projected more often. It's better than dupes, and cheaper also.

[BernardMiller]

And, to add to what Fred said, bracketing some things is a good idea; especially when shooting macro with slide film, I tend to shoot one at the measured exposure, one 2/3 of a stop under, and one 2/3 of a stop over. Or so. That can add up, when you're shooting 120 film. In the UK.

[bjscharp]

Yeah, buying in bulk helps. I haven't found a store yet that does real bulk discount around here though.

 

As for number of pictures, even with digital I'm sparse, with film double so :-)

 

PS: 7dayshop won't ship to the Netherlands, unfortunately

[randall_pukalo]

With the strength of the Euro, consider buying from BH Photo out of New York City. They are the biggest photo retailer in the US and their prices are great.

[penny_greenberg]

That really is expensive! I noticed that film costs vary from area to area, even within the USA, so I'm not surprised that the price is high in Europe.

I recommend that you buy film from an American store or at least ones in California, because I bought my slide film for about $3~$5 per roll while in Massachusetts, they were selling expired slide film for $7 and a normal roll for about $10~$13.

[d_f11]

Yep. Refridgerated Kodachrome - PKR, just went up again for the second time this summer at Calumet.

I guess it's what we can expect, precious metals going up.

[antony_glaser]

I took some slide pictures and wanted one of them as a 7 X 5 print. Unfortunately the Compact Camera I used left

the Day, Month, Year data on my slides. I asked how much would it cost to remove, for my Print. I was told

£25.00. I was shocked, as I thought the slide could be scanned, and any alternation was possible for gratis, as

I am already paying £2.99 for this service. Some chains of Mini Labs, have got away with over charging for too

long all these years !!!