Your Total Cost of Shooting Film and Cost Per Shot?

[quidrilas_kelly]

<p>Cost of Film, 5 pack Kodak Ektar 100 28 +</p>

<h4>Shipping via priority mail to and from $12 +</h4>

<p>Cost of processing 34.5 + $10 = $84.5 in total costs.<br>

I also scan my own photos.</p>

<p>Which means, with my Bronica ETRS, costs $1.12 per shot/per exposure.</p>

<p>I did the same with my 35mm camera, and it cost ¢44 per exposure/shot in total costs. (Same film and roll amount, shipping, and developing company)<br>

However total cost for 35mm is slightly more expensive at $87</p>

<p>My cost could be lower if I went with snail mail, bought , and shipped the film in bulk. Then lastly change my developing company to another with lower prices.</p>

<p>So far 35mm and 120 format seems doable, not as bad as I thought it was.</p>

<p>How do you your cost compare?</p>

<p> </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>This is in the category of questions I don't WANT to know the answer to.</p>

<p>You do seem to be adding to the costs with your shipping and all. If you're in a hurry, digital is the way to go. Otherwise, it takes me about 6 or 7 days from shipping the film off to Kansas and getting it back -- and that's over the weekend, mind. Regular 1st class mail. </p>

<p> </p>

[brad_trostad]

<p>Living in the US. All for 12 exposures of 120 film. I don't shoot that much film so I do not develop at home:</p>

<p>Black And White Negatives (Fuji ISO 100 ACROS or ISO 400 Tri-X)<br>

$26: 5 rolls (Amazon prime, 2-3 days)<br>

$45: $9/roll (x 5) lab development (I drop off and pick up 3-4 days later).<br>

$71 / 60 pictures or about $1.20 per shot.</p>

<p>Color Slides (Fuji Velvia 50)<br>

$48: 5 x rolls (Amazon prime, 2-3 days)<br>

$60: $12/roll (x 5 rolls) for lab development (I drop off and pick up 3-4 days later).<br>

$108 / 60 pictures or about $1.80 for those wonderful looking slides.</p>

<p>Color Negatives (Kodak Portra ISO 160)<br>

$31: 5 x rolls (Free shipping from Amazon but not Amazon prime)<br>

$28: $5.50/roll (x 5 rolls) for lab development (I drop off and pick up 3-4 days later).<br>

$59 / 60 pictures or roughly $1 each</p>

<p>.obviously Amazon prime helps here but I wouldn't get it just for film purchases.</p>

[baisao]

<p>These are my <strong>costs per frame</strong> on a roll of 12 frames for the two films I shoot most often. I suppose that is a best case scenario but I shoot 6x6 most frequently. I've rolled in shipping costs into my chemicals.</p>

<table width="166" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><colgroup><col width="102" /> <col width="64" /> </colgroup>

<tbody>

<tr>

<td width="102" height="19"> </td>

<td width="64"><em>FP4+</em></td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Roll</td>

<td align="right">$0.37</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Pyrocat-HD</td>

<td align="right">$0.05</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Water Stop</td>

<td align="right">$0.00</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Fix</td>

<td align="right">$0.07</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Distilled Water</td>

<td align="right">$0.17</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">TOTAL</td>

<td align="right">

<p><strong>$0.65</strong></p>

</td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

 

<table width="166" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><colgroup><col width="89" /> <col width="77" /> </colgroup>

<tbody>

<tr>

<td width="89" height="19"> </td>

<td width="77">Provia 100F</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Roll</td>

<td align="right">$0.60</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Gas</td>

<td align="right">$0.50</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Lab Cost</td>

<td align="right">$0.92</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="19">Total</td>

<td align="right"><strong>$2.02</strong></td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

[mwmcbroom]

<p>I have a hard time justifying shooting slide film anymore and the place that develops my C-41 will be discontinuing next year. So, I've started shopping at Freestyle. I buy the chems now and do it myself. I wait to develop my film until I have several rolls exposed, to keep prices down. Doing it this way, the most expensive part of the shoot is the film.</p>

[scott_murphy5]

<p>Several places still offer chemistry kits for processing C41 and E6 film. They are much easier to use than the ones I used in the 70's and 80's where the color developer had to be 100ºF ± ¼ºF. If you can process black and white film you can process color film. But with color you have to be much more stringent about your temperatures (water baths work great) and you must take care not to contaminate your solutions with the previous steps. Kits nowadays have less steps than the earlier ones. Slides were terrible, there was like 6 or 7 steps including some washes in between.</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>Would you trade your wife for someone with cheaper overhead?</p>

[harry_hollander]

<p>In the UK, Peak Imaging does £4.55 per 120 roll developing only (E6 and C41).<br>

Sending is by freepost in provided carbon boxes, the return postage is cheap in quality sleaves, and the service is almost instant: next day development, the folowing day return shipment.</p>

<p> </p>

[mag_miksch]

<blockquote>

<p><em>"This is in the category of questions I don't WANT to know the answer to"</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p><em><br /></em>A wise mans words^^</p>

[chris_waller]

<p>For 120 at 12 shots per roll I calculate 65 pence (that's 1 dollar) per shot. But in that I am just taking film and developer costs. Add in a little for stop and fixer, then maybe 75 pence a shot (?). To get a true cost you would have to amortise the cost of your equipment across all the shots you will take in the lifetime of that equipment, plus travel plus ... plus ... who knows what.<br>

I once sat down and tried to calculate how much I have spent on photography during my lifetime but gave up when it became too shocking.</p>

 

[RaymondC]

<p>I have looked at color developing but never did it due to the low volume I did and my country cannot buy it but a place in Europe charged as much as the product cost to courier to New Zealand. </p>

<p>But just for 135 format, I have intention to get into 120 for 2015. <br>

1 roll of Velvia maybe $10US? <br>

$1US delivery per roll equiv roughly.<br>

Shoot it then ..<br>

Send it to the USA as here is $18US per roll to be developed - no mounting (before was $36US) but they have outsourced it to another city 600Miles away.<br>

Postal to the US is maybe $1US.<br>

Development is $9US (Dwaynnes)<br>

Postal back to New Zealand is maybe $2.70US per roll (if sent in batches of 10 rolls).<br>

= $21US per 36 35mm shots. </p>

<p>But medium format suits me - I go on holiday each day I shoot only 12 frames on tripod etc. Even with digital, I really never shoot more than 36 per day. Unless it is a social gathering then I use digital. </p>

 

[Brad Cloven]

<p>I figure $1.00 per shot, all in costs for 35mm. I'm a finance guy at a big technology company, and that estimate is close enough.</p>

<p>I shoot maybe 10 rolls of 36 exposures per year if I'm lucky, so that's $360. I shoot carefully by my nature and subject matter.</p>

<p>I buy all sorts of old $20 cameras and lenses (Nikon, rangefinders, Pentax, etc.).</p>

<p>So, in total, my hobby costs me around $500 per year, and I have this lovely collection of beautiful old cameras to show for it.</p>

<p>What's not to like?</p>

<p>I suspect my costs / year if I were shooting digital would be much higher. Worse, I would be both chasing new technology and trying to outrun technical obsolescence. I wouldn't much like to be in that crunch.</p>

<p>Film lets me relax in the glory days of antiquity. My job at a technology company has enough computerization in it already.</p>

<p>:-)</p>

[RaymondC]

<p>I shoot generally 10 rolls a year too but I find myself I should shoot more because with the 10 rolls best price freight cost with Dwaynnes Photo Lab that means I can only do 1 processing order per year ...</p>

<p>But b/w so much cheaper, got into the 35mm B/w bulk rolls someone gave me. Not available on 120 thou. From memory on my spreadsheet using the Ilford smallest 1L developer and the stop and the fixer all min size in Nz here it is 2x the cost to the USA it works out to be about $2US per roll. Film extra. But bulk film brings the film cost to under half I think for 35mm. In future overseas I would need to bring back multiple packs of powder developer. I do have a bottle of Agfa Rodinal but that might not be my main developer. Th stop and fixer last a lot longer than the developer (6 months accordinly to specs once mixed). </p>

[danielheller]

<p>$8.50 for a 12 exposure medium format 120 film.<br>

$8.00 for development (Pro lab)<br>

I do not use mail and scan myself.<br>

$16.50/12=$1.37/frame</p>

[rogerwb]

<p>Getting obsessive over the nickles and dimes takes all the fun out of it. </p>

[mwmcbroom]

<p>If I want to get obsessive about cost, I just start adding up how much it costs to maintain reasonably cutting edge digital gear, much less state of the art. After I've recovered from the shock, a couple of bucks a shot for slide film, even for Velvia, seems like chump change.</p>

[jens_g.r._benthien]

<p >1x 120 Fuji Pro 160 NS 5,30 Euro (a lot cheaper if purchased in bulk of 10 rolls per order)</p>

<p >Shipping two rolls to a pro lab 2,40 Euro = 1,20 per roll</p>

<p >Development per roll 4,00 Euro</p>

<p >Return shipping 2,40 Euro for two developed films = 1,20 per roll</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Turnaround time to/from lab 3 work days</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Costs per roll 11,70 Euro</p>

<p >Divided by 8 (for 6x9 format) = 1,46 Euro or 1.80 US $ per frame</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Scan time per frame 6 minutes with a Nikon LS 9000 (profiled and calibrated) @ 48bit @ 4.000 ppi, done in-house</p>

<p >Postprocessing: None</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Scan time 6 minutes @ 98,00 Euro per hour = 9,80 Euro</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Total cost per frame: 11,60 Euro or 14,32 US $ </p>

<p > </p>

<p >Costs for Fuji Provia 100F slightly higher, for Kodak Portra 160 slightly lower.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >RAW development of a digital image with an open source RAW converter 15 minutes per frame</p>

<p > </p>

<p >RAW processing 12 minutes @ 98,00 Euro per hour (average, includes transfer to computer, sorting out bad or unsharp images, etc.) = 19,60 Euro per frame</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Postprocessing (lens correction -> because of lousy lenses it is definitely required, adjustment of curves) 3 minutes @ 98,00 Euro per hour = 4,90 Euro per frame</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Total cost per frame: 24,50 Euro or 30,24 US $</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Fees and times for shooting and usage rights are identical for both media.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >In short: one 6x9 medium format image costs me 47,35% of a digital image. </p>

<p >In other words: Profits with medium format are higher for me, because I sell the final images for the same price.</p>

[baisao]

<blockquote>

<p>"Scan time 6 minutes @ 98,00 Euro per hour" - jens</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Who is charging 98 Euro per hour to scan your negs? Is that what you are charging yourself to scan your own negs? </p>

[jens_g.r._benthien]

<p>It's a simple calculation, based on the costs for fees, rent, equipment, depreciation, electricity, water, coffee, cleaning, maintenance, furniture - you know what goes into these calculations.</p>

<p>This is the minimum I have to charge the clients to be profitable, and this is a realistic comparison of the two media. If you are doing photography as a hobby, figure the costs yourself. Take into account the investment for a scanner or camera and be realistic that you have to invest into a new camera every two years (as well as software updates if you use commercial software). Of course you need to include the costs for CLAs for film based equipment as well, which is around Euro 100 per camera or - if we talk about large format with roll film back - lens per year.</p>

<p>If photography is your hobby, either don't calculate any costs at all or do it precisely. Everything else in my opinion is nonsense. Or do you calculate the costs of a flight to a holiday destination?</p>

[ondebanks]

<blockquote>

<p>be realistic that you have to invest into a new camera every two years</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Why? That doesn't seem realistic at all. Cameras last much longer than that, unless you really abuse them. </p>

<blockquote>

<p>RAW development of a digital image with an open source RAW converter 15 minutes per frame</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That is surprisingly slow, especially if you can scan and retouch a slide in just 6 minutes. What time-consuming things are you doing with the digital shots that you are not doing with the film ones? Personally, I find film scanning and post-processing much more time consuming than digital RAW development. Lest you think I'm bashing film, I like it, but that's just my reality of working with it. </p>

[jens_g.r._benthien]

<blockquote>

<p>That is surprisingly slow, especially if you can scan and retouch a slide in just 6 minutes.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

No need for retouching.<br>

</p>

<blockquote>

<p>What time-consuming things are you doing with the digital shots that you are not doing with the film ones?</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

Read my post, the details is in brackets.</p>

[ondebanks]

<blockquote>

<p>Read my post, the details is in brackets.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>So it's just "sorting out bad or unsharp images".<br>

OK: so either (1) you never get bad or unsharp images on film? or (2) you spray-and-pray with digital? But you could shoot digital with exactly the same care as you shoot film. </p>

[jens_g.r._benthien]

<p>Splitting hairs...</p>

<p>No, I almost never have unsharp images on film, because I can focus them manually. Digital has AF or lack of sharpness because of the small viewfinder. </p>

<p>If you know what a rangefinder camera in regards of focusing the patches means, or how to focus on a large format ground glass, you know what I mean.</p>

<p>In addition, the 'new' lenses for digital don't have an infinity lock. This produces in most cases unsharp images. And lenses for digital feature image distortion, while (older) lenses for MF (Fuji, Plaubel, Hasselblad, etc.) and LF (Rodenstock, Schneider, Fuji, ZEISS) don't have distortion. </p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>I don't even want to think about what it costs me with film. First off, I shoot digital for regular stuff. So my medium format film is only once in awhile. Often I'll shoot only one roll and then wait a long while before the next round. So if I send it out right away to the developers, I have to add postage both ways for one roll. Then figure I regularly bracket my shots. So maybe I took three pictures out of a roll. Often they're just different angles, so only one picture in an entire roll may meet some artistic standard, often not, and my time and money was spent for nothing. But ladies and gentlemen. We do this for love not money. No? Anyway it costs me $16 for popcorn and a soda when I go to the movies. That bothers me more.</p>

[brad_trostad]

<p>Jens I really appreciate the time you took to break down and compare film vs digital for you! I too first thought your hourly rate seemed high but those are your numbers and work for your business and your included costs. And even if your rate was off somewhat it still illustrates the cost of digital and film may be closer than we think for certain types of work, equipment and process.</p>