Affordable bulk film in Europe?

[ilkka_lindblom]

I live in Finland, inside the EMU area, and am having problems

locating affordable bulk film.

 

Comparison:

 

In the US mail order photography stores, both Tri-X and T-max are

available for well under $30 / 100 feet. However, shipping costs are

generally high and larger orders will be caught by the customs, as

they are from outside the EMU.

 

In the corner store, 30 meters of similar film costs over $60.

Obscene.

 

Most German mail order outlets have cheap film, but seemingly not much

bulk film. I bet somewhere in Europe there is a store with good

selection and reasonable prices, but I have not been able to locate

one.

 

So, fellow Europeans especially, can you point me to some source? Or

is it just a fact of life that film costs 50%+ more here than in the

US?

[walter_degroot]

b & h photo in nyc, has kodak at 2 prices .

the imported tri -x is $21.00

is sweden outside of that emu??? area.

whatever that is (european union?)

[James G. Dainis]

Just to keep the math straight, if 100 feet cost $30 then 30 meters at $60 would be 100% more.

[ilkka_lindblom]

EMU is the european monetary union. Basically the euro area. Inside the euro area you can buy and sell most things without paying any extra costs. For example the UK is a member of the EU but is not in the euro area. Same goes for Sweden.

 

The biggest problem with ordering from b+h would be the shipping costs, about $50, more for larger orders. This I think is strange as I have received rather heavy packages from ebay merchants for $20 postage.

 

And yes, I do know what "50% more" and "100% more" mean. Where I wrote "50%+ more", I meant, "upwards from 50% more", where the 50% minimum referred to the prices in german mail order stores that I did not specify in numbers.

[chris_eve]

Check out www.trurophotographic.co.uk (Exeter Cameras) ... "own brand" b&w 100ft £15 (about $24US)or www.jessops.co.uk for FP4 etc at £30 (about $48US)

[stefan_marquardt]

hi, just looked up the prices from a mail-order company that I use:

T-max 100 35mmx30,5m 39,90 euros (plus 16%Vat/mwst).

 

regards stefan

[oskar_ojala]

The EU is basically a free trade area at heart and EMU merely influences common monetary policy. This means that by paying local sales tax when ordering from an EU country there should be no additional charges (or something has really changed since the last time I checked)

 

I don't order, I might ask people who travel to the other side of the globe to bring small amounts of film since my needs are limited. Places like photoimpex.de in Germany can carry pretty cheap films, but in the US, sales tax is very low and a large country with big markets gives a logistical advantages that a small and distant country like Finland can never match. Also, not all stores in the US sell for the same price as B+H and likewise not all stores in Finland sell for the same price.