For the film users only

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Noons - 28 Oct 2008 13:45 GMT

Ted's in Sydney - old Fletcher's store in
Pitt St - has in stock bulk Tri-X rolls,
35 metre, for less than 50 bucks each.
That's under 2 bucks for a 36-frame
roll, or better prices than ebay.
No affiliation, and no, you can't have mine!

Reply to this Message

Doug Jewell - 28 Oct 2008 13:26 GMT

> Ted's in Sydney - old Fletcher's store in
> Pitt St - has in stock bulk Tri-X rolls,
> 35 metre, for less than 50 bucks each.
> That's under 2 bucks for a 36-frame
> roll, or better prices than ebay.
> No affiliation, and no, you can't have mine!

I guess one of the pluses of the digital phenomenon is that
some film stuff goes for a song when stores are trying to
clear it. I picked up some cheap ilford 5x7 paper and chem's
a few months back, and have picked up quite a few rolls of
various film over the last couple of years for bargain
basement prices too.
The downside is - all of those stores no longer sell
anything except Fuji and/or Kodak disposable cameras, so
getting anything film related locally now is pretty much
impossible. A few stores will still order in but you have to
commit to carton qty's and it is quite expensive. I can no
longer get E6 processing done locally, so that's a pain now
too. C41 processing is still available locally, but their
quality is patchy. As much as I still prefer the look of
film, it's all starting to get a bit too hard so I'm
shooting SFA on film now and mostly using digital.

About all I use film for now is ultrawide stuff, since I
haven't picked up an ultrawide lens suitable for crop sensor
yet.

BTW, can you recommend any good E6 processors in your area
who will do mail order dev only?

Reply to this Message

Noons - 29 Oct 2008 11:02 GMT

Doug Jewell wrote,on my timestamp of 28/10/2008 11:26 PM:

>> Ted's in Sydney - old Fletcher's store in
>> Pitt St - has in stock bulk Tri-X rolls,
>> 35 metre, for less than 50 bucks each.
>> That's under 2 bucks for a 36-frame
>> roll, or better prices than ebay.
>> No affiliation, and no, you can't have mine!

> I guess one of the pluses of the digital phenomenon is that some film
> stuff goes for a song when stores are trying to clear it.

They are NOT trying to clear it. Ted's has been a
"digital-only" shop for a long time.
This is NEW stock, and next month they
are re-stocking on Ilfotec DD-X developer.
They just got new stock of the brand new Ilfosol-3 as well.
They even got Technidol! There is no "clear it" anywhere.
Oh, and with them you can get the entire range of
Ilford film as well as Kodak and Fuji.
They are also getting the brand new Ektar very soon now,
as soon as it's in stock I'll let you know.

> The downside is - all of those stores no longer sell anything except
> Fuji and/or Kodak disposable cameras, so getting anything film related
> locally now is pretty much impossible.

Well, get it remotely: call Ted's and order it.
They are fully stocked with NEW material and ready
to sell it. So are Foto Riesel, Vanbar, Madsens, Les
Porter. Look them up. I order via the net all
the time.

> A few stores will still order in
> but you have to commit to carton qty's and it is quite expensive.

Have you tried Ted's, Vanbar, Foto Riesel, Madsens,
Les Porter? Any of these in NSW will get you NEW
stock of whatever you might want. Go to APUG and
ask there if you are outside NSW: there is a special
interest group reserved for Aussies. You can get
just about anything there.

> I can
> no longer get E6 processing done locally, so that's a pain now too.

I never could get E6 locally, not even in
the 80s. But I can get E6 processed now,
a LOT cheaper and faster than Jadon did in
the 80s, that I can assure you!

> As
> much as I still prefer the look of film, it's all starting to get a bit
> too hard so I'm shooting SFA on film now and mostly using digital.

Actually if you looked, it would all be a lot
easier. Like I said: I never had such good supply
of everything at such good prices. But then again,
I shoot both digital and film and don't have the
slightest problem with either.

> BTW, can you recommend any good E6 processors in your area who will do
> mail order dev only?

These may be able to help you:
http://www.yellowpages.com.au/bi/fotolab-sydney-nsw-375845.html
They do all my E6 at the moment, including 120.
Don't expect "web sites": this is a small operation,
but they do good work. Call them on the phone,
ask for John or Thomas - the owner - and tell either
that I recommended them to you: if you don't get
the best service, I'd be very surprised. Not sure
about the mail order conditions, but it ain't hurt
to ask.

You can of course get Visiongraphics to do it for you
and they are cheaper as well. Go direct with them
rather than through a shop: it's a lot cheaper.
They take a bit longer, though. Quality is superb.

B&W, just do it all at home: easy as pie.

Reply to this Message

Doug Jewell - 29 Oct 2008 12:52 GMT

> Doug Jewell wrote,on my timestamp of 28/10/2008 11:26 PM:
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> They are also getting the brand new Ektar very soon now,
> as soon as it's in stock I'll let you know.

Lucky you!! There is one local shop left that sells Reala,
and that is the only non-consumer film I can get locally.
B&W, Slide, high-speed C41, B&W Chem, it's all a memory now
for finding it on shop shelves.

>> The downside is - all of those stores no longer sell anything except
>> Fuji and/or Kodak disposable cameras, so getting anything film related
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Porter. Look them up. I order via the net all
> the time.

I have purchased a bit from vanbar. Their service has been
excellent, and their pricing is ok. The drama though is that
with freight it is not worth purchasing from them unless I
have a decent sized order. If I do have a decent sized order
(ie carton qty) I can source it locally (from Harvey Norman
of all places! - Fuji & Ilford, just not Kodak) as a special
order, and it works out cheaper than purchasing from Vanbar
and paying freight.

> > A few stores will still order in
>> but you have to commit to carton qty's and it is quite expensive.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> interest group reserved for Aussies. You can get
> just about anything there.

I'm in non-metro QLD. 5 years ago, film / dev supplies were
readily available, now they are not.

Purchasing from the net, or on special order is ok for my
regular stock - things like Sensia, FP4, Reala - Stuff that
I would (in the past anyway) shoot in reasonable quantity.
It's no good for when something unexpected comes up and you
want a particular film. It used to be good being able to
duck down to the local camera store and grab a roll of
Neopan 1600, Velvia, etc if something unexpected came up.
Now I pretty much have to plan my film use around a small
core of films that I keep in my fridge - anything else and
it's a 1-2 week lead time.

Funny thing though - I was in Kingaroy a few weeks ago, and
went into a tiny little photo shop and was surprised to see
a wide range of various B&W, Slide & Pro Neg films. All in
date. Made sure to grab a few rolls. Odd how a small shop in
a small town can carry that sort of stuff, but no-one in a
city of 100,000 can carry it.

> > I can
>> no longer get E6 processing done locally, so that's a pain now too.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> I shoot both digital and film and don't have the
> slightest problem with either.

>> BTW, can you recommend any good E6 processors in your area who will do
>> mail order dev only?
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> about the mail order conditions, but it ain't hurt
> to ask.

Thanks - I've used photocontinental who I think are the only
Brisbane processor. They did a comprehensive job of
scratching my film, and put the blame on my camera. Funny
how 3 different cameras can all scratch the film with the
exact same pattern.

> You can of course get Visiongraphics to do it for you
> and they are cheaper as well. Go direct with them
> rather than through a shop: it's a lot cheaper.
> They take a bit longer, though. Quality is superb.

Thanks also.

> B&W, just do it all at home: easy as pie.

Already do. Used to do E6 at home too, but it was a little
hit and miss - about 1 in 6 rolls came out crook.

Reply to this Message

Noons - 30 Oct 2008 12:11 GMT

Doug Jewell wrote,on my timestamp of 29/10/2008 10:52 PM:

> I'm in non-metro QLD. 5 years ago, film / dev supplies were readily
> available, now they are not.

Sad. But like you said: a little bit of stock
in the fridge goes a long way! ;)
Is it bad in the Gold Coast as well?
I go there often but usually take everything with me
and bring it back on the same trip.

> Neopan 1600, Velvia, etc if something unexpected came up. Now I pretty
> much have to plan my film use around a small core of films that I keep
> in my fridge - anything else and it's a 1-2 week lead time.

Same here. I do have a small supply of odd ones.
Neopan 1600 and delta 3200, namely. And I'm thinking
of going with Fuji pro800Z for 120 as well as Delta 3200.
Besides the usual stapple diet of Astia, Velvia, pan-f, tri-X
and XP2.
Recently been looking at Efke 25 to replace pan-f: in Rodinal
1:50 low agitation, it seems to work very well for me.
Doesn't like red filters though, and the wet emulsion is
veeeeery fragile... Available in bulk whereas pan-f
is harder to find.

> Funny thing though - I was in Kingaroy a few weeks ago, and went into a
> tiny little photo shop and was surprised to see a wide range of various
> B&W, Slide & Pro Neg films. All in date. Made sure to grab a few rolls.
> Odd how a small shop in a small town can carry that sort of stuff, but
> no-one in a city of 100,000 can carry it.

Amazing what little shops can stock!
There is one small photography shop here in
Warringah Mall that always has a small
supply of various b&w and colour negative film.
They also stock film cameras, of all things!
Handy for me on weekends.

> Thanks - I've used photocontinental who I think are the only Brisbane
> processor. They did a comprehensive job of scratching my film, and put
> the blame on my camera. Funny how 3 different cameras can all scratch
> the film with the exact same pattern.

Ah yes, the "scratchies". Must admit I've been
lucky. Neither Fotolab nor Visiongraphics have yet
majorly scratched anything.

Scratches are why I like Ice scanners so much!
Pity it won't work for b&w non-chromogenic...

> Already do. Used to do E6 at home too, but it was a little hit and miss
> - about 1 in 6 rolls came out crook.

Still got an E6 kit sitting in the back room,
must come around to it soon. Yes, it can be
a bit hit and miss: temperature was always
the killer for me. One of these days must get
one of those jobo thingies. Or make one with
an aquarium heater...

Reply to this Message