Sad Day

[evan clarke]

I'm in MIlwaukee and there is no place to buy sheet film here anymore. Face it in a few more years it will all go away. Some years back somebody posted a vintage article from a newspaper which listed 10 reasons steam locomotives would never disappear.....Evan Clarke

[Wallace_Billingham]

In my small town of 6,000 people in Rural PA, I can't find any film besides color 35mm film that I can get at Wal-Mart.

Never stops me from doing what I want since I can order from B&H select standard UPS shipping and I have it in a day or two. Or I can order from Freestyle and get it in around a week.

[Gene McCluney]

Anyone in the USA can get film overnight from one of the mail-order internet vendors, and often at a similar price (including shipping) when you compare the local costs including local taxes. 99% of a persons film requirements can be met with next morning delivery, and the 1% that cannot should cause you to stock a small inventory "just in case".

[Brian Ellis]

Another reason to switch: Ilford seems to care about film, Kodak does not care. Or if they do care, they sure have a long way to go to prove it.

If Kodak doesn't care they better start. Take a look at Kodak's SEC filings. You'll see that they're earning a nice profit in their traditional photography areas, they're losing their rear end on digital.

P.S. The term "traditional photography" is mine, I forget exactly what they call it. And of course their categories are extremely broad, there's no way of knowing what goes into each area or how much profit or loss is generated by specific things like consumer film sales. But it's pretty clear that they're making money on things other than digital and losing big time on digital.

[venchka]

I shop at Glaziers. Someone came in over the weekend and purchased all their 8x10 TriX (didn't want to bring it on the plane to Seattle). According to Glazier's, Kodak cuts 5x7 only twice a year, so they can't reorder as it sells but must anticipate their needs and stock up; if they miscalculate....no film for us to buy. Yes, they had Kodak 4x5 in stock, but I want to be able to use the same product in all formats and that doesn't seem possible with Kodak.

One nice thing about living in a metropolis is that one should be able to go to the camera store and purchase film. I suppose I could order from B&H or Badger; that obviates the advantage of living in a major city. You just expect that you can get film when you need it, not think ahead a month and have it shipped. I don't have that luxury with Kodak anymore, and I will with Ilford.

Earth to photosailor:

I'm currently exiled to the 4th (or 3rd maybe) largest city in the gold old USA. To the best of my knowledge, we have one camera store in Houston that stocks sheet film. Mostly 4x5 color as I recall. Since adopting 4x5, I have managed to stay stocked with film through purchases on forums like this one. For me to buy locally, I would have to endure a 30 minute trip through the worst of Houston traffic to and a 1 hour trip from (rush hour) the camera store.

On the other hand, Freestyle delivers to my home in 2 days.

If you need 5x7 film and Kodak only cuts 5x7 twice a year, anticipate your needs and STOCK UP! Refrigerated film keeps a long long time.

I suppose it's time I put my money where my mouth is. Order a box of TMY-2. Using unexpired film will be a new treat.

[Bruce Watson]

One nice thing about living in a metropolis is that one should be able to go to the camera store and purchase film. I suppose I could order from B&H or Badger; that obviates the advantage of living in a major city. You just expect that you can get film when you need it, not think ahead a month and have it shipped. I don't have that luxury with Kodak anymore, and I will with Ilford.

Believe it or not, I get where you are coming from. I put forth a fair effort to buy everything I can locally, from local merchants and not the big box store chains. But my local camera store has treated me so badly so many times that I no longer buy from them even though they do stock the film I like.

Loyalty works both ways. It's not just about me being loyal to my store. My store has to be loyal to me too. And it sounds like Glaziers is doing a poor job of being loyal to you. I'm sorry for that. I'm often astounded by how much effort my local merchants seem to put into shooting themselves in the foot, and to personally shove their customers into the arms of the big box stores. It's no big wonder to me anymore why the big box stores are killing off the mom-and-pop stores right and left. Sadly, it doesn't have to be this way.

[cobalt]

You are better off with Ilford anyway.
Personally, I find all of their products to be superior to the Kodak equivalents, with the exception of the high speed films.

[pablo batt]

when i see a kodak b and w neg side by side with ilford they really do look so different, the kodaks strong contrast and pastel colored base really are unique, but in saying that ilford have such a beautiful subtle appearance contrasty but a little thinner in density .

era is my recommendation, so smooth and creamy, adox is in my bronica at present and will be used in the sunshine here in the jordaan amsterdam in the next few days

i love kodak long live kodak, pls digi people dont kill kodak duh

[Scott Davis]

A piece of advice-

for those complaining that they can't get the same results from Ilford that they used to get from Kodak, stop complaining, spend a weekend doing film/developer tests, and LEARN the new film. They are not the same film, and so your old standby method will not work.

For those complaining that they can't get the same results from Kodak that they got from Ilford, see above.

Yes, each film will have a different look - FP4+ is not TMY is not Fomapan 200 is not EFKE PL100. But to say that any one of them is junk because you can't get as good a result as you're used to with another film is ridiculous. Each film has its pluses and minuses, subject matter and conditions for which it is ideally suited and conditions for which it is lacking. I would no more use a ball peen hammer to turn a screw than I would use Fomapan for night shots, but that doesn't mean I can't use it for beautiful portraits printed in alt-process printing methods. TMY is wonderful for night/low-light photography, FP4+ is a great daylight film. I keep all of them in my arsenal and use them as they suit my goals.

[venchka]

Well said. Thank you.