State of 8x10 film production now & future

[PaulSchneider]

Hi guys,

I'm new to the subject of large format photography and I'm just reading all I can on the matter before I take the plunge and buy lenses, camera etc.

I'm interested in 8x10 photography.

Now I just read that Fuji stopped production of 8x10 film ...

Can anybody make a quick assessment what the state of 8x10 slide film is in 2010 and if availability of 8x10 color film is in danger?

I wouldn't want to spend all the money on a camera system for which I can't get film anymore in 2012!

Kind regards

Paul

[Sal Santamaura]

...Now I just read that Fuji stopped production of 8x10 film...

Read where?

[Brian Ellis]

Read where?

Maybe he's thinking of this?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...10_Sheets.html

Which doesn't represent all 8x10 film.

[John NYC]

Well, I have not been able to find any Fuji color slide films lately (past several months) in 8x10 in New York. B&H has Fuji 160S color neg right now, and for a really good price. Fortunately, my favorite 8x10 films are from Kodak and still readily available from the big stores here in NYC: E100G for slide, Portra 160NC for negative. E100G is _very_ expensive now, about $108 for 10 sheets. Every once in a while Adorama or B&H will put it on sale though.

I have no doubt that one day color 8x10 will go away (E6 first probably), and it will become even more prohibitively expensive until then. That's too bad because unless digital imaging with 250 megapixels has become cheap by then, I'll probably gut it out for as long as it is available.

Your bigger problem is probably going to be where are you going to get E6 processing of 8x10 in your town? If not local, you'll have to mail it out. Mailing out 10 sheets of E100G for processing and getting it back is basically a $200 affair of worry while you wait and trust the USPS. In NYC E6 is still done in several places, but a lot of smaller cities have already given up, I've read. My lab in NYC just upped the price by about 30 percent on processing 8x10, and they now call it an "art" film, meaning almost no one is using the stuff commercially here anymore.

[John NYC]

I should add, before you take the plunge, consider this typical expense for shooting one box of 8x10 color slide film and printing a couple of the best shots (optically). I'm not including scanning here, so you'd either have to pay for that if you want that type of workflow, or buy a scanner and scan yourself. Keep in mind that if you are shooting 8x10 and scanning and then printing, you might want a drum scan, which can be hundreds of dollars each depending on the resolution.

- 1 box E100G (10 sheets): $108
- E6 processing for all ten sheets (NYC prices): $72
- 2 reasonably large prints (why are you doing color 8x10 slide if you aren't going to print big?): >$100 depending on how fancy you get.

So you are talking about $400 per box if your success rate for wanting to print is 20 percent of the shots you take.

John

[Daniel Stone]

Personally,

I think that 8x10 color(neg and slide) will be around for a while longer. Fuji has dropped 10 sheet(and 50sht'rs) boxes, replacing both with 20sht boxes. Good and bad, if you ask me.

I'm generally a Kodak man(E100G and 160NC), but finding a cheap($$$ wise) place to develop 8x10 c-41 or E-6 is getting hard to find.

I've been using these guys:

www.samys805.com

and their prices(and quality) are super-duper! They take mail-order film(how I send mine to them), and their turnaround is super fast. Look at their pricesheet here:

www.samys805.com/film-processing/

YES, YOU SAW THAT!!! $5/sheet for 8x10 e-6 or c-41, yes $5/sheet!!!!

shoot it while you can, don't peter pan around with this. If you can't afford two boxes of film, buy one. Shoot it while its available.

quality drum scans can be done quite inexpensively as well. I'm a student(photo major too), so I'm constantly on the lookout for good deals. A friend of mine turned my on to this guy for drum scans:

http://www.jamesbeckdigital.com/jbdscans/drumscan.html

he's sent some work to him(e-6 and c-41), and has been thrilled with the results! Most labs here in LA do drum scans, but I've paid through the nose for them, only to get results that paled in comparison to an Imacon scan I did of the same negative/chrome.

shooting 8x10 isn't like 35mm, you can't really go "bang, bang, bang". Well, you can , but shooting 4x5, let alone 8x10 helps you to "see", and construct an image, rather than just taking it like with MF or 35mm(in most cases).

IDK how some of the fellows above me are quoting such high prices, but if you do some searching(and some waiting), you can shoot LF(yes, 8x10 as I do), on a "budget". I don't have EVERY SINGLE NEGATIVE scanned, I only have the ones done that I intend to print. Then I go out and make some more money to pay for the scan . Simple as that.

I know people at school(students) who have over $15k in digital equipment. I've spent less than $3k in the last 2 years shooting 4x5 and 8x10, scans and film costs/developing included in that. And my lenses/camera won't be surpassed in the next 1.5 years like their digi equipment will be by the new models that come along!

just my $.02

-Dan

[Drew Wiley]

For as long as I've been shooting 8x10, one specific film or another has been out of
stock from time to time. I just order an extra box and put it in the freezer. Haven't
had any problem getting 8X10 color film lately. In fact, Kodak recently introduced
Ektar 100 in 8X10 sheets, which is hardly a sign of them intending to duck out of the
market. What people seem to forget over and over and over again is that we're living in a stressed economic environment, a recession, in which retailers are coping
by keeping inventories very low. This applies to all kinds of businesses, and photo
supply distribution is no exception. Yes, a favorite film or two might disappear, but
there is still quite a variety of options, and frankly, the 8X10 chrome and color neg
films currently available are better than ever. Can't speak for the idiosyncrasies of
NYC, but here on the West Coast, both E6 and C41 processing of 8X10 are readily
available.

[Daniel Stone]

drew,

have you used lightwaves in San Fran? I've heard great things about them, I might be doing some traveling up north this fall to shoot, and I'd like to give them a try if possible(budget willing)

-Dan

[John NYC]

Can't speak for the idiosyncrasies of
NYC, but here on the West Coast, both E6 and C41 processing of 8X10 are readily
available.

Processing is available in multiple labs in New York City, as I stated. What I have heard is that if you go to certain small towns (like Miami), there are no major E6 labs left. So, it is going towards going away. I suspect NYC, SF, LA, Chi-town will be the very last places to give out. And I don't expect that for a long time, but it will get more and more expensive.

[John NYC]

YES, YOU SAW THAT!!! $5/sheet for 8x10 e-6 or c-41, yes $5/sheet!!!!

-Dan

Duggal is NYC is $6.48, with cash discount, to dev E6 (or C-41 or B&W dip and dunk) 8x10 sheets. I can walk there so that is the whole charge.

On top of your $5.00, you also have to pay postage to and fro yes? Even if not we are talking a difference of $15 per box.

So, I don't really see how it is any less expensive for you than it is for me, since I do my own scanning on an Epson.

Where are you saving the money? Are you getting E100G for less than $100 regularly? Do you the facilities to print large for just the cost of paper?

I was mainly quoting prices for film, dev and two large-size optical enlargements per box (on good paper). I just don't see how you are going to get the costs down for that without having some type of connections.

John