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View Full Version : Ominous goings on in the retail arena



John Kasaian
1-Oct-2005, 11:32
I'm a b&w shooter, not only in lf but in mf and 35mm. My Bride and her digi pull the color snap shot duty in the Kasaian household which works out well for us. When Her digis' battery corks out I have the b&w for back up. I have noticed that b&w silver halide film has become harder to get when on the road. The Longs drugstore chain stopped selling Tri-x. In Yosemite NP the only place that sold B&W of any emulsion is the Ansel Adams Gallery. Out of town the only places I can rely on for B&W film are camera stores--which are getting more and more rare if you don't count the mall dealers (who for the most part probably don't even know what a silver halide is!)

OK, this isn't a gripe, but a concern. If retail stores aren't selling B&W, why would Kodak keep making the stuff? Of course most of us would answer "simply don't use Kodak--find another brand" but stuff like Ilford and Efke aren't common among retailers. For sheet film I'm used to ordering my own film since sheet simply isn't stocked locally anymore except for limited 4x5 offerings for students. I can deal with that---there are very good people selling very good sheet film, but I've felt that I need to support my local camera stores too, before they all are driven out of business or start selling cell phones.

Now it looks like I'll be ordering my film for 35mm and 120 as well. Good for J and C and Freestyle, but one more hassel to deal with on the road.

Grrrr! Rant over.

John_4185
1-Oct-2005, 11:46
Where do you live that you could get B&W film retail? I gave up when I moved to the sticks sixteen years ago. None here, and when I travel I don't even expect to find it anywhere (or at least at a reasonable price.)

Stock up by the case-load and be happy.

Dean Tomasula
1-Oct-2005, 15:50
You can get anything you want mail order over the Web. It's not as convenient as walking into your local camera store, but the stores are disappearing fast.

Jeff Morfit
1-Oct-2005, 16:23
Yea, who needs a store these days, what with EBay and the internet. Just have a website and enough room in your home or garage for a small business. Heck of a lot cheaper then having to lease or rent a building or space in a mall. EBay for the most part has killed off the old fashioned camera sales and swap shows as we know them.

Ed Richards
1-Oct-2005, 16:48
Not nearly as much as rummaging around in the used department of old camera store. I did not really expect to find a store with LF in Louisiana, but I was disappointed on my last trip to Houston to find there there is nothing there any more either.

ronald moravec
1-Oct-2005, 18:46
B&H and Calumet do land office mail order business. UPS delivers to and home with a street address.

I recommend buying when the weather is cold so film doesn`t get cooked on the way to you .

Get a years supply of film and paper at a time. Chemicals are mixed from scratch as needed. Refrigerate as necessary.

John Kasaian
1-Oct-2005, 20:10
I'll have to make more room in the freezer--- I still have a few rolls of 120 verichrome pan next to the stash put aside in response to "The Great Ilford Scare of '04" and "The Final Voyage of The AZO" in '05.

Like Wooly Mammoths preserved in a glacier, my freezer has become a repository for photographic archeological artifacts!

Oh well

CXC
2-Oct-2005, 10:20
Last year I found some T-Max 120 in a one-street town in rural Iceland. Then again I also found a book in English that was not (yet) available from Amazon, in Akureyri (pop.15,000). And it doesn't get so dang hot there, like it does here in California. Wish I could figure out how to immigrate there...

Conrad Hoffman
2-Oct-2005, 12:34
Outside of large cities, the supply of b&w is shrinking fast. One hint- find a college. When you find a college, check with the bookstore. Lots of students take photo courses, and their bookstores carry what's needed for their courses- b&w film. Call first.

David Van Gosen
2-Oct-2005, 20:09
Sad but true. My local photo store in Baltimore carries a fair selection of B&W film, probably because there's an art school nearby. I buy all I think I'll need before I leave town, though. There's no way I'd depend on buying B&W film on the road. I took a road trip around the National Parks last year, but didn't see any B&W film (or much slide film) in the places I visited.

MIke Sherck
3-Oct-2005, 07:42
I do an informal, local survey every six months or so. The local Walgreen's pharmacy still carries Tri-X and Kodak's C-41 process B&W in 35mm. Local camera stores are well stocked from 35mm through 120 to 4x5 (not a large selection in 4x5, just what the 2 or 3 of we local photographers buy. 100TMX and 400TMY, a couple of boxes each. They understand that's the price to keep us coming in to their stores!) Some of the other local drug stores carry either Tri-X or (more frequently now) Kodak's C-41 35mm film. The last time I was in, the Ritz store in the big mall a city to the west still carried B&W 35mm, although I believe they no longer carry 120 and they've been out of darkroom materials for years now.

Mail order is your friend. At least, outside of major metropolitan areas, it had better be! :)

John_4185
3-Oct-2005, 07:56
Outside of large cities, the supply of b&w is shrinking fast. One hint- find a college. When you find a college, check with the bookstore. Lots of students take photo courses, and their bookstores carry what's needed for their courses- b&w film. Call first.

That is true here in rural midwest USA, but the film and paper is priced on the moon. Insanely expensive. Why? Because the bookstore doesn't get a real break PLUS they tack on a lot because the bookstore profits (which are generous) fund scholarships.

It remains that the best thing to do is buy from a large supplier - stock up.

jantman
3-Oct-2005, 16:50
I'm currently going to school at RIT, probably the largest (and oldest) photo school in the country. Our bookstore carries everything up to and including B&W and color in 8x10. Back in northern NJ, where I'm from, I have easy access to most Kodak emulsions in 135 and 120/220.

Still, both between availability and price, I order most of my 135/120 and all of my sheet film from B&H, Freestyle, or some other online retailer. The price can't be beat, and the availability isn't an issue.

I think that most local retailers are realizing that it doesn't really pay to carry much in the way of B&W or larger sizes of film, as most users of this film are making the shift to buying in larger quantity from mailorder/online shops.

james mickelson
5-Oct-2005, 12:33
Looks as if Kodak won't survive it's current doofus management so it may be time to start stocking up on film and paper. Mail order is wonderful as it will keep a few in business longer and give fresher supplies. The day of the local camera store is numbered with the mega stores. Even Walmart....urp....sorry, sell most camera types. I was in Helena, Montana last week and was amazed at their selection of digital 35mm. Out here on the left coast I support my local camera store (Nelson's) but buy at Freestyle a couple times a year. Items like PMK pyro, liquid light emulsions, 8x10 and 5x7 films, and when I was printing a lot, I would buy a couple hundred dollars worth of paper. Ah to have a darkroom of my own again. (James looks dreamily at the ceiling of his apartment and sighs). Hey Dan, I am regularly driving past Provo and the SL area. Send me an address and I'd love to stop for coffee. jamesmickelson@sbcglobal.net