You will have to pardon me as I have just found out how clueless I have been lately.
I have been working on a stash of 8x10 sheet film that was purchased several years ago and stored in my little freezer. The last time I bought 8x10 film I bought 10 boxes and I can't really remember when that was. This morning I loaded a couple of my film holders in preparation for a little shooting trip and realized I was down to the last 4 sheets in the box. Time to get some more out of the freezer. When I looked in the freezer I found that I am down to my last box of 8x10 film; time to order some more. No big deal, right?
Oh goody! Look at this, Freestyle is having a sale. That is great! My timing is perfect. A 50 sheet box of Fomapan 100 is on sale for............$197!!!!!! What???? That can't be!
So, time for more research and...I find....that is actually a pretty good price!!
I have been sitting here in front of my computer keyboard for the last hour trying to make peace with the fact that my days of shooting 8x10 are getting pretty short. I just cannot afford this. I am retired and I do not have that kind of discretionary income.
I mean, I will certainly sell some things, I do have a lot of unused cameras and equipment lying about that can be sold. I will probably raise enough money to pick up a few of boxes if I decide to do that, but I really need to think this over. That is still a lot of money. I can always shoot paper negatives.
Truthfully, it isn't actually the end of large format for me. I do have a fair bit of 4x5 film in the freezer and some Ilford Whole Plate film I picked up during their annual sale a few years back. I will actually be fine for a few years yet. And I do still have 50 sheets of film and a whole lot of photo paper to work with.
But this will certainly be an adjustment. I have an old Conley No 1 built around 1910 that I have owned for well over 30 years. Believe me, that poor thing has been through the wringer. Thank God they knew how to build cameras back then. I bought it at a yard sale in Salt Lake City back when my only camera was a Pentax K1000. I hardly knew anything about large format when I bought it. My wife was convinced I was crazy. What am I talking about, she still thinks I'm crazy. But I absolutely love working with that camera. I know it is an inanimate object but I swear it thinks the same way
I even picked up a parts camera a few years ago from Jim Galli so I could keep it going if things wore out. I have been shooting that camera for a very long time. Don't misunderstand me, none of it is Ansel Adams or Brett Weston material but I have some great memories of good times spent out in the boonies of Nevada, Idaho, Arizona and Utah with that camera, my old truck and an old aluminum tripod with the geared Majestic head. That old tripod is a pain to set up but believe me it takes a serious breeze to even phase it once it is set, even with a big 8x10 sail sitting on top of it. But it will certainly freeze your hands in the winter if you aren't wearing good gloves. And you know it is there when you are hiking up a hill. Carbon Fiber it ain't!
Anyway, forgive me. I know that there are probably others facing similar issues. I have just suddenly realized that it isn't age that will slow down my photography,at least the large format part, it is cost.
Thanks for listening to me. I will figure this out; I will come up with options. I usually do. But these film costs are crazy.
Ouch!