Price of Film Going Up

[Ethan]

Film prices are going up, but that's to be expected from an industry which though getting more popular, is still very niche compared to what it was a few decades ago. I think the increases we're seeing now are made more dramatic by pandemic related supply chain issues, so the increases may not be this bad in coming years, but without commercial users (which I don't think will happen again) it won't go back to pre digital prices, even adjusted for inflation.

Not that I think Kodak and other manufacturers are completely benevolent institutions who aren't in it for profit, but I'm willing to pay more for film, and maybe shoot less if the alternative is these companies going under and there being no film.

[Alan Klein]

Kodak Gold 200 is still $7/roll if bought in 3.

Just kidding.

You’re right everything is ballooning — and not just film. Everything. I don’t understand how this is sustainable, and I don’t see it going down.

You'll have to give up your Starbucks fix.

[Rayt]

Yikes. I’ll just keep shooting 5x7. I would pay the increase if I could get TMax in 5x7 though.

[esearing]

Found this article interesting https://silvergrainclassics.com/en/2...ices-analysed/. But don't let the graphs fool you, they show a consistent INCREASE of 8%-14% every year.

Unfortunately film is not a commodity that can be bought today and sold for a higher price in the future. Until we start running out.

[j enea]

...Unfortunately film is not a commodity that can be bought today and sold for a higher price in the future. Until we start running out.

I don't know. based on the prices people are paying for expired film, it looks like the sellers are making a healthy profit, albeit on smaller quantities.

[Duolab123]

I don't know. based on the prices people are paying for expired film, it looks like the sellers are making a healthy profit, albeit on smaller quantities.

I don't understand why. Young guys I have talked with prefer really old film, even leave fresh film in a hot car to alter it. Crazy funny!

[goamules]

The price goes up for a myriad of reasons, causing more to stop buying it, and less to consider using film for the first time. So then the prices go up more. It's a death spiral.

[Kiwi7475]

The price goes up for a myriad of reasons, causing more to stop buying it, and less to consider using film for the first time. So then the prices go up more. It's a death spiral.

I would think so too but have you seen the prices at which old camera gear and lenses are selling for? The price of many has skyrocketed insanely. Yet they been going up and up, and in many instances we are now about x4, or even x5 the price they had 7-8 years ago. Those people need film too. The entry barrier to film has risen dramatically and yet doesn’t seem to have stopped many — and has created a huge demand on what already exists.

[Ulophot]

Without going into matters that are germane to, but outside of, the realm of this forum, I feel impelled to add a note to this dialogue, not wishing to sidetrack it but only to contribute a consideration or two to the subject issue.

Essentially two factors ought to be taken into account. It is the means of their resolution that gets into "politics", i.e., policy-making decisions, that I will leave out.

First, the physical economy of the U.S. and the "west" very broadly defined is a real mess and has been worsening for decades. Exciting start-ups and a few successful large manufacturing successes are laudable, but they do not replace an entire "fabric" our formerly industrialized economy. Increasingly, the deregulated, speculation-driven international economy of financial manipulations centered in several cities has given the ancient Roman colliseum's thumbs up or down to the physical side.

Second, and as a result, all sorts of industries and the productive capacities and knowledge required for economics-of-scale manufacturing in many areas -- film photography as a small subset -- have been eroded, taken down, swept away. In consequence, the physical economy generally has become a scramble, and that has, as we all know, been exacerbated by the pandemic. All sorts of things are "upside-down," not just film prices.

To some degree, a reviving film-photography-related industry, however it may develop, will benefit from today's wonderful digital technologies, improved manufacturing techniques and processes, etc. We see it from some of the start-ups, using 3-D printing, laser-cutting, digital miniaturization, etc. However, somewhere you need high-quality steel, machine tools, and a certain scale of manufacturing with precise quality control -- run by experienced people -- functioning in a not-upside-down economy, with some longer-term predictability (in capital financing, for instance). And, as Shakespeare's Hamlet says, "...ay, there's the rub."

[Drew Wiley]

In terms of cost, 4x5 is the new 8x10. The boxes of 8x10 color in my freezer cost me about one fourth as the current asking rate, though some of that extreme price hike is note doubt due to the terrible manufacture and distribution issues MANY industries are facing. Just look at the plywood and related sheet goods for example - not much selection, and what is available cost three times as much as it did even two years ago, before the pandemic kicked in. A lot of that increase will drift back down based on supply and demand interaction. Those are widely needed commodities. And a lot of selfish gaming of the pandemic is going on at the Ports and with the container industry which further exacerbates the issue. But having far lower demand, sheet film might go back down a little as things improve, but will probably never be as affordable as before. They have to find some kind of solid financial incentive to keep it going.

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to load 4x5 or 8x10 holders for an upcoming trip. I don't want my frozen stock to get too old before I use it; but neither do I like the idea of spending four times as much per box to replace it. I'm sorta planning to have my inventory of 8x10 stock slowly drift down during my 70's, and then let my own physical condition in my 80's determine how much interest I still might hold for the larger format. The bigger problem right now is still waiting for my wide roll of color paper to come in. If everything goes to hell ... well, even though Springtime is not ordinarily my black and white printing season, it could be. I had no choice the past two years, and certainly didn't want to add even a small amount of irritation to my lungs due to color chemistry until the virus got under better control, and only did enough color printing to use up the last of the color paper I did already did have on bad before it went bad. Some already did.