Ilford=$$$

[domenico Foschi]

This is a partial post I have recently posted in another thread and I thought that it would be interesting to read the opinion of other members regarding the prices of Ilford film and papers, but especially papers. Persoanlly I am growing frustrated with Ilford prices. I have already switched to Arista edu ultra for film and now I see myself forced to give up Ilford warmtone.
I just came back from Freestyle and I refuse to pay $ 209.00 + tax for a box of 50 sheets of 16x20. Two are the options: putting myself out of business by keeping buying it, or contributing to put them out of business.
I do not give a damn if they are committed to silver, their prices are not justifiable, if they think they are irreplaceable they are wrong.
Beautiful paper, but....

[davidb]

I've been a long time supporter of Ilford. I appreciate all of their efforts but I too find myself really questioning their prices lately.

Warmtone is simply not in my budget any longer.

I am wondering what is going to happen to Kentmere now that they own them too.

[Brian K]

I don't think that Ilford is raising prices to gouge their customers. I think the price increase is due to increased transportation and materials costs as well as the devaluation of the dollar versus nearly all the world currencies.

[roteague]

as the devaluation of the dollar versus nearly all the world currencies.

I think that is the biggest factor. The US dollar is now in the toilet, value-wise, and still sinking.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I agree with Brian K, the value of the dollar and the rising cost of imports has a big role to play here. I would not be surprised to see prices increasing on other imported papers (Ok, all papers) if it is not already happening. I would guess that most have had price increases to one degree or another.

I love Ilford Warmtone paper and the price is getting a little out of my range. I print about 90% of my work on warmtone paper so I am about to start looking around for replacements. I understand there may be a couple of new papers coming out this summer, one based on the old Agfa formula, that could be interesting. I just need to get a bunch of small packages of different brands from Freestyle and test them to see if there is one I like as well as Ilford, which is by far my favorite.

[jetcode]

I just came back from Freestyle and I refuse to pay $ 209.00 + tax for a box of 50 sheets of 16x20. Two are the options: putting myself out of business by keeping buying it, or contributing to put them out of business.

yikes that does seem expensive but judging by your work I am certain you can pass the cost on to your clients and they won't even blink

[Merg Ross]

Domenico, I noted your post on the other thread and was going to reply there. As others have suggested, the US dollar may be the culprit.

There are less expensive papers available, and if they meet your technical and aesthetic standards, then fine. However, for me I will pay the extra to achieve the best print that I can make. My paper of choice is Ilford, and I ordered a few hundred sheets this morning. Perhaps expensive, but at least still available.

[tim atherton]

For one thing, B$W papers and film are only going to get more expensive as the supply grows smaller either way you look at it.

But that aside, costs have increased greatly - cost of oil has increased shipping costs from Europe significantly, raw materials costs have increased, manufacturing costs have increased along with energy costs even silver costs more.

And on top of the the US$ is extremely weak against the pound. Anything imported is going to keep seeing price increases as the dollar weakens and stays weak

[vinny]

Yep, i recently ran out of forte polygrade in some sizes and had to make a switch to something similar. I've used plenty of ilford in the past but I switched to rebranded forte polygrade after trying it once. The results were as good and much cheaper. I tried rebranded kentmere and i love it. This decision was partly due to the strike here and the fact that i sold 1 b+w print last year. Sometimes it's hard to justify to the wife and myself spending thousands every year on one of many expensive hobbies, ie fly fishing, snowboarding, camping.

[Jon Shiu]

I was recently given a few boxes of 11x14 and 16x20 Ilford Warmtone, but if I had to buy it, I still would but would save it for particuliar images and use something cheaper for everyday printing.

Jon