The price of paper is UP!

[Robert Brummitt]

I had to look up the name of the two brother's. Here is what I found.

"Wealthy brothers Nelson and William Hunt acquired a massive position in silver in an attempt to corner the market. Prices skyrocketed on the news and silver went from $11 per ounce in late 1979 to $48.70 in early 1980. Regulators did not take kindly to market manipulation and margin requirements on commodities were dramatically raised. The Hunt brothers' ill conceived attempt to drive silver prices higher collapsed along with their net worth. Silver prices plunged to less than $11 per ounce within two months. The last great silver "bull market" lasted less than six months, driven not by fundamental demand but rather by heavily leveraged speculators."

I figure this time around it's the general populace that is buy and hoarding metals. What is the price of gold these days?

[jeroldharter]

I understand the point about becoming a more efficient printer to reduce personal costs.

But generally speaking, using less of a product does not drive its cost down. Using less paper will increase its price.

[Oren Grad]

FWIW, in August 1980 B&H was advertising 100 sheets of Ilford 8x10 doubleweight FB paper for $38.00. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI calculator, this is approximately equivalent to $104.19 today. So by that measure at least, even after recent increases, paper is still cheaper than it used to be in the early days of my own darkroom experience.

[Greg Blank]

Varies from day to day. Very unpredictable. I have seen it swing between 1.25 to this 1.48 it will fall again back to 1.30 something. I look at it almost everyday now.

Not only is the price of silver up, the dollar is in the tank. Look up the value of the dollar against the euro or British pound. Te last time I looked 1 euro = $1.485!

[Greg Blank]

Until the silver,gasoline,oxygen,drinkable water etc,etc,etc runs out.

I understand the point about becoming a more efficient printer to reduce personal costs.

But generally speaking, using less of a product does not drive its cost down. Using less paper will increase its price.

[Roger Cole]

Until the silver,gasoline,oxygen,drinkable water etc,etc,etc runs out.

Gee Greg, bundle of joy, aren't we?

Anyway, using less paper might drive up the price, opposite to usual supply and demand and in this case due to reducing economy of scale for the suppliers, but it will save money for the individual printer.

I sympathize totally. When the Hunt Brothers drove the price up I was a junior in high school and it impacted my new photography hobby greatly. I made test strips on tiny, narrow strips and did everything I could to use less paper and find the cheapest paper. Doing things like this may save paper but often wastes time. A larger test strip/sheet will tell you more than a smaller one. Whether time or money is more important to you depends on circumstances. The amount of each available often seem to be in inverse proportion to the other.

[Robert Brummitt]

Gee Greg, bundle of joy, aren't we?

I sympathize totally. When the Hunt Brothers drove the price up I was a junior in high school and it impacted my new photography hobby greatly.

Junior in High School! Egads, am I showing my age here!!

How about the cost of film? Has it gone up as well? I have a fridge fill with my film so I haven't bought any B&W for years. Color film that goes up at the drop of a hat.

A Junior in High School?! Really!

[Roger Cole]

Junior in High School! Egads, am I showing my age here!!

How about the cost of film? Has it gone up as well? I have a fridge fill with my film so I haven't bought any B&W for years. Color film that goes up at the drop of a hat.

A Junior in High School?! Really!

Well I'm 48 now (as of last week) - not exactly a youngster or oldster I guess.

SOME black and white film has gone up a lot, Ilford in particular. The variation from type to type seems to be a lot higher in 120 and 35mm than in 4x5, all of which seems comparably priced (about $1.20-$1.30 a sheet for 4x5 right now.)

8x10 is getting ridiculous. Tri-X is $6 a sheet ($59.99 for ten sheets) from Freestyle, though probably available for less elsewhere. Most Ilford is about $4.50 a sheet for 8x10. This is one reason Freestyle's rebranded Foma is popular - in 8x10 Arista brand Foma 100 is $2.80 a sheet right now.

Prices taken from Freestyle's web site during posting.

[Donald Miller]

I had to look up the name of the two brother's. Here is what I found...

I figure this time around it's the general populace that is buy and hoarding metals. What is the price of gold these days?

The price of gold is in some part due to individuals buying and holding gold but that is not the entire picture. Central banks are increasing their holdings in the precious metal for obvious reasons. India and China are also large purchasers of gold for jewelry...even at today's prices.

I bought my gold in the form of pure (99.9% ) gold coinage (Vienna Philharmonics and Canadian Maple Leafs) at $1,000 per ounce. These same coins closed this week at $1950 per ounce. Silver has almost tripled from the time that I bought my coins (2 years - silver Maple Leafs). The outlook is for a continuation of the eleven year bull market.

[Greg Blank]

Holy crap! the Euro lost half its value today.