Large Format Resources in Auckland, New Zealand

[tanzylynne]

Hi there,

I relocated to Auckland's lovely North Shore earlier this year. The dust has finally settled and springtime is approaching. I think it might be time to unearth my 4x5 and shoot this gorgeous place. Is there anyone out there in the Auckland area who can give me the lowdown on resources around here? I know I can still order things from the US, but I was hoping for some local places that could possibly supply and develop sheet film. So if you are in Auckland (hell, if you are in New Zealand at all!) please sing out and help a gal get oriented! -Tanya

[Michael Wynd]

Hi Tanzylynne,
there are several members here from New Zealand who will be able to give you advice. Welcome to the forum.
Mike

[mdm]

It is much cheaper to get your sheet film from the US, and to send it there to be developed too. You can try photowarehouse.co.nz but dont assume because something is on their web site that it is in stock, it probably wont be. Their service is very poor, to the extent that they just ignored my last web order for fixer and developer. imagelab.co.nz does developing but it is expensive, I send my few sheets away to Praus in NY. trademe.co.nz sometimes has LF items on auction, and is a national passtime. I use Wellington Photographic for 120 colour film, there must be someone in Auckland.

[SMBooth]

If not NZ contact Prism Colour in North Melbourne, I'm sure they would be postal developing, being in NZ I assume your wanting E6..

[Paul H]

Welcome to NZ!

There's not many places left doing E6 these days - in fact, I think most stuff ends up at ImageLab. Their prices have gone up quite considerably in the last couple of years, & developing sheet E6 is rather costly now. Fortunately for me, I rarely shoot LF colour these days! For medium format colour negative, I use WPS (Wellington Photographic Supplies).

As for B&W sheet film, you're better off developing your own. I make my own developer (PC-TEA) since it works out much cheaper. But if you prefer to buy it ready made, you might want to make sure you have a little stash, as you may not be able to always get what you want when you want.

Buying film from overseas is usually cheaper, though sometimes you can get good deals on TradeMe. Check out the prices from Europe, because when you take off their VAT/GST, prices can be better than those from the US, and shipping is often cheaper and quicker.

[stormpetrel]

Hi Tanzylynne

Regarding importing goods from the US, if you have the choice of the shipping company, choose USPS. If you go with UPS, DHL... you will have to pay the customs duties.
This is not usually the case with USPS (it seems that the limit is around NZ$500).

The NZ currency is quite strong at the moment. Time to fill your freezer!

Regards, Dominique