How easy is it to get film?

G

gingerweasel

Guest
Hi Guys,
fairly new to the board and photography so please forgive any silly questions.

I've been looking online and found some great deals on old Nikon kit like the F5/F6 - not to mention older medium format Hasselblad kits.

But how easy is it to get your hands on film these days and can I still get it developed? (Particularly 120).

Could be quite costly for me to learn using film but the kit looks solid..

I don't mean this to be a digital vs film topic I just want to get an idea of availability should I invest in some film kit.
 
Do you want to learn about photography?
Will your Canon G10 not give you what you want?
Why learn on film? (yes I am a big film user)

Nikon F6 is still current, the F5 was there previous Pro Film camera and shares the same body chassis as the D1,D2 family. Yes some of the older stuff is fairly solid.

It is easy to get your hands on film, Jessops and I think Jacobs will still sell film over the counter. Other than that it is mail order from places like 7dayshop, and yes you can still get it developed.
 
Its as available as anything else you want to buy online, SilverPrint, 7Day, Retrophotographic and many others sell all formats.
even Jessops keep a stock of 35 & 120 if you want a walk in and buy.
B/W 35 & 120 is easily done yourself.
B/W 35mm processed in c41 is done in the highstreet
Colour neg 35mm in c41 is done in the highstreet.
Slide E6 and colour neg c41 in 35mm and 120 is done at a walk in or online lab..:)
 
I've found the G10 a great camera althought until now I've never bothered learning anything about it. The auto function was my friend :)

The G10 will be remaining with me no matter which way I go. It's great for family parties and trips out. However I would like to experiment a bit more.

I guess it's the retro side of me that is draw to film. I've seen some stunning Black & White images on Hasselblad kit - I'm not sure what the technical term is but it just seems richer.

In reality I don;t need any of this kit, film or digital but it's a real interest to me so it's money well spent. Good job I don't drink or smoke - I couldn't afford that many vices, lol

From a learning perspective I know film will cost me more as I don't have that instant feedback. But then again it will force me to think about what I'm doing I guess.

Although I have seen that you can buy a polaroid back for hasselblad kit... If I can buy that film easily enough that might be useful.
 
Hi ginger

Look at 7dayshop.com for films. Its the cheapest source for the films they stock ( they have 35 mm colour, B/W and B/W for c41 processing and in 120 both colour and B/W

For processing, TESCO is well priced ( but your local tesco may have crap processing). I usually send it to a lab called club 35; which is reasonable quality at a pretty good price.
For old kits; have a look as MWclassic.com - very reliable and well priced; another one I have found is 'Sepia memories' - again a very friendly chap with a good price. Ffordes is also very good and has a large stock
Please drop me a pm if you need any more info.

Hope you start on films - its not really that costly, because one tend to shoot less but with much more thought going into the shots
 
I do home dev black and white - source my film trough 7 day shop

hassy kit is cheap :O last one I looked at was 800 nicker

bought a kiev instead :D
 
gingerweasel said:
In reality I don;t need any of this kit, film or digital but it's a real interest to me so it's money well spent. Good job I don't drink or smoke - I couldn't afford that many vices, lol

.
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but you do John ,,( you just dont realise it yet ) :LOL:
 
Carl V said:
If you like black & white but don't fancy developing them yourself, Ilford offer a developing & printing service. They'll do 35mm and 120 film.
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As a lifelong user of Ilford film and chemicals I remain a loyal customer, however a year or so ago I sent a film for developing and printing to Ilford. Primararily to compare a quality lab's results with my own results.

The film was absolutely fine, but the prints (from Ilford) very disappointing, best described as 'flat', almost as if the chemicals/paper was out of date:shake:

I reprinted the set of 36 prints and (not wishing to blow my own trumpet:eek:) the results were sharp contrasty prints that left Ilfords prints quite literally in the shade.

I'm quite certain this is not normal for Ilfords lab, but goes to show even the best labs can have 'off days'.

Nigel.
 
spaniel said:
As a lifelong user of Ilford film and chemicals I remain a loyal customer, however a year or so ago I sent a film for developing and printing to Ilford. Primararily to compare a quality lab's results with my own results.
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Might be worth another try as all recent reports I have heard have been very positive.


Steve.
 
Steve, I'm absolutely certain this was a 'one off' experience with Ilford, just checked and it was 5 years ago this incident took place :wacky: If I didn't have the time to develop & print, I would without hesitation use Ilfords service. As it is, only takes a few minutes to develop a film for very little money if I do it myself ;)

Nigel.
 
spaniel said:
The film was absolutely fine, but the prints (from Ilford) very disappointing, best described as 'flat', almost as if the chemicals/paper was out of date:shake:

Nigel.
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I'm sorry to hear of your experience with Ilford. I have never used them personally, but I know of quite a number of people who do and the results I've seen looked pretty impressive. I'd do as Steve suggested and take another roll of film and mention to them how you felt about your prints the last time.
 
spaniel said:
Steve, I'm absolutely certain this was a 'one off' experience with Ilford, just checked and it was 5 years ago this incident took place.
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I'm fairly certain that five years ago, Ilford sub-contracted their developing and printing.

It is now done in house and the prints are made on a Fuji mini-lab machine which was custom modified to expose Ilford's proper black and white paper so you get 'real' black and white prints. It's possible that five years ago, they were black and white prints on colour paper which is always a compromise.

As an added bonus for digital users, they can send their black and white converted files to Ilford and get real black and white prints.


Steve.
 
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