What The ZARK Happened To FILM PRICES? Can Colour Film Survive?

Colour film - if you can get it - has become so expensive recently, and I want to know WHY!

It's not always easy to buy film either, with lots of empty shelves in shops, and the range of films on sale is constantly decreasing, with Fujicolour 200 the most recent victim.

Can the colour film market survive?

Join me for a general whinge about film prices, availability, and just for good measure, the price of film camera bodies too.

Enjoy!

Thanks for watching!

[totenvt]

for the last 45 years at least 3 decades of which were as a pro photographer i built up a massive collection of film cameras, at one point a full b&w/colour dark room for 35mm/medium format/5x4 large format. Now its getting to the stage where film photography is literally being priced off the market, my local lab quoted for a roll of black and white 120, dev/print/ scan to disc almost £40 with a one month turn over because " we have to send them away" add to that the price of the initial film of 10 to 15 pounds a roll its extortion when you can shoot your heart off on digital for practically zero except the cost of ink cartridges. Film is coming to an end due to the greed of the industry in my eyes

[ronalddefina]

Why Film is Expensive

The manufacture of contemporary color films is a high-tech operation similar to semiconductor manufacturing – but even more complex! It is amongst the most complex chemical and industrial manufacturing processes devised to this day.

When the demand for photographic film peaked in the year 2000, behind it stood billions of dollars invested in research and development, and more than a hundred years’ worth of research done by some of the brightest minds of their generations. The manufacturing process for film is so complex, that even at its peak only four companies worldwide were able to produce a color film that met the highest quality standards: Eastman Kodak, Agfa-Gevaert, Konica, and Fujifilm. And in addition to being a very complex product, film requires many resources that are getting difficult and/or expensive to source, or that need to be reengineered because of valid environmental concerns.

For example, due to the increased interest in biodegradable plastics, the demand for the base on which film emulsion is coated on, cellulose triacetate, has skyrocketed; many industries have discovered the material as a well-suited form of biodegradable packaging material. For this reason, manufacturers find it increasingly hard to source the material at acceptable prices, forcing them to substitute the film base with other materials like PET, or as it is known in the Kodak universe, with ESTAR base. Similarly, the price for silver, a crucially important ingredient in every film — about one kilogram of silver is needed for every 3000 rolls of 135 / 36-exposure Portra films — has risen by 38% in the last five years alone. Lastly, the people who are able to perform the highly complex manufacturing process are getting older and need to be replaced while younger staff need to be trained, a circumstance that further reduces capacity and increases operating cost.

[trevorsneath]

Just jumping in to comment at the very start of the vid, before watching the rest. And mainly on film prices. SLR camera prices are almost purely market driven these days since they are S/H
Having worked in retail camera sales and film processing in the 80's and 90's I'd posit the following for the increase in costs:
1. Smaller production runs on film and paper. Altho the reduction in labour isn't 1:1 but rather increases the labour cost.
2. Cost of materials for Silver Halide emulsions and plastics
3. Retail costs. Ex. are smaller staffing levels in stores because of sales downturns due to online shopping, but increased real estate costs for shop owners (rental, power, rates)
4. Add to the above, shipping costs
5. Film chemicals in commercial labs aren't getting used to it's full potential. These chemicals have limitations on their shelf life in the machines due to temps and environment. In smaller stores instead of the machines working full time and chemicals being changed according to the number of films developed (which degrades the chemicals), they are often used only once or twice a week. Heating them and letting them return to room temps in the downtime degrades them and so does leaving them at full temp without use (atmospheric degradation etc) So there is turn over with increased wastage.
6. Labour for the developing/printing machines. A days labour to do just 20 films is making the costs higher. And that 20 films wouldn't cover the days wages / power / wastage
Now I'll watch the rest of the vid and see if there's anything I missed out on.
One thing before I go: It's frustrating to me that I cannot conveniently get access to the full range of ISO's that films used to come in at my local store from 25 to 3200

[oilyrag]

The bells of Durham cathedral were nice. It sounded like they were being rung fully muffled, except for the tenor which was half muffled. I love the sound of half muffled church bells.

[argusc]

The general populace are finding they have less disposable income now. The dollar ascendency (temporary most likely) is having effect on the purchasing power of the pound and other currencies. And silver essential for film production is moving into short supply; it’s undervalued due to manipulation in the paper silver market, which discourages increased production of silver. Organizations that consume physical silver, such as the US Mint, are having a hard time securing physical silver supplies at the spot price.

[JPLToyExperience]

I remember back in 2011-2013, I could buy this brand called "Eurocolor" the cheapest color film for $0.60 per roll, then there was Kodak Ultima for about $1.00

[smalljohansson]

If you look on mpb, you can find full frame DSLR’s (mark II-III) for around £350. Here in Sweden the prices for vintage lenses have gone bonkers lately.

[MaxMicron]

My go-to color film so far used to be Kodak Color Plus. It seems to be the most frequently available color film here in Poland and I was also quite happy with its look. Sometimes I've also used Kodak Gold and Fuji 200, but these seem to have mostly died out in the stores over here. I've bought one roll of Color Plus two weeks ago and it cost me almost 50 zl (around 10 pounds) for only 24 exposures and 36 exp. wasn't even in stock. I think I've already had problems with finding 36 exp. last year (I tend to shoot film mostly around the summer period). Around two-three years ago I would pay around 35zl for 36 exposures and probably around 30zl for 24 exposures, so the price has almost doubled already. It's probably still cheaper than in Western Europe, but of course that has nothing to do with the film itself, more with economics overall. The prices have still doubled to what they were and that's what really matters. Last year I've found an online store that re-packages Kodak cinema films and sells them at reasonable prices and it also offers ECN2 developing in their own lab. It is a little bit more inconvenient since I have to send it to them for developing (no one handles ECN2 where I live), but if color film prices stay this high it will definitely come out cheaper as long as I post more than one film at once, because of the price difference for the film itself (and there's little difference in developing costs with that lab). At first I was surprised that a film lab in a relatively non-film country can justify adding ECN2 to their offer, but this one store probably collects these films from people all over Poland and I guess that amount justifies offering ECN2 developing and it also probably keeps it at a reasonable price. So if the price of Color Plus remains as high as it is I'm probably gonna make Vision3 250D my go-to color film, if I haven't done this already

[christinebeckett]

I have five rolls of colour waiting to be sent off. There's another three in the fridge, and one in my Canon EOS 5. After those are gone, it's goodbye to colour film, for me. The price of new colour film is way above my budget now, and sending them off for developing gets expensive and time-consuming.

As I develop my own back and white, I've got a fridge full of that. I can source 24exp Kentmere 400 and HP5 for £4 and £5 respectively, and chemicals are cheap enough. I also have a bulk film loader, so can score 30.5 rolls, which drops the price per roll even more. Makes sense.

One important thing to mention is the fact that a lot of Youtubers with a lot of subscribers who talk about old cameras or lenses are driving up the prices (they will recognize themselves...). I'm not talking about you Nigel, I'm talking about those who have gained some sort of power over prices. I find this very damaging to the film photography community, because it makes this practice elitist, and that's very sad.

[rjohnbernales]

It’s pretty tough to shoot Color film these days. Prices are either really high or stock isn’t always there. I’m shooting more b&w film like you and more digital too.

[JaredTremper]

I have various colour film rolls stored in the refrigerator. Here in the US, the cost of film processing is getting expensive as well. Thus, I’m judicious and cautious about shooting much of it except for when a situation makes sense (such as autumn colors). I think my film future purchases will be black and white. The majority of my photography is adapted vintage lenses to mirrorless, plus a Nikon D800E. I can get close to a film look, which will have to suffice. Cheers!

[matthewneleigh]

I certainly hope both color and mono films remain available at (vaguely...) affordable prices. I have a number of vintage cameras that I have yet to take out for test runs. I can adapt most of their lenses onto digital, but I'd hate for that to be the only future that equipment has- I really want to be able to use it all the way it was intended, now and then- that is, after all, why I bought all this stuff in the first place.

[slr]

I finally broked down and bought an old Nikon D700 DSLR for my film itch. Its basically a digital Nikon F6 while not costing a whopping $1000 for one. The D700's 12 megapixels of full frame goodness renders film like images and still allows me to used virtually all of Nikon F mount lenses from the beginning of time! Sadly film has gotten so expensive and by using these older DSLR cameras, it feels nostalgic in a way.

[mikel]

Hello. Good video. Keep up the good work.

[philhodgkinson]

19th October have bought
Single box 35mm color plus (24) 200 asa £10 from Max Speilman shop will be same on most UK High Street....also another film name escapes me for £12 same

[Analogbrain]

I'm also worried about prices and supplies of film, dealers who's been in the business for a 100 years, say they can't get film from anywhere, and it's the same situation all over Europe. Black and white is having the same problems, only slower. 120 film that's not 400 ISO is starting to be hard to find, and is getting more expensive. But: I believe we could do something about it! If we who love film, got together and invested in making new film stocks, we could secure the supplies of film for the future. I don't know where or how, but it is possible.

[davidpresnell]

Profititiring!! I have to buy in bulk and roll my own! Chemicals are expensive too! I'm looking into making my own film for large format on glass plates. Silver halide is still available.

[Skipsul]

In the US, Porta 400 on B&H is $80 for a 5-pack. Kodak Gold 400 is backordered, but listed at $10 / roll. Ilford HP400 is about $10 a roll too.

[rpgbb]

My suggestion is to buy in bulk, share among friends doing film. I particularly like Ilford XL Super 2 because can process with C41.

I also recommend to use cheap films like Shanghai, need to shoot with long exposure for best results.

My take is that all chemicals come from China and the supple chain there has been under a lot of pressure.

I started shooting on film like two years ago. I started scanning old negatives from 20 years ago. Actually the quality of new negatives are much worse for the old ones. I think it’s related to the supply coming from China