Anyone shoot film still?

[dr_zero]

Is it hard to find film where you live?

When I used to live in bigger cities it was nothing to go to a camera shop and get what you needed, then I moved to a smaller town and your choices were either wal mart or a drug store.
The wal mart and the drug store used to have a OK selection of film but now I cant get B&W film at all or even find iso 800 most of the time let alone anything higher!

 

[AndrewWG]

Is it hard to find film where you live?

When I used to live in bigger cities it was nothing to go to a camera shop and get what you needed, then I moved to a smaller town and your choices were either wal mart or a drug store.
The wal mart and the drug store used to have a OK selection of film but now I cant get B&W film at all or even find iso 800 most of the time let alone anything higher!

I couldn't begin to tell you if there is film available around here or not. It had been a LONG time since I looked. WalMart used to have a decent selection, but I usually went to the photo shop a few towns over to get it. I may have been off base on this, but I thought their stuff would be fresher and better. They since went out of business.

 

[Independence1776]

The wal mart and the drug store used to have a OK selection of film but now I cant get B&W film at all or even find iso 800 most of the time let alone anything higher!

The Wal-Mart I sometimes go to has both B&W and ISO 800 film. It's more of a problem for me to find ISO 200 there. Maybe you could have them special order what you need, or if they won't/can't, what about online somewhere?

 

[dr_zero]

The Wal-Mart I sometimes go to has both B&W and ISO 800 film. It's more of a problem for me to find ISO 200 there. Maybe you could have them special order what you need, or if they won't/can't, what about online somewhere?

Wow! that is unusual! We have TONS of 200 and not all Kodak either some Fuji also!

Before the remodel we had a section of like cubby holes with all types of film now one little section with one space for 400 and one for 800 Fuji no Kodak over 400 and most is 200

 

[Shutterbug]

Fortunately I live just a few miles from an actual family owned camera store. They still carry much print film AND varieties of slide film too!

 

[MICKEY88]

I may have been off base on this, but I thought their stuff would be fresher and better. They since went out of business.

depends on the turnover rate of their film, actually with film, fresher isn't neccessarily better..

 

[dr_zero]

Fortunately I live just a few miles from an actual family owned camera store. They still carry much print film AND varieties of slide film too!

SLIDE!

 

[The Grays]

I heard last week that many of the box stores are going to cut back on the variety of film they carry and will sell more 3 and 4 packs of film and cut most of the single rolls of film.

We cut back on the film we carried when I had a large amout go out of date and had to eat it. I carry b&w for the local schools, keep a had full of slide film in the fridge, and an assortment of print film.

 

[dr_zero]

Many moons ago when pic & save was still around I bought about half a shipper of 12 exposure Polaroid film in 200-400 iso.
That was some of the best film was not grainy and was cheap! for a student that was a big plus +.

Never saw it again till one day in wal mart they had some but had changed it was very brown in color and thin had a roll snap on me one time.

I wish you could still get film in other than 24 and 36 other than loading your own but like I said its getting to be around here a blessing if you can find any film. Arg!

 

[Anewman]

99 cent store has film, never really checked what kind it was.

 

[DixieDolphin]

Most of my favorite 'real' camera stores still carry a wide variety of 35mm color & b/w negative film & slide film, along with medium & large formats as well.

But other places? I never really bought film from drug stores (except in an emergency) and I never even bothered with the ridiculously overpriced stuff at Ritz (bleh)... but now neither of them carry much in the way of film anymore. It's a shame.

If I need a specific type of film these days, it's off to Adorama or BHPhoto!

=)

 

[dr_zero]

Orlando had a good selection of stores last time I was down alot of tourist shops though also, up here there is nothing even close to a camera shop anymore.

Mail order has pretty much shut down most mom and pop places.

 

[DixieDolphin]

I never go in those tourist camera stores. All junk, overpriced. And I don't always trust their sources, I'm wary of places that might try to pass off grey market to the unsuspecting.

The two best places for camera supplies in Orlando are Colonial Photo & Hobby on the corner of SR50/Mills Ave and Harmon Photo on the corner of Orange/Virginia. Both are near Downtown and far from the touristy areas of town. They're both awesome, though. Great folks and great selection. Colonial is a little more expensive than Harmon, but they are larger and have more stuff on hand most of the time.

 

[dr_zero]

I never go in those tourist camera stores. All junk, overpriced. And I don't always trust their sources, I'm wary of places that might try to pass off grey market to the unsuspecting.

The two best places for camera supplies in Orlando are Colonial Photo & Hobby on the corner of SR50/Mills Ave and Harmon Photo on the corner of Orange/Virginia. Both are near Downtown and far from the touristy areas of town. They're both awesome, though. Great folks and great selection. Colonial is a little more expensive than Harmon, but they are larger and have more stuff on hand most of the time.

I will have to check them out!

Yeah we went to sea world awhile back and I wandered into a couple of the tourist places just to see if things had changed and it hadn't was still bad LOL!

There used to be a great shop in Jacksonville a huge store that ran the gambit from SLR to like Studio TV Cameras but just could not make it.
Was a wealth of information also you could learn more hangin out in there than they ever taught in school LOL.

 

[DixieDolphin]

Yeah, good camera shops are great for learning! Some of the best tips I got on my photography was from the guy who did my processing at a little bitty store in Melbourne, FL years ago. Helped me out a ton!

BTW... info on those two stores here in O-town:

http://www.colonialphotohobby.com/

http://www.harmonphoto.com/

=)

 

[The Grays]

I wish you could still get film in other than 24 and 36 other than loading your own but like I said its getting to be around here a blessing if you can find any film. Arg!

You can still get it, it is made. The cost of it is not much cheeper that 24 exposures, and in some cases it is more expensive than 24. I have one customer who always want 12 exposures so I stock it for her.

 

[PixieDust32]

I get mine from Wal Mart, we have a couple close by, they have all kinds, I always buy 800 and black and white every once in a while, but I have no problem. I love it there, because we can order online and pick-up/pay at the store, we do cards, gifts, everything in one spot.

 

[AndrewWG]

depends on the turnover rate of their film, actually with film, fresher isn't neccessarily better..

I always was told that it was. Why is is not necessarily better? Back when I shot film, I didn't know anything about photography. I just set my Rebel to AUTO and shot away. I figured that if the film was old, my pics would be even worse than they already were...

 

[MICKEY88]

I always was told that it was. Why is is not necessarily better? Back when I shot film, I didn't know anything about photography. I just set my Rebel to AUTO and shot away. I figured that if the film was old, my pics would be even worse than they already were...

film like you will find at walmart is made with a life of about 2 years, thruout that time the chemicals change, it is at it's prime in the middle of the 2 years, so film with a date that indicates it's at the beginning of the 2 years will be slightly off colorwise, just as film near the end of the 2 years will be..

is it a very noticeable difference, that depends on how closely you monitor your pics,

pro films such as VPS are made such that they are at their prime when they leave the factory, that is why you can only find it at camera shops, and it is refrigerated, that keeps the chemicals from shifting so to speak...

that is why professionals that use these films either have a dedicated refrigerator at home, or the family refrigerator is usually lacking either the butter compartment or the egg holders on the door, these have become the film holders.LOL

 

[handicap18]

I've seen film at all the Wal-Mart's around me as well as Walgreen's, Rite Aid and CVS. Never noticed if Target carries it or not. I've also noticed film in all the big super markets around me (Shaw's, Stop & Shop, Roche Bros, Market Basket). I bought some B&W film this past fall in Shaw's Super Market.

There are 3 or 4 camera shops in my general area and they all have film. Including 1 with a huge selection.

There are very few places that develop B&W film though. Even the "BIG" camera shop in the Greater Boston area sends B&W film out to be developed. They don't do it in house any longer.