Buying large quantities of film "Bricks"

nickandre · Nov 4, 2008

Where exactly to people buy bricks of film? Do you go directly to kodak or what?

thebanana · Nov 4, 2008

tiberiustibz said:
Where exactly to people buy bricks of film? Do you go directly to kodak or what?

Pretty much any large supplier will sell them to you. It's just volume.

JBrunner · Nov 4, 2008

Freestyle, Photo Warehouse, B&H, etc.

PhotoJim · Nov 5, 2008

When I buy large quantities of a single film from a place like Adorama or B&H I get it in the plastic bricks. It's far easier for them to sell it to you that way.

Fuji Superia seems to come in bricks of 10. Some films come in bricks of 20.

PHOTOTONE · Nov 5, 2008

Another packaging that I buy is 20 roll "pro-packs" of Fuji Provia, which comes in a box with 20 rolls in snap-top cannisters, but no individual boxes. A number of 35mm films are available that way.

David A. Goldfarb · Nov 5, 2008

Fuji MF film also comes in 20-roll boxes with one big box and 20-rolls in mylar wrapping.

GeoffHill · Nov 5, 2008

Ilford film comes in 10 roll bricks. If you buy 200 rolls at once, it comes in a big thick cardboard box, with 20 x 10 roll bricks.

pentaxuser · Nov 5, 2008

If it is sensible for you to buy bricks, it might be simpler to buy bulk roll film and a bulk roll dispenser. That way you have the advantage of deciding how many frames you want to load to each re-useable cassette. Only works if its 35mm of course. Can't be done with 120 and depending on where you are, it may not be easy to do in colour neg either. At least not in the U.K. from what I have seen. Good choice of B&W however in the Ilford range.

pentaxuser

GeoffHill · Nov 5, 2008

it works out about 15% cheaper to bulk roll your own ilford film in the UK, comparing the price of bulk roll film, and 20 roll packs of 135-36 from 7dayshop. It's 15% I would gladly pay for the reduction is hassle.

I order my film at whatever quantity gets me free p&p, normally 60 or 70 rolls at a time. It seems odd calling a 10 roll brick a lot.

nickandre · Nov 5, 2008

Bulk rolling is not any cheaper here in the US. Plus I use mostly MF.

Matt5791 · Nov 29, 2008

Silverprint offer 30% off for 10+ rolls of Ilford. Nova also offer a substantial discount (these two both work out about the same price as each other)

Consequence is I only ever buy minimum 10 rolls at a time now.

phc · Nov 29, 2008

Do you know if Silverprint offer these deals on Kodak films too? Can find details on their website. P.

HarryW · Nov 30, 2008

Paul,
Try Calumet.
I bought a brick of 10 for £22.20 two days ago from their shop in Glasgow which is 5p per roll more expensive than advertised on their internet store.
This is the cheapest that I have been able to get Tri-X and it's also cheaper than buying 30 metres and loading your own.
Regards
Harry

phc · Nov 30, 2008

Wow Harry - that is indeed cheap. They're £2.49 at 7dayshop.com where I get them. I was in Calumet in London last week and didn't check their film price, like a fool.

I'm assuming this price of £2.17 on the Calumet website is without VAT.

Cheers, P.

HarryW · Nov 30, 2008

Paul,
This price of £2.17 is inclusive of VAT, see the foot of the web page, so it's really a bargain.
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/Film:+Cameras+Darkroom/Film/
Don't know about shipping charges though as I pick it up from their store in Glasgow when I need it as they are a ten minute walk from my office
Regards
Harry

phc · Nov 30, 2008

I've just ordered 20 rolls from Calumet. However, since I'm in Spain they can't calculate the shipping cost (?!) so they're going to contact me tomorrow. Cheers, P.

nickandre · Nov 30, 2008

I was mainly wondering if it was cheaper, because at B+H the single rolls are split up from pro-packs unboxed, so the price is litterally the pro pack price over 5. If I asked to purchase a brick of ektar would they charge me 20 times the price of a single roll?

phc · Nov 30, 2008

Why not ask them? Or try it on their website and see what happens. P.

nickandre · Nov 30, 2008

Usually they take a knife to a propack and cut off however many rolls the customer ordered, from my experience. I don't think it would make a difference, but next time I'm ordering 20 rolls I'll be sure to ask.

HarryW · Nov 30, 2008

phc said:
I've just ordered 20 rolls from Calumet. However, since I'm in Spain they can't calculate the shipping cost (?!) so they're going to contact me tomorrow. Cheers, P.

Paul,
Hope you get the shipping costs fixed out.
20 Rolls will keep you going for a couple of days .
Regards

Harry

benjiboy · Nov 30, 2008

One advantage of buying film, particularly colour film in 20 roll bricks as I do is all the films are from the same emulsion batch, and will have the same colour balance and speed, I use one roll first to test , and can then adjust the filtration if needed, and I.S.O before shooting the rest of the brick, and it works out cheaper per roll.

nickandre · Dec 6, 2008

How much does the emulsion vary between batches?

benjiboy · Dec 6, 2008

It can vary quite a lot my local pro lab sell and processes kodak and Fuji pro films for local hospitals and universitys where the results can be of critical importance, they keep a book and record details of the current films they are selling, their actual speed and the filtration required to produce a neutral colour balance so they can inform their customers.
I take my processing there and have done for more than twenty years, but don't buy my film , the're too expensive, I buy most of the ones I use regularly in bricks online, and the odd roll or two from a local pro photo dealer.

Uncle Bill · Dec 6, 2008

I buy Tri-x and plus-x in 100' rolls. So much easier that way.

R W Penn · Dec 7, 2008

Freestyle has usa made ARISTA Premium 36exp rolls at $2.00 very good film. I can not roll from bulk at that price.

Buying large quantities of film "Bricks"

nickandre

thebanana

JBrunner

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PhotoJim

PHOTOTONE

David A. Goldfarb

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GeoffHill

pentaxuser

GeoffHill

nickandre

Matt5791

phc

HarryW

phc

HarryW

phc

nickandre

phc

nickandre

HarryW

benjiboy

nickandre

benjiboy

Uncle Bill

R W Penn

Buying large quantities of film "Bricks"

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