Topic: Best Value For Money b/w 120 Film?

[Ed Wenn]

Hi all. Well, it's happened. After 10 years of not buying any 120 film, I have finally run out of my stock of  b/w. I have TONS of colour (slide and neg) left, but the b/w is gone. The market has changed a fair bit since I last bought any, so I thought I'd ask for recommendations, or specific deals. Price is probably the biggest factor that I'll be taking into consideration. I'll mainly be using the film in toy cameras, with the occasional roll in a Bronica or a Graflex. I don't really care how crappy the stuff is to be honest. Speed-wise, I don't need anything other than 100ASA or 400ASA.

.....and please, no snooty comments about getting what you pay for or "I wouldn't use anything other than Ilford"  I just want some half decent decent (read 'cheap') film that I can buy 20 rolls of and use in my Holga.

[gsgary]

No brainer for me Foma 400 my favourite film

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[Pete_R]

The cheapest 120 I'm aware of is Rollei Superpan 200 from Nik and Trick at £3.75 a roll http://ntphotoworks.com/shop/product/rollei-superpan-200-120-roll/

[jharr]

Get a mixed lot of expired 120 on auction. If you are shooting it in a Holga it shouldn't be a problem even shooting 400 speed on the sunny setting.

[Late Developer]

Best value isn't "cheapest", it's best quality / price balance.  For me, it's XP2 Super. Not the cheapest film but you can process in C41 or B&W chemicals and the quality is excellent.  For traditional film, I'd go with HP5+ or Delta 400 because I like them and a few pence cheaper to buy wouldn't sway my decision, as things stand.

[Aksel]

Any filmwasters in Ukraine? I love my expired Svema in lo-fi cameras, this might be as cheap as you can get any fresh film, if you can get a hold of it that is.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrum

[Ed Wenn]

Great stuff, Filmwasters. Thanks for all the tips. Much appreciated.

[Kai-san]

If you go for ISO 100 the Fomapan 100 is one of my favorites no matter what price I pay for it. I soup it in Xtol.

[jojonas~]

I've starting to look for cheap 35mm bw and some friend mentioned that if you buy directly from foma you can get their films quite cheap

[Francois]

I personally have grown to quite like Fomapan. It's usually quite cheap, especially if it's been rebranded.
But it's a film that needs taming.

I don't know if Shanghai is any cheaper?

[Adam Doe]

Not sure if shipping to England will kill the value, but Freestyle photo offers Arista EDU. It's quite cheap.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/category/1-Film?mfg%5B%5D=211&attr%5B%5D=1-1&q=arista+edu+120

[Francois]

That is some rebadged Foma

[Indofunk]

I hate Foma 400 (aka, Arista EDU) in 135, although I found that shooting it at 200 helped. I bet it would be much better in 120, since most of what I didn't like about it was the grain, especially in the skies. Looking back at my Flickr photos, though, it looks like I figured it out pretty well after all...


Danny Ray by Satish Indofunk, on Flickr

It's definitely some of the cheapest stuff out there

[gsgary]

That is some rebadged Foma

I've just got 10 rolls of 120 for £44

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[Francois]

I hate Foma 400 (aka, Arista EDU) in 135, although I found that shooting it at 200 helped. I bet it would be much better in 120, since most of what I didn't like about it was the grain, especially in the skies. Looking back at my Flickr photos, though, it looks like I figured it out pretty well after all...

It's definitely some of the cheapest stuff out there

Foma 400 at its nominal speed is really awful. I always expose mine at EI 250.

[Late Developer]

Ed, if this is sufficient to entice you to the Filmwasters event in May, I have some VERY NICE 120 B&W film which is yours for free - five rolls of the stuff - and I doubt you'll be disappointed. A mix of 100 and 400 ISO so you can decide what suits you best.  Can't say fairer than that.....

[KevinAllan]

You could buy 82 rolls of FP4+ from MacoDirect for 353 euros, which today equates to £294.97 or £3.60 a roll.

Alternatively you could get 103 rolls of Foma 100 for about the same total cost.

Of course you could buy fewer rolls but the postage to the UK would be 12.9 euros where the order value is below 350 euros.

[Aksel]

I hate Foma 400 (aka, Arista EDU) in 135, although I found that shooting it at 200 helped. I bet it would be much better in 120, since most of what I didn't like about it was the grain, especially in the skies. Looking back at my Flickr photos, though, it looks like I figured it out pretty well after all...

It's definitely some of the cheapest stuff out there

Foma 400 at its nominal speed is really awful. I always expose mine at EI 250.

This shows how different we see things, I prefer exposing it at 1600 and soup it in Rodinal to get that clan but grainy look 

[Indofunk]

I hate Foma 400 (aka, Arista EDU) in 135, although I found that shooting it at 200 helped. I bet it would be much better in 120, since most of what I didn't like about it was the grain, especially in the skies. Looking back at my Flickr photos, though, it looks like I figured it out pretty well after all...

It's definitely some of the cheapest stuff out there

Foma 400 at its nominal speed is really awful. I always expose mine at EI 250.

This shows how different we see things, I prefer exposing it at 1600 and soup it in Rodinal to get that clan but grainy look 

I don't think I ever pushed it. Would be interesting to see how trashy it gets at that speed

[gsgary]

I hate Foma 400 (aka, Arista EDU) in 135, although I found that shooting it at 200 helped. I bet it would be much better in 120, since most of what I didn't like about it was the grain, especially in the skies. Looking back at my Flickr photos, though, it looks like I figured it out pretty well after all...

It's definitely some of the cheapest stuff out there

Foma 400 at its nominal speed is really awful. I always expose mine at EI 250.

This shows how different we see things, I prefer exposing it at 1600 and soup it in Rodinal to get that clan but grainy look 

I think it looks great at all speeds

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[gsgary]

I hate Foma 400 (aka, Arista EDU) in 135, although I found that shooting it at 200 helped. I bet it would be much better in 120, since most of what I didn't like about it was the grain, especially in the skies. Looking back at my Flickr photos, though, it looks like I figured it out pretty well after all...

It's definitely some of the cheapest stuff out there

Foma 400 at its nominal speed is really awful. I always expose mine at EI 250.

This shows how different we see things, I prefer exposing it at 1600 and soup it in Rodinal to get that clan but grainy look 

I don't think I ever pushed it. Would be interesting to see how trashy it gets at that speed

120 is great at iso1600

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[jamin-b]

I like all the Fomapan / Arista edu - 100, 200 and 400. Box speeds are somewhat arbitrarily over optimistic (unless using Diafine) but with a bit of experimentation each has a slightly different look.

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[jamin-b]

Forgot to add - my only really bad experience with film was Shanghai 100. The backing paper circles and numbers append on the negatives! That's more lomo than I am into...

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