No more films?!!!

I checked in B&H & adorama today to order 4x5 sheet Velvia slide films but I didn't find any store to stock them!

Will this be long? Do you think film become so rare even for 4x5? Very frustrated.

Mohsen, things are in an ongoing world of flux with 4x5 films right now. Hopefully it will once again right itself here shortly.
I have been in communication with both B&H and Samy's camera here in California. Neither group seems up to date as near as I can tell with respect to Fuji's transition to standard or cut sheet loads in the newer 20 sheet boxes. To be quite honest I was disappointed in what appears to be a disconnect between the manufacture and certain vendors. I also sent emails to both Fuji Japan and Fuji USA, neither bothered to respond.
All is not lost however, just twisted up as near as I can tell. The UK seems to be getting the newer released films in 20 sheet boxes, as well as Badger seems to be stocking similar, although presently not in stock but at least listed there as offerings.
I've included a few links that maybe of help. I also feel once the other vendors get back on track they will also be offering the same items. But, with the business world such as it is today, one never knows.......good luck....

Velvia 50 UK Site

Badger Fuji List

EBAY Fuji Offerings

Unfortunately Mohsen, it's just a matter of time before film is gone. Some may argue that, but my 15 years in manufacturing tells me that the customer base will be too small in order for film to be produced without a financial loss, and if they lose money they can't continue to manufacture the stuff. Now, some may argue that large format film shooters are not switching to the huge expensive digital backs any time soon, and therefore the customer base remains nearly the same. That's probably true, but in any manufacturing process you have your high-profit items and you have the dead weight which is the product line that you agree to manufacture without a significant profit in order to make all customers happy, but you don;t concern yourself with the break-even or slight loss because your other products are pulling the weight. We manufacture semiconductor material for chip makers and we have the same scenario. The problem with film manufacturing is that 35mm rolls ruled the roost for many years and the output and profit was enormous, as was producing all of the chemicals and paper so every drug store and Fotomat could develop and provide prints. Obviously the 35mm film demand has melted into near extinction, and with that goes revenue. To keep producing large format film stock will require a price increase or some other way to make it worth the effort. I hope I'm wrong and I wish there was a better answer, but I think it's clear that the digital SLR storm will affect other formats. Look at audio CDs and video DVDs, wonderful solution, right? Digital download of MP3s and video MP4s are wiping that media format off the earth, even though MP3s to an audiophile sound like a trainload of screaming cats.

I hope you find your stock. Did you try Adorama.com and Calumet.com? They ship overseas also.

A good source for LF film is Badger Graphic.

Guy

I'll second Badger graphic.

I orderd two boxes of Astia-100 f QL's from B&H late last week. It should be here on Monday.

--P

I doubt that film will go away in my lifetime. It seems to just be shifting to countries with cheaper overhead. I just received a box of Efke 25 film yesterday. I think it's made in Croatia. It can't be all that expensive to make.


Kent in SD

Fuji's supply chain is all screwed up. They're supposedly switching to 20 sheet boxes and can't seem to get it out the door.

I too order my film from badger.

It is color chrome film that will probably go first. As a landscape guy, that hurts. It seems more and maybe most LF shooters use b+w. If you frequent the LF Info page at least it does.

I have been using Efke 25 of late and having dr5 process it into a b+w chrome. I like the result and I dont have to mess around with chemicals.

Darren--

I'll elaborate a bit on why I'm shooting Efke 25, and ISO 25 b&w film. Last week a bought a Derogy 5.5 inch Petzval lens for my Shen Hao 4x5 field camera. It was made in the early 1870s. Lens has no shutter, of course. I'm using ND filters and slow film to slow down exposure time so I can just count out seconds and cap the lens. Just like the good old days! The lens is gorgeous, and it looks very beautiful on my wooden camera.

[IMG]http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/duckgrabber/Derogy.jpg[/IMG]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/duckgrabber/Derogy.jpg

Kent in SD

Kent, that's one neat looking setup. Using that lens, 4x5 format, and the slow B&W film no doubt brings out some of the best in this type of photography. A true vintage setup to really enjoy...

Humm does that mean in 20 years we will see a return to glass negatives that the photographer has to make and process themselves? Shades of Mathew Brady we will have come full circle!

I've looked into that seriously as it has some appeal to me. I'd buy a c.1850 camera to go with it, all those seem hard to find. What I learned was that wet plates are not a good match for me. For starters, my favorite time of year is winter and it's often below zero here. Not sure how well that would work for me. Second thing is you have to take the shot within 15 minutes or so--before the plate dries. Probably not a viable way for a winter photographer to work. There is one thing I do like though. There is a glow about the images that I just can't get with film. Something about wet plates are only blue sensitive, and even b&w film now is sensitive to all colors and has an anti-halonation coating.


Kent in SD

I just saw an announcement from Hunt's Photo and Video that they still have large format film. I believe that they have Kodak, I don't know about the rest. It's worth a try.

http://huntsphotoandvideo.com/

You might try later as I am getting an invalid hostname response.

Fred, the link is working again and the Hunt's site seems to offer quite a variety of films overall, including many in the 4x5 size. Looks like another good source until other vendors figure out what they plan to do.

Fred,

Hunts Photo will list them but when you put them in the cart, you will see that they are out of stock. Very strange website.

Mohsen, the issue you've run into with the Hunt's site to me is yet a continuation of what my original comment was based upon. For whatever reason the Fuji manufacturing is behind in their original plan to supply only standard or cut sheet loads after the QL demise. As such the vendors and their on-line site offerings are not up to date at all. If you cannot connect with a vendor such as Hunt's you might give the eBay offerings a try. They seem to offer a variety as well as shipment world wide. Majority of the films being offered are not out of date either. Good luck.

Kent, that is a great looking lens and yes Efke 25 would be an ideal slow film for it.