Nostalgia and Darkroom Materials Prices - Alas Neither Are What They Used To Be

[Mike O'Pray]

Originally Posted by Steven Taylor

It is sad to see these price increases but inevitable.

Ilford and other survivors are catering for a niche now.

This is true Steven but I think was also true only 5-6 years ago and it is since then that prices seemed to have gone through the roof using the advert from the B&W mag of Dec 2007 which was what prompted me to start the thread.

Of course silver prices went up considerably in the ensuing 6 years but now seems to have stabilised or even fallen slightly. Hopefully we have reached a plateau, at least for the immediate future.

Mike

[JamesK]

Originally Posted by Adrian

Some camera gear seems to be going up in value though now. My recent MF kit cost a *lot* more than my DSLR including a decent set of primes, but then I don't invest in expensive digital gear. On the other hand, I considered replacing a Minolta Dynax 505 body (my son's camera) - £9 on Ebay. I paid about £200 new.

Film equipment has now became "collectable", at least on e-bah and similar, hence the prices.

I've even seen an empty 120 spool described as "collectable".

Interestingly, however, on the antiques programmes on television, the punters and experts won't touch cameras when buying, probably because they're a specialist market. (I've seen them glance at a stall full of cameras that we'd all have drooled over before quickly walking on by.)

The exception to this was when a Mamiya C330, C3, Rolleiflex and a Zeiss folder (perhaps a plate camera) were sold as a job lot at auction for £230. Each of the TLRs alone were probably worth more than this.

My concern is that, obviously, film cameras aren't getting any younger, so what will we do when they've all worn out?

[Martin Aislabie]

A couple of years ago I found an old box of 1997 vintage 10x8 Multigrade Gloss - price £28.95

Current price - £54.25

Personally, I cannot remember a time when photography was not expensive

Lets all not get too nostalgic

Martin

[Carl V]

Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie

Personally, I cannot remember a time when photography was not expensive

I have to agree with you Martin. Even back in the 80's when I was in camera retailing, although I wasn't exactly earning a vast salary, most items including darkroom accessories were quite expensive purchases overall. Despite the advantage of being able to buy things at cost price + VAT, I always found a good chunk of my wages remained in the till at the shop.

[peterlg]

"Personally, I cannot remember a time when photography was not expensive"

Martin

When doing the calculation I'm surprised by the cost of a 24x36 photo printed at 8 x 10. Adding Film+developers+fixers+paper (incl. waste) you'll end up with something a little over 1£. Expensive?
Suppose I am turning out 10 of those every month - that's the cost of ONE bottle of good wine?
Photography is a cheap hobby, far cheaper than drinking good wine!
Peter

[big paul]

just go and ask a Serious carp fisher how much money he spends on his hobby a year, and you will see that our hobby is not that bad money wise.........and he has to put them back




www.essexcockney.com

[Adrian]

B&W is cheap. Colour is a different matter though - I reckon on £0.75 per exposure of 6x6 - About £9.00 a roll - if I send it away to be processed/scanned. It's no bad thing though - it has often made me think twice about whether a photo is worth making. Does anyone know how much C41 or E6 at home would be? How much did it used to cost to home-process C41 or E6 in the good old days?

[JamesK]

Originally Posted by Adrian

B&W is cheap. Colour is a different matter though - I reckon on £0.75 per exposure of 6x6 - About £9.00 a roll - if I send it away to be processed/scanned. It's no bad thing though - it has often made me think twice about whether a photo is worth making. Does anyone know how much C41 or E6 at home would be? How much did it used to cost to home-process C41 or E6 in the good old days?

I couldn't agree more. It amazes me how much more careful I am in selecting, metering and framing a shot using roll film than with d*gital, or even 35mm, especially if I'm shooting 6x9 and know I only have eight exposures to play with.

As Adrian says, this is no bad thing, as it makes you learn the craft rather than just pressing buttons and hoping for the best.

[Mike O'Pray]

Originally Posted by Adrian

B&W is cheap. Colour is a different matter though - . Does anyone know how much C41 or E6 at home would be? How much did it used to cost to home-process C41 or E6 in the good old days?

I wasn't doing any photography in the "good old days" if these are defined as being before 2003 but my feeling is that C41 and E6 home processing was probably more expensive, say 20 years ago, than it is now.

Nowadays C41 home processing probably isn't that much more expensive than trad B&W. I have no knowledge of E6 materials. I suspect that it is more expensive than C41 but not appreciably so and if the end result, namely seeing the photo is taken into account then E6 is finished at the film with a one-off cost of projection whereas C41 needs prints. A quick look at say AgPhotographic, Silverprint or several other retailers will no doubt give prices

Mike

[DavidH]

I still have a pack of prints processed by Boots in 1973. A 36 exp D&P to 51/2 inch long prints was £4. I wonder what today's equivalent to that amount would be.