Since I started re-learning film photography, Bhavna has been critical of the endeavour. She doesn't get why anyone would bother with all the limitations inherent in film photography. I am starting to agree with her. Film rolls are expensive to purchase and develop. Over the last two months, I have bought thirteen rolls of film costing about $120. I have developed four rolls for about $108. Assuming I shoot and develop the remaining nine rolls, I will have spent almost $500 for the privilege. Wow!
Last week I bought a gently used (no scratches, no dust) XF27mmF2.8 on MPB.com for $299 (including shipping and taxes). I realised today that for what I have spent on my film hobby, I could buy another "pre-owned" Fujifilm lens, perhaps the XF35mmF2 R WR, or XF50mmF2 R WR or even pay for half the cost of the XF80mmF2.8 R Macro.
There is also the wait time, made worse during this pandemic, waiting for the film to be developed, and shipping to and from (getting my negatives back) the developer. This is approximately two weeks and according to the USPS website, it could get worse.
I have been experimenting with Ritchie Roesch's film simulation recipes. While I don't think these are exact emulations (simulations) of Kodak and Fuji films, I do like the look of the results, especially Fujifilm Pro 400H.
Tonight's dinner was at the Brick Farm Tavern. It can get expensive but since we're not spending money anywhere else we're splurging.
Submitted as part of the 100DaysToOffload project.
Shoot film, stay broke.
But holy wow, $30 a roll for developing? There are less expensive options. I use Fulltone Photo a lot, fulltonephoto.com, they are priced more reasonably.
Hi Jim, it was late last night when I posted that so I didn't check my numbers. It’s about $27 per roll ($3 more for E-6) including enhanced scanning to digital, taxes and shipping. I updated the article to reflect my actual costs. Thanks for the link to Full Tone Photo. I'll process my next roll (whenever that is) with them to see how the process works.
I could save some money ($8) by scanning myself but then I need equipment to do that. Perhaps that's a better long term method.