Now that I have a new M6-TTL and lenses, I must have some film to go with it. Who do you suggest as a reliable, honest, prompt, highest quality, internet discount dealer? I am not just looking for the least expensive, but the highest in quality products and service. Any help is appreciated.

-- Max Wall (mtwall@earthlink.net), June 06, 2001

Answers

B&H, New York. Best internet service, IMHO.

http://www02.bhphotovideo.com/

-- Steve Hoffman (shoffman2@socal.rr.com), June 06, 2001.

Second that. B&H, also Adorama (www.adoramacamera.com).

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), June 06, 2001.

Film is the cheapest photographic item that you can use. At least support your local dealer by buying it from him.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), June 06, 2001.

I tried to do that Bill, but on any of the professional films I like, the local stores sell the stuff at list price which is almost double what B&H sells it for. That adds up to a huge amount of money over a period of time-enough to pay for a camera or lens. I find most camera stores do not discount the better films, and if they do, its maybe 10%.The other problem is finding a store nearby that has in stock even half of what I want to buy. Nope, I'm afraid the local camera store will have to survive without my film money.

By the way, ordering from B&H's website has become very easy. I punch in the items, and FEDEX has it here in less than three days, almost always with no back orders.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), June 06, 2001.

why? when he will just rip me off?

-- Tristan (tristan@tristantom.com), June 06, 2001.

Andrew:

You must live in a cutthroat world. I am not sure what you call expensive film. I use a bit of Velvia. I am in a small town. The local shop sells it at 25 to 30% off. The nearest, alternative source, is 120 miles away; so they could charge full list.

I agree with Bill. I buy local.

Art

-- Art (AKarr90975@aol.com), June 06, 2001.

If my local store(s) were willing to match B&H's price I'd buy locally, after all it's more convenient and the film goes right from their fridge to mine. I gave them the opportunity to have my business and they declined.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), June 06, 2001.

Max:

I buy locally when I can. You state it goes from their fridge to yours. What happens in transit? 105 degrees on the ramp where they load the airplane for a few hours. I live in Alaska and local is 30 miles away or 180 miles away and more expensive, but what about the Fed-Ex or UPS charges. You must have to buy quite a bit to offset the freight charges.

Mark J.

-- Mark A. Johnson (logic@gci.net), June 06, 2001.

You're never going to be able to colpetely assure the temperatures in transit. Remember that the trip from the dealer to you is only one leg of the journey the film has been on since its manufacture. Heat is detrimental to film, so I try to stock up in the winter when even if it's left outside the shipping dock it's still very cold. It is unlikely that inside heated warehouses in winter would be hot enough to hurt the film since people have to work there! As to the cost of freight, yes it's not worth mail-ordering just a couple rolls. But some of the mailorder freight is offset by the lack of sales taxes.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), June 07, 2001.

even if my local dealer could match mailorder prices, it still wouldn't be worth it due to state sales tax...

-- Tristan (tristan@tristantom.com), June 07, 2001.

I buy all my film from B&H. I place orders online, and they deliver in 2-3 days. Their prices are reasonable, and the shipping cost is about $7-10, depending on the amount of film you buy.

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), June 07, 2001.

Max-

Nobody has mentioned Calumet. B&H is fine. I too like to support my local camera shop, I bought my M6 from him. I shoot HP5+ and I buy from Calumet on-line, with sales tax and shipping I still save $1.45 a roll over buying local. My local camera guy still gets my business for chemistry.

-- jeff voorhees (debontekou@yahoo.com), June 08, 2001.