Film retailers are now starting to see just how big the price increases for Kodak Alaris film announced last month are – with dealer prices for some films going up by as much as 40% in the UK.
Kosmo Foto saw one list price for UK retailers which showed the basic dealer price for a roll of 36-frame Kodak Colorplus 200 going up 42%.
Single rolls of TMax 400 black-and-white film have also increased in price by 40%.
The price increases were announced last year, with Kodak Alaris warning that prices for film would increase “significantly”. The price rises were needed, Kodak Alaris have said, to invest in more production facilities to keep up with demand for film, which has seen a revival in interest in recent years.
However – this increase is a basic rate and some retailers are offered lower prices, meaning there is considerable fluctuation. A UK dealer Kosmo Foto spoke to said Colorplus price had increased only by around 10% in reality.
It’s also true that some retailers are doing their best to absorb as much of the price increases as possible rather than pass them on to customers.
Kosmo Foto was asked not to divulge exact prices, but the list – from UK-based photography distributor Tetenal – showed rolls of Kodak Gold 200 35mm were going up by as much as 15%, and single-use cameras by as much as 18%.
The price of a five-pack of Pro Image 100 35mm had increased by 19% and Portra 35mm films by between 9% (Portra 800, single roll) and 24% (for a five-pack of Portra 400). Tri-X, Kodak Alaris’ veteran black-and-white negative film, increased in price 12% for a single roll.
In China, some of the increases appear to have been even bigger. According to one reader, the price of Colorplus 200 sold on a major Chinese shopping site has gone from $2.50 to $5.12, a rise of 105%. Ektar 100 has also gone up in price, from $6.16 to $9.73.
Another reader reported the price of Tri-X going from €6 to €7.50, a rise of 25% in the Greek capital Athens.
In the US, B&H has increased its retail price for a roll of 35mm Tri-X from $5.79 to $6.99, an increase of just under 21%.
Kodak Alaris hopes the extra money raised from the prices rise will help them maintain steady supplies of film across all major territories. There were been acute shortages of Kodak Alaris films in some parts of Europe during 2019.
Just after the price increase was announced in December, Kodak Alaris film capture manager Thomas Mooney said: “The increases will vary by product and region, because of factors we don’t control.
“In many cases, we have not passed along the full impact of the cost increases that we are seeing from our supplier.”
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
- Five film cameras I’ll never part with - 06/05/2024
- Kosmo Foto’s newsletter ‘Advance/Rewind’ - 03/05/2024
- Shanghai releases Shenguang 400 colour negative film - 01/05/2024
Thanks for reporting on this!