purchasing 16mm stock

kelly tippett · October 24, 2006

I've been informed that 16mm stock is hard to come by. I'm looking for s16 B&W tri-x 7266 or regular 16mm. The camera I have runs both, but you don't get the full benefits of s16. Does anyone know how much koday charges for 400 ft cans or what company might have some stock available? Film Emporium was selling it for .10 a foot, but say it is scarse.

Michael Collier · October 24, 2006

last time I called kodak for 16mm black and white, they quoted somewhere around 70 bucks. This was before their price hike a few months ago. When I called I was looking for 15,000 feet and they didn't flinch. Unfortunatley I was not able to purchase, since funding fell apart for that project, but later when I was looking for 7217, it was no problem. Media Distrabutors had like 8,000 feet of short ends on hand. I would check with them, bono labs might have some, and of course, kodak.

Don Homewood · October 24, 2006

Yeah, 16mm film isn't rare at all. Quite easy to come by.

Also note that super16 and 16mm film are the same thing. It depends on the gate in your camera. Sounds like yours has a regular 16 gate.

But yeah, check with Kodak. If you can't find it anywhere else, go right to the source.

Will Montgomery · October 24, 2006

Just call Kodak, they have plenty of Tri-X, Plus-X and Double-X.

ryan_bennett · October 24, 2006

Film Emporium was selling it for .10 a foot, but say it is scarse.

where u getting a short end/ re-can? that would be why its scarse.

kelly tippett · October 24, 2006

where u getting a short end/ re-can? that would be why its scarse.

Yeah that's what i was after - short ends/recans. They shouldn't advertise they have them if they don't, not just film emporium, but there are a couple of places that haven't got back to me. They should put some disclaimer below their listing it as if they have it in stock.

Anyone know where I can find recans or short end B&W tri x 7266 reversal?

steve hyde · October 25, 2006

...a Kodak pricelist circulating on the web:

http://www.box.net/public/frmc4nl173

...always best to call to ask about the prices for any given day and special deals going on.

Steve

Bill DiPietra · October 25, 2006

Anyone know where I can find recans or short end B&W tri x 7266 reversal?

Are you enrolled in any film classes? If so, you get a 20% discount for BRAND NEW stock at Kodak.

kelly tippett · October 26, 2006

Are you enrolled in any film classes? If so, you get a 20% discount for BRAND NEW stock at Kodak.

Along with the 16mm camera i bought the owner sent me a spool of 400 feet b&w reversal tri-x 7278-832-16. Its from 1967 and is still unopened in the fresh looking can. 1 perf. Anybody ever use this or would you?

I lucked up too- he also sent tri x 7266 which is newer, I was planning on shooting the feature on 7266 and this seems to be a good time to use what he sent for the film test. So if i go with the 20 percent discount for 7266 at kodak that would put the 400 foot spools at around 64 dollars. This may be the route i go. But I'll still keep an open mind and welcome more input.

Thanks everyone!

Edited October 26, 2006 by kelly tippett

Will Montgomery · October 26, 2006

Along with the 16mm camera i bought the owner sent me a spool of 400 feet b&w reversal tri-x 7278-832-16. Its from 1967 and is still unopened in the fresh looking can. 1 perf. Anybody ever use this or would you?

I lucked up too- he also sent tri x 7266 which is newer, I was planning on shooting the feature on 7266 and this seems to be a good time to use what he sent for the film test. So if i go with the 20 percent discount for 7266 at kodak that would put the 400 foot spools at around 64 dollars. This may be the route i go. But I'll still keep an open mind and welcome more input.

Thanks everyone!

Good luck with your feature, let us know how it goes!

ryan_bennett · October 26, 2006

Along with the 16mm camera i bought the owner sent me a spool of 400 feet b&w reversal tri-x 7278-832-16. Its from 1967 and is still unopened in the fresh looking can. 1 perf. Anybody ever use this or would you?

I lucked up too- he also sent tri x 7266 which is newer, I was planning on shooting the feature on 7266 and this seems to be a good time to use what he sent for the film test. So if i go with the 20 percent discount for 7266 at kodak that would put the 400 foot spools at around 64 dollars. This may be the route i go. But I'll still keep an open mind and welcome more input.

Thanks everyone!

Talk to a lab and shoot a small test and just buy some new fresh film!

Michael Collier · October 26, 2006

If you need short ends, keep your ear to the ground. It may take some time to assemble all the film you need. I got lucky and called media distrabutors just as they got 8,000 feet of 7217 in, and all I neeeded was 4200 feet. Since I was buying more than half of what they had, they cut their rate to .15/foot, which I thought was a great deal. Still have 750 feet left to shoot on saturday.

steve hyde · October 27, 2006

If you need short ends, keep your ear to the ground. It may take some time to assemble all the film you need. I got lucky and called media distrabutors just as they got 8,000 feet of 7217 in, and all I neeeded was 4200 feet. Since I was buying more than half of what they had, they cut their rate to .15/foot, which I thought was a great deal. Still have 750 feet left to shoot on saturday.

..That is a good deal. Are they 400ft recans?

Steve

Richardson Leao · October 27, 2006

Along with the 16mm camera i bought the owner sent me a spool of 400 feet b&w reversal tri-x 7278-832-16. Its from 1967 and is still unopened in the fresh looking can. 1 perf. Anybody ever use this or would you?

I lucked up too- he also sent tri x 7266 which is newer, I was planning on shooting the feature on 7266 and this seems to be a good time to use what he sent for the film test. So if i go with the 20 percent discount for 7266 at kodak that would put the 400 foot spools at around 64 dollars. This may be the route i go. But I'll still keep an open mind and welcome more input.

Thanks everyone!

I have develop some tri-x expired since 65 and it looks super cool. But I develop myself, I dunno if I'd be keen to spend money on it if I have to send it to a lab. A good idea would be if you have a little bit of BW developer (normal for stills) and fixer (or even a stop bath e.g. vinager), you could test a strip of film, let's say 1m or less (unloaded in total darkness), put it in a light-tight bottle with the developer for 6-8min and then change it to the stop bath (or fixer), all at 22C. If you can see a good negative, go ahead and send it to the lab, you'll get a good reversal. The only trick that can happen is that the emulsion is not strong until you fix it and it can shred if you touch it or if it go through 'violent' processing.

kelly tippett · October 27, 2006

I have develop some tri-x expired since 65 and it looks super cool. But I develop myself, I dunno if I'd be keen to spend money on it if I have to send it to a lab. A good idea would be if you have a little bit of BW developer (normal for stills) and fixer (or even a stop bath e.g. vinager), you could test a strip of film, let's say 1m or less (unloaded in total darkness), put it in a light-tight bottle with the developer for 6-8min and then change it to the stop bath (or fixer), all at 22C. If you can see a good negative, go ahead and send it to the lab, you'll get a good reversal. The only trick that can happen is that the emulsion is not strong until you fix it and it can shred if you touch it or if it go through 'violent' processing.

thanks i work at a paper. We used to develope our own stills. so I'll give that whack.

Nick Mulder · October 27, 2006

Along with the 16mm camera i bought the owner sent me a spool of 400 feet b&w reversal tri-x 7278-832-16. Its from 1967 and is still unopened in the fresh looking can. 1 perf. Anybody ever use this or would you?
Thanks everyone!

I found a guy trying to clear about 20,000 feet of 70's era 7276 - I bought 400' off him and had a daylight load checked with the local lab, came out fine so I forked out and bought the lot for about %2 of the cost of todays equivalent, although I'm sure the comparision isn't particularly accurate...

I process it here at home in a Lomo tank as both neg and reversal, although the neg is super grainy, but I used it for some photographic contact print purposes...

Only problem is that its Mag Striped and therefore cannot be used with super 16 ...

Point is though - there is life in the old stocks if they have been kept well. :)

Michael Collier · October 29, 2006

..That is a good deal. Are they 400ft recans?

Steve

No, they were not recans. Recans usually cost in the 20-25 cent range from my research. I bought short ends in 200-360' lenghts. Never proved to be a problem, as long as I made sure to reset the film counter when I reloaded, and mark on the mag how much is in there.

BTW, 20 minutes ago I wrapped on 'Sleep' my first 16mm short. It was a great experience! good luck finding your recans. From everyone I have talked to, recans and buybacks are even harder to find than shortends (makes sense, how often on a set would someone load a mag, then not use it that production. It could only be a few cans per production I would imagine.) I didn't have that happen to me this film, and can't imagine it happening often, especially on low budget 16mm productions. I still have about 300 feet left.....hmmm time to shoot some nature footage and sell it to stock footage houses!