Where to buy reasonably priced 35mm film?

16 comments

1. This seems like a post about shopping, maybe your question is solved by [the wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/wiki/shopping)?

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2. Weird enough I see them in my local drug store.

3. All 35mm shooters I know have given up due to price so…

4. Bic Camera in Shibuya regularly has 期限切れ film for sale

5. Have the prices risen recently? I haven’t bought any for the past four or fives months but I remember being stunned at how much cheaper it was here than in Canada.

6. You’ve got a couple of options, and it really depends on what you’re trying to shoot, and where! If you’re in Tokyo I’d strongly recommend heading to ポパイカメラ in 自由が丘 – wonderful people, and a large selection of film. Almost every Yodobashi Camera & Bic Camera also carry film stock, as do a couple of other stores around if you put フィルムカメラ into Google maps. As for the price, it’s going to depend entirely upon what you’re looking to shoot. Kodak Colorplus can be had for 980円 per roll of 36, but my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw that Ektachrome was selling for 4,110円 at Yodobashi.

   At the end of the day, I’d probably recommend Fuji Superia 400 for color reversal (~1000円), Ilford XP2 for b&w (~1,200円), and Velvia 100 for slide film (2000円).

   *I use XP2 because the c41 process tends to be more accessible to a wider variety of labs, but there’s cheaper b&w options for sure.

7. I’d thought about finally getting a film camera this year, but after seeing this post and searched the prices of film online I probably won’t!

   Is there a particular cause of the price rise?
   Shrinking user base?

8. Yeah, my budget for a roll is ¥1500, sometimes I’ll bite and pay ¥2000. I’ve given up on my two favorites, Ektar 100 and Portra 400.

   Decided to challenge myself by shooting black and white instead until I find something I like in price range. So I picked up a few rolls of Acros 100II at about ¥1000/piece. Obviously not the same, but I’m enjoying the challenge of trying something different.

9. Champ Camera was still really cheap last year, they sometimes sold some kodak gold 200 for 500 yen, it was way cheaper than other places I found. It might be still a little bit cheaper there this year than in the big others store, yodobashi, camera no kitamura…

10. Most people that I personally know who shoot film (amateur and professional photogs) order their film from overseas. They usually order from either B&H or Freestyle Photo. That being said, those people who order from those two places usually shoot Kodak which is insanely marked up in Japan. I buy my Ilford film from Yodobashi because the prices aren’t that much different than overseas vendors when figuring in shipping and other costs.

11. Kitamura is fairly cheap

12. Also try Champ Camera stores. I haven’t been there but they have a wide range of films so I am thinking that they will have some in the cheaper price bracket.

13. The cheapest prices I have found are in 三宝カメラ near 学芸大学. Usually around ¥500 less than Amazon or other big chain stores.
    It’s so sad how in recent years shops like ポパイカメラ or カメラはスズキ have less and less variety of film at increased prices…

14. I was the last holdout of everyone I know (used to shoot professionally), and finally traded my film bodies (value had more than doubled on those) for a digital Leica before moving here. I still don’t love digital, but Japan just does not seem all that film-friendly anymore. I also got quite a bit of money for my old expired stash of film before leaving.

15. ColorPlus is about as cheap as I could find last time I stocked up. If you shoot Fuji digital, there’s an app called FujiXWeekly that has a lot of film simulation “recipes”. I’ve just committed to that and only break out the film on sunny days I’m sure to get family photos

16. Check Mercari 🙂