snappy situation

May 29, 2008 11:50 AM

Where can I get 120 film (for a Holga) in Washington, DC and Auckland, NZ? Is mail order my only option?

Also, regading developing: is mail order my only option?

posted by troika to sports, hobbies, & recreation (11 comments total)

I buy all of my 120 on eBay.
posted by iconomy at 11:57 AM on May 29, 2008

You can develop black and white film yourself pretty easily - I did this all the time before I got a digital camera.

Mail order from B&H or Adorama is pretty quick (when you are in DC that is.) Not sure about NZ.
posted by o0dano0o at 12:03 PM on May 29, 2008

BTW: Diafine makes developing at home even easier.
posted by o0dano0o at 12:08 PM on May 29, 2008

I can purchase and develop 120 (from my Holga) at my local store here in my little town in the US. As for NZ, I only went to one photography store in Queenstown, and I wasn't looking for 120. They had plenty of options for 35mm B&W, and would be surprised if they didn't also have 120.
posted by roofone at 12:10 PM on May 29, 2008

Looks like you can also get film from Penn Camera in DC if you need to pick it up quickly.
posted by o0dano0o at 12:13 PM on May 29, 2008

In DC, just about everyone sells decent 120. There's Penn Camera, L'Imagerie in Bethesda, Uphoto in Beltsville, and one other place that I can't think of right now. My personal favorites are Velvia 100 (bright sun), Neopan 400 (general use), and Delta 3200 (for when it's dark).

As for processing, you can take it to any of those places. Prices will be outrageous (like $6/roll), even if all you're doing is having them process and give you the uncut roll.

If price is an issue, you can do it yourself, but the cost only scales well if you're shooting a lot of rolls. You can get the equipment for $20 on Craigslist, but a full set of chemicals is going to run you $40 every couple of months. You can get a lot of rolls processed through those chemicals, but if you don't shoot, the chemicals still go bad, and you've just paid $40 to process 2 rolls.

I'd say mailorder the film, and process at home.
posted by god hates math at 12:20 PM on May 29, 2008

Just about any traditional camera shop carries this. Usually, they only have pro varieties though which are more heat sensitive than consumer versions.
posted by caddis at 1:04 PM on May 29, 2008

Thank you all so much! You guys rule. I haven't been able to find any 120 at the camera stores I've checked here, but I haven't been to any of the ones you listed. Thank you thank you thank you!
posted by troika at 1:10 PM on May 29, 2008

If you want to shoot in B&W and are willing to pay for processing, you can buy 120 film that's C41 process, which means it can be developed by any one-hour photo place. At least, I haven't had any trouble in the US with it. A place near me charges $5/roll for processing only (I then scan the negatives). I use Ilford in my Holga and order it through Freestyle.

In my smallish college town, the local camera stores have some 120 but it's "normal" B&W and color, and it's more expensive than ordering online.
posted by PatoPata at 1:10 PM on May 29, 2008

at Penn Camera in the DC burbs, it ran me around $7.50 for developing, with something like $5-6 additional for a contact sheet.
posted by alcopop at 12:02 AM on May 30, 2008

I'm in Auckland NZ, and got all my film (expired) from Trade Me.

The only place I've found to develop 120 film is labtec.co.nz
posted by minus zero at 6:36 AM on July 26, 2008