bjhurley wrote:
I have some actual comparison data here. All prices are in Canadian dollars.
In 2020 I bought a new Sony A7iii for CAD $2,989.30 (including tax) and as of this week my shutter count is 25,883. That works out to about 12 cents per shot; this will go down in time as the number of shutter actuations increases.
In early 2023 I bought a Canon P for CAD $421.43 (including tax) and so far I have shot 23 rolls with it, which works out to 828 frames. My total cost for film, developing, and scanning those 23 rolls was about $1,600. It works out to roughly $1.50 to $2 per shot. Obviously my cost would be lower if I developed and scanned myself but for now I'm having the lab do it. Color film is more expensive than B&W (in general) but developing B&W is more expensive than C41 if you have the lab do it. Scanning is $5 per roll at my lab. For my medium-format camera (Mamiya C330) the total cost (film, development, scan) is about $4 to $5 per frame, depending on the film. I'm not including that camera in these comparisons as I've only shot 2 rolls (24 frames) so far.
I don't "spray and pray" when shooting digital and my keeper rate tends to be higher than for film--mainly because I can nail exposure more reliably on digital and can recover more in raw files on underexposed shots. Plus, the ability to "chimp" (one of the most important advantages of digital) allows me to make mid-course corrections as I go.
Altogether I've shot 75 rolls on four film cameras since I started using film again in 2023, which works out to 2,700 frames, and the total number of photos I was happy enough to post to my "Film" album on Flickr is 167, or about 6 percent. I have 4,886 Sony files rated at 3 stars or higher in my editing software, so that works out to a keeper rate of about 19 percent.
Over the long haul, the equation will change a bit because digital cameras don't last as long as mechanical film cameras (although I still have a digital P&S camera here that I bought around 2005 that works as good as new). Eventually the Sony will die and need to be replaced, but the Canon P should keep going for decades...although it'll need occasional adjustment and CLA.
Despite crunching the numbers, my personal opinion is that I will continue to shoot film regardless of the cost, because I love shooting film. I don't try to justify any of my passions based on economics; most of them are money-losing propositions. I've spent far more on musical instruments and recording equipment than I'll ever recoup from gigs or album sales; same goes for video and photography.
So you're spending ~$70 CAD/roll? I'm curious, what is the breakdown per roll for film/dev/scan costs?
I'm also curious what other people are paying.
My favorite films are in the $9-12 USD range.
Local lab dev is $9/$8 for 35mm B&W/C-41, 120 is $1 more.
There is another lab in town that's cheaper (especially for C-41) but they take a week instead of 1-2 days because they send it down to Portland where all their other stores are. That other lab is the only one offering drop off E-6 locally, which is $9/roll across the board.
I do my own scanning, so I'm spending right around $20 USD/roll.
There is a local B&W darkroom that you can join for $40/month. They provide chemicals, so if I joined I'd need to shoot 5+ rolls of B&W/month for it to start reducing my per roll cost. Of course, there would be the time to dev myself, and the additional cost of paper since I'd also start printing if I joined and I don't print now.
It seems to me that the cost of the gear is a red herring. The initial cost of entry to film or digital photography is very low (free if you already have a smartphone). If people really get into photography (or even just cameras ), they'll spend whatever they can afford to in order to achieve their vision.
Jan 28, 2024 at 12:46 PM
Previous versions of OregonSun's message #16456552 « Film is NOT Expensive -- Or is it? »
), they'll spend whatever they can afford to in order to achieve their vision.