favourite film?

I've always liked Fuji 160 NPS best.

The "Guernsey" option isn't the only way to get cheap film. Jessops will give you a pack price discount and a quantity discount, which reduces the price of the Fuji 160 to just over £3 each.

However if I want cheap batteries for my Z1p.......

I don't think that price is the only factor. I prefer my films to be boxed and not split down from multi-packs and long expiry dates are also needed. Then, fast and reliable delivery and a willingness to act promptly when things go wrong. All these things have a price and as long as we are in the right "ball park" then I will be happy to pay a little more.

I would like to add to John's comments. A reliable supplier is even more important with the "pro" film stocks. The trouble with the "cheap" suppliers is you don't know how the film has been stored. The better films should be kept in a temperature controlled environment and if is this isn't done, you can get colour shifts and other problems. The box movers tend to keep them on a shelf. IMHO it's worth paying a little more for reliable filmstock as it is to pay for reliable processing. Cheap film and cheap processing is fine for point and shoot and the kids but not for serious work.

Kim

I've bought from 7dayshop and MX2 for years and have had no problems whatsoever and I can also recommend Dlab7 for slide development.
7dayshop now indicate which items will be sent VAT free ( valued below £18 ) and which ones are sent UK tax paid.

Incidentally, I've just visited Chatsworth and find it strange that they ask you to 'gift' the admission fees to them so that they can reclaim the tax.
As a registered charity, it's all in a good cause and I was happy to do it but why should they have to ask?
Surely the government could relax the rules for charities so that all admissions are tax exempt - although I guess the inland revenue may lose too much that way!

Hi Kimbo

I think the reason they have to ask is that there is a requirement that you are a UK taxpayer - I used to be a student tax-dodger and had to turn them down when they asked for this gift, it got quite a few rather cold looks from some of the National Trust staff!

In terms of 7dayshop and mx2, they have only recently started listing the VAT aspects on their website, as they have been under pressure to do so. I am not sure (and a cursory look on the internet hasn't revealed) if they are required to consider the entire order and then add VAT to that, they currently just consider the VAT requirements for each individual product and ignore the overall order value. Even if they're not charging VAT correctly it's their concern, as they are supposed to charge the VAT, however as I have mentioned earlier a few people got stung for VAT and admin charges ordering from them. In mitigation, these were for items that were demonstrably more expensive than £18, so if you're just ordering film you should be OK. I think it might be quite difficult for a 'non-photo' person to deduce the value of film - I once bought a job lot of sensia in a large multi-pack for around £30 and didn't get charged VAT, mainly because 7dayshop didnt put VAT on anything at that time, but I would suggest that even now a customs officer would be hard-pressed to figure how much such a bundle of film was worth. With a digital SLR body, I think anyone could guess it's going to be worth more than £18!

DLab7 came very high up a recent test by (I think) practical photographer magazine in a recent group test. They are very cheap and technically pretty good although I have had quite long waits for returned slides. I still rate Fuji dev of Fuji film as the best, but DLab7 is the best 'independent' I've used.

Cheers

Matt

[quote]I think the reason they have to ask is that there is a requirement that you are a UK taxpayer - I used to be a student tax-dodger and had to turn them down when they asked for this gift, it got quite a few rather cold looks from some of the National Trust staff![quote]


Hi Matt,
That certainly makes sense, they must get many foreign visitors as well as non-tax paying students.

7dayshop split the orders into numerous packages where possible but obviously can't do that with single items of high value.
I originally ordered from them years ago after seeing their ad in photo mags and used to order by fax. Now I and many other people obviously order via the internet so their volumes must have increased and it's not surprising that customs have been keeping a close eye on them.

For prints, I've been using Fuji Reala for about a year now. I am very pleased with the results, no unexpected tonal casts.