Hey Mat, if I recall correctly, if you order from a European dealer, you don't have to pay VAT. They only hammer their EU customers! But you do have to pay shipping, and it takes longer. I ordered some Foma 5x7 from one or the other dealers there.

My favorite way to start a Friday. A cup of coffee and LFF. What a great review. I thought I had a good idea of what films were out there for LF but you opened me up to a few I hadn't heard of. Thanks for the shout out to J. Lane dry plates. I just got some and hope to expose a few plates soon. Thanks

I'm a big fan of this series and of you, but I do have a suggestion regarding this video. Given the presumed audience that includes a lot of beginners and advanced beginners, a more helpful video (probably set of videos) would be to talk about the different types of film and when one might use them. Let me be specific. Take Ilford (or B&W in general). It's nice to know you can buy ortho, panchromatic, x-ray, blue ray and death ray B&W films. It would be even better to know what these different types bring to the table, i.e., when might I want to chose one vs the other. That would be true of the color films as well. Finally, this video would have been much more helpful if in the written notes you listed all the films you mentioned. (I know I could go through manually, stop and start the video as I write each down, but I assume you have already done that). It would be nice to copy & paste such a list for reference, or to just wave at my friends who seem to be amazed that you can still buy film :) I am grateful you are taking the time to do these videos. I hope my suggestions above are seen as a reflection of my appreciation and their usefulness.

Hi Mat ! Thanks for this excellent and very informative video. We still have a great choice of BW film available, even if sometimes for the old "European" formats (like 9x12 cm, 13x 18 cm, 18x24 cm) there are less choices when one has to load the corresponding holders; that means closing myselgf in complete darkness in my darkroom and cutting modern films for these formats ;-). About the Foma films which you just mentioned as being probably produced by the same manufacturer as Arista, I want to tell that the FOMA range of films is not only very affordable but also offers a very high level of quality (rich silver emulsions, like Adox). I speak with the experience of 50 years of shooting, developing (and printing) BW analogue materials. As for every film/developer combination, once you optimize your process and stick to it for a certain type of photography, you get really amazing results ! Every week, I enjoy your LFF episode not because I learn so much but because the way you share your knowledge to educate newbies of LF and to un-stress them is excellent. Thanks again. I would not quit without saying how close I feel to all people in USA who react against racism and police violences. we photographers and artists have to use our art to fight against all kinds of inequity and discrimination. Peace & Light from France, jean

Matt, thank you for a great explanation of the various films available.

the Kodack/fuji film quick/ready-loads were just sheet film, in an envelope, you Still have to develop 'normally'-aka darkroom, but the advantage is in the weight of the envelope system, as compare many Double-darkslides (the technical name for 'standard' film holders) so all the weight is in the "holder" part, which is just a window frame with a lock to hold one side of the envelope, so it can open in front of the lens, a darkslide, and finally a 'release' lever so that the lock can be bypassed to remove the closed envelope from the holder; OF NOTE here the 545 and 545j/i, (not quite in memory yet), had a "process" lever, so this holder was NOT just a polaroid holder, it double-dutied as a Quickload holder too (setting the lever to load, placed the rollers apart, so they could be bypassed for quickload use{with the release lever to remove the envelope}).

Arista EDU is made by Foma. Where that Ortho film is unknown to me I didn't know special offers for Fuji Pro 160 existed. I am not a LF photographer, but I love Fuji Pro 160 in medium format. Adox is owned by Fotoimpex. Usually the can cut special sizes quite fast, since the supplychain is really short. Fotoimpex lists almost any size of the Adox film.

Even though I only shoot medium format, this large format series has become essential watching for me. One day, I'm going to get there. I just need to be able to develop and scan myself. In regards to no pan f in large format, I seem to recall ilford saying that the production process is too rough for pan f to be made in large format. Something to that effect, but I'm not sure.

Have been shooting a lot of Shanghai GP3 100, love it.

Thank you Mat for this video ,Foma have in 100 ISO speed 4 3/4 x 6 1/2 format ,so no need to do a special order to provide your Toyo Field camera (4 3/4 x 6 1/2) with sheet film at an affordable price .

Arista EDU is also the only current manufacturer of 2x3 film!

Another great episode Mat!

I just received a box of the Shanghi GP-3 via e-bay. Much cheaper than the other films here in Australia.

Really nive video. Good to get overview of the smaller less prominent alternatives...cheers

Loved this, really informative.

I use Fomapan 200 in my 4x5 with Rodinal developer. £1 a sheet.

Mat, Thank you for mentioning Arista-Edu film. I have used it exclusively for B&W for 20 years and never had a problem with it. Being a cheaper film I'm more likely to shoot more.

Velvia 50 is still available in 4x5 and 8x10, but only sold in Japan. Just bought a box from Amazon JP.

I love the idea of starting with a cheaper film like Arista to learn with before moving up to a pro film after all the kinks are worked out. That’s how I started, and I f*cked up plenty of sheets as I learned “the dance” and development and all the myriad other things that come with LF. Because of this, I’m not only more confident because I’ve shot a ton, but I also saved plenty of money on sheets of film predestined for the “lesson learned” category.

Freestyle photo in Los Angeles sells Adox and ships.

really informative and comprehensive video. thank you!

Great video! You covered all the options.

Thank you - you brought out several films of which I was not aware - cheers!

Thanks.

Great info, super video! Thanks Mat!

I shoot 4x5 and I am ok with the film choices. I do wish I could get Acros 100 in 4x5 and Velvia 50 easily. But 8x10 is really lacking some choices it seems.

Matt, thank you!! Can you do a LF caffenol dev with Sodium Thiosulphate fix episode?

I think you may have forgot Fujifilm Instax Wide that can be shot using the LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back. I find that pretty cool. Anyway, great show as always, keep it up!

Great video! Sad to see that Ektar 100 isn’t available in 8x10 anymore.

One size you didn’t mention was 2x3

Hi Matt. I really appreciate what you are doing with this series. I was curious about your comments regarding the discontinuation of Ektar and Velvia 50 in the 8x10 formats. Do you have any references that discuss this further? Thanks, Tony

Great overview. One Instant seems very far from FP100C from the comparisons I have seen.

Adorama and Ultra fine

Catlabs 80 is Shanghai GP3, but is Atomic X also GP3? The box sure looks similar... Also, not large format, but Shanghai is re-introducing 220 film, which I'm super excited about. I haven't seen it on ebay yet-I asked Shanghai about ordering some to the US, they said sure, they're under $10/roll, but 100 roll MOQ; a little much for my personal use.

Well done 👍

where the heck do you get 8x10 E6 processed? Most labs don't do E6 these days

Thanks Mat!

one question, if you have 4x5 polaroid holder, that took the FP100-C film stock, can the New55 PN-100 replace this in the exact same holders, or those for Hasselblad V system holders(looks similar, but the holder had the slide lock for the back attachment system).

Thanks for the information! Who takes special orders on the Fuji NPS from the USA?

Good coverage if you'll forgive the pun. If as a beginner you were to use the cheaper films like X-Ray what might be cost be in terms of image quality ? Oh and you need to get your self a Central Camera t-shirt ! I don't know if they're doing it in conjunction with the GoFundMe or they always have them..

how do you compose a photo on a 4x5 camera ground glass

Hey Mat, thanks as always. LFF is such a great treat! I love that you are hitting so many of the noob questions. I would like to try the Shanghai but am worried about the shipping. Can you make prints with Film Washi or just paper negative? On another note, the other day a really great cloud formation was off in the east. I ran for my camera, set it up for a shot then paused to think about my metering. I wanted the clouds to still look white, so I used my phone meter and got them metered. Then thought I had to over expose them to get them whitish not middle gray. I took a reading and the contrast was less than 5 stops. I usually do Caffenol cL stand for 70 minutes so I did 80 minutes. I totally blew out the clouds. They are faint and might be there in a print if I can seriously underexposed them but I was bummed that I effed it up. What did I do wrong? Clouds add a lot to my rural landscape and I want to capture them but feel I am missing something...

maybe you can do a 2023 version

so really loads available though ,, quite surprised about ektar .. though ... so basically if you want color nowadays its slide , all the way ... another thing I am quite surprised about that ektarchrome is the same price as ektar for 4*5 from my guys , analog wonderland , find that curious ... maybe its because ektar has ended .. and the price has increased ...

Hi Matt! Thank you so much for you videos. I saw you said Ektar 100 8x10 is discontinued; is this true? I can't seem to find any information on this, and BH + Adorama are still selling it (although it says more on the way, I've read it's special order only so it might take time to restock). Was hoping to get my hands on a box at some point!

I saw ektar 100 is still available in 8x10 at b and h. But the price is yeesh

Does Rollei/Maco actually make their own film or are they just rebranding stuff from Gevaert? Also, searching for new55 seems to lead to a blog post from 2017 where they announce that they are closing down business?

I thought Velvia 50 is still available and being produced, just only out of Japan, like Amazon.co.jp?

Mat, are all film holders interchangeable? Will all fit a Linhof Technika? Is there a difference in a $35 one or a $8 one?

Can you load and develop the catlabs 4x5 80 under a red light?

Matt, why would ULF film be so expensive or even 8x10 for that matter. In my understanding, are they not giant sheets simply cut into smaller sizes? If that is true, then one would expect to see Kodak Portra 800, Ilford Delta 3200 etc in sizes greater than 120 and 35mm format, not so? I think there would be more ULF shooters if my theory was correct, and it wouldn't have to be so expensive.

Mat, I’m really enjoying LFF. How do I know if a 90mm needs a recessed lens board for my Technika III?

What makes you say Ektar is discontinued in 8x10"? In stock at B&H, no discontinuation announcement

And adox??

Do you have a 2022 video

don't buy fpp's repackaged x-ray film, it's ten times more expensive than buying fujifilm x-ray film on ebay, which is available in blue or blue/green sensitive at a more practical 50-100 iso.

Yea Polaroid has 8x10 but no 4x5 and medium format Peel Apart film SHAME, and you see the 545 Polaroid backs going for a Song on Ebay, SHAME Imposible Project You guys are not Polaroid. Michael Caine said it best on the 3rd Austin Powers film, "Have to Deal with the DUTCH!"