One fine day, it occurred to me that perhaps I have been wasting too much money.
Agfa Vista 400, Bangkok (2017)
I spent a chunk of my money on photography, particularly film photography. It is an expensive hobby!! In my impression, I seem to always pay and pay, buy films and then develop…
Fujifilm Pro 400H, Singapore (2016)
It also occurred to me that I should make note of the total money I spent on developing, scanning and buying films, alone. I don’t want to include buying cameras. Because buying camera is a one-time thing, where as the rest is a continuous process. I know the figure will be shocking so it will encourage me to think more before clicking. Also, to cultivate my patient to finish a film roll mindfully, instead of randomly shoot so I can develop faster and see the results ASAP.
13th March 2017 marks the 6 months of shooting film. All currency is in Singapore Dollars unless otherwise stated. These numbers are not exact as I might have missed one or two. Also, I do not include my stocked up films in my storage.
Film types count:
Kodak Portra: 3 x $12.50= $37.50
Kodak UltraMax 400: 5 x $7.50 = $37.50
Kodak Gold 200: 3 x $7 = $21
Kodak Color 200: 2 x $6 = $12
Kodak Ektar 100: 1 x $ 11.70 = $11.70
Kodak Tmax 400: 1 x $11.50
Agfa Vista 400: 3 x $7.50 = $22.50
Tudor Color 200: 3 x HKD 38 = HKD114 ($20)
Walgreens 200: 2 x $4 =$8
Fuji Color C200: 1 x $5.70 = $5.70
Fujifilm Pro400H: 1 x $13.50 = $13.50
Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400: 3 x $7.90 = $23.70
Ilford Pan 400: 1 x $6.50 = $6.50
Lomography Tiger 100: Thai Baht 265 ($10)
Developed + scanned in:
Singapore: 110 films $13.50 , 2 BW @ $13, 19 x $8.50 = $201
Johor: 1 x RM 20 = RM 20 ($6)
Bangkok: 3 x 100 Thai Baht = 300B ($12)
Hong Kong: 3 x HKD35 + 1 x HKD 88 = HKD158 ($28)
Total:
Tudor Color 200, Hong Kong (2016)
In the beginning, I said I feel like I am always paying right? After calculating everything, it’s $471.60. I shot a total of 30 films, which is average 5 rolls per months. This also means I fork out $78.60 per month on film related stuff. Overall, doesn’t seem too bad…
However, let’s assume I do this at the same rate for 3 years, I can buy a body of a Leica M6 with maybe some spare cash left! Oh my gosh! And I haven’t include the prints (family & my cat’s photos) and the price of film cameras!
Is it worth it? Hmm… Although I love film photography, I guess I have to lessen my output. Click less but make every (at least most) shot counts. Well, I do believe I will use lesser films because this first 6 months was just me crazily buying films and trying all out.
Instead of 4, I shall reduce to 2 rolls per month and hopefully send all my films to Johor Bahru for developing! Ha!
