The Frugal Photographer

Since we introduced this film in March, 2005, we've sold thousands of rolls worldwide.

Introducing the first 127 roll film to be made
in North America since 1995.
This superb ISO 160 color print film is made in Canada,
and shipped worldwide from Nampa, Idaho.
Bluefire^® Murano^™ 160
127 color print film, ISO 160

Per roll: $US.
(discounts for 10 or 30 rolls)
(click here to see other currencies)

Click HERE (or click the photo) to go to the 127 catalog page, where you will also find ISO 400 color print film, and 127 Redscale.
High quality, inexpensive processing for this film is available from Blue Moon Camera in Portland, Oregon and Old School Photo Lab in Dover, New Hampshire.

日本の買物

This film is for sale on-line in Japan: http://kawauso.biz/

NEW! a true 35mm SLR (single-lens reflex)
for ~~59.95~~ ! See below.

Be sure to visit our AMAZON STORE where we show you carefully-selected traditional films and equipment shipped by Amazon's e-commerce partners.

Bluefire® high-resolution film and chemicals

110 film and mini-cameras

Minox and Holga

Click here to see what Donge's whiskers look like from 60 feet away when photographed with high-resolution Bluefire Police film.
"Definition of micro-detail was of a very high standard - higher, in fact, than found with any standard film."
(Geoffrey Crawley, writing a review of Bluefire Police in Amateur Photographer Magazine, July 9 2005, p. 38).

Bluefire Police™ is a medium-speed (EI 80) ultra-high resolution 35mm black and white film that can be enlarged to extremes without showing noticeable grain.

Click here to see examples of Bluefire Police used as a photolithographic mask for micromachining. Grain-free resolution of 10-micron images.

Click here to see Bluefire Police enlarged more than 60x with no image degradation due to grain (most films cannot be successfully enlarged beyond 10x).

Click here to go to the Bluefire catalog page.

Bluefire Police
2-roll trial pack with Bluefire HR pictorial developer

Expected to begin shipping from Idaho Friday, Dec. 16. You can pre-order now. Your payment is not processed until we ship.

Item: BPP2

Buy two or three trial packs and save.
A trial pack contains two rolls of Bluefire Police film with 30 ml of Bluefire HR developer concentrate.

Bluefire Police is an excellent replacement for 35mm Kodak Technical Pan. It is now in regular use in research laboratories and in industry in North America and Europe for nanoscale masking, microscopy, and DNA analysis.

Click here for an explanation of what "high resolution" means.

Now available: photographic chemicals and darkroom equipment. With so many full-line camera stores getting away from darkroom supply, chemistry we took for granted a few years ago is becoming difficult to find. Click here.

Shanghai GP3 — 120 b/w film, priced appropriately for students and experimenters. An excellent choice for pinhole cameras. Widely used as a Holga/Lomo film due to its low cost but may be unsuitable for art photographers who are making enlarged prints.
product: 120-GP3
Use this Add To Cart button to buy one or more single rolls.

per roll

Excellent processing for this film is available from 120PROCESSING.COM.

The Frugal Photographer's
Non-toxic Film Developer — make it at home from instant coffee and vitamin C. Develop Shanghai GP3 film shot in your Holga or pinhole camera. Click here for details.

A most amazing site: the
American Museum of Photography

Polaroid fans, click here.

This is probably the best value in a good-quality, carry-anywhere digital camera.

All of the 110 in the world is now past its "process before" date. We test each new batch we receive for deterioration, and try to describe its condition accurately. Refrigerate or freeze your film on receipt and it will last many more years.
We have several interesting 110 color print films in stock, from $3.29 per roll, depending on condition and number of exposures.

Click here to go to the 110 catalog page

This is probably our best 110 film: Agfa-made private label 110-24, ISO 200, "York" or "Quality" brand.
Colors are generally good.

Item: 110-24-AGFA

per roll. 24 exposures per roll
(3-roll minimum purchase, please)
Price breaks at 12 and 100 rolls

Liquid Light^® photographic emulsion for prints on wood, glass, ceramics, plastics, china, fabrics, metal, stone, paper, artist's canvas, walls — even an egg.

Printing with Liquid Light is the same as with black-and-white enlargement paper. Under amber or red safelight, brush the emulsion onto a surface. Expose with an enlarger or slide projector, or make contact prints from full-size negatives (you can easily print a negative of an image on clear plastic using an inkjet printer). Process in safelight conditions with any standard paper developer (or our coffee developer) and fixer.

Prints are archivally-permanent with a full range of tones and transparent highlights that reveal the color and texture of the material underneath. Contrast is medium-high (approximately #3).

Item: RO-LLE/8
per 8-oz bottle
Use this Add To Cart button to buy:

(8 oz. covers about 12 square feet)

To scan or not to scan...

The switch from darkroom printing to electronic printing is now almost (but not quite!) complete. Darkroom equipment manufacturers are quietly switching to something else.

"Electronic printing" involves scanning your negative or slide on a dedicated film scanner, and then printing on an inkjet printer.

Good inkjet printers are readily available, but film scanners are not. We recommend the pro-quality Nikon scanners for their superior software, excellent workflow, and quality optics. But they're expensive! There are now less expensive alternatives that are a very good choice for home use.

Advantages of scanning

many people find it faster and easier to adjust image qualities like contrast, shadow and highlight detail, and color balance using Adobe PhotoShop or similar programs rather than by trial and error in a darkroom.
no dedicated darkroom space is required
scanned images can be distributed by e-mail and on the web.

Disadvantages

Good image modification software is not cheap, nor is it easy to master
inkjet printing is much more expensive than darkroom printing
most dye-based inkjet inks and papers fade more easily than correctly-processed traditional photographic prints. Pigment inks resist fading, but you have to get a printer specifically designed to use them.
the scanning and printing process is, surprisingly, no faster than darkroom printing, and can be significantly slower.

You can relatively easily make an adapter that lets you scan slides and negatives on a flatbed scanner. Here is one of many "how-to" pages.

Buying an inexpensive scanner may be the right move.

It's important to read Amazon's customer reviews of these inexpensive scanners, so you can be sure you know what you're getting. While not of professional standard like the Nikons, they are nevertheless highly regarded for home use, and give very good quality results.

Minox film
We're proud to be an authorized Minox dealer. We keep large stocks of Minox films and ship to you directly from our freezer.

Genuine Minox film and supplies, imported from Germany. Click here. How good is this ultra-tiny film? Click here to see.

These Minox MX cameras are excellent, well-made little machines with superb lenses. Thousands of photographers bought theirs for $300. Clearout prices like these are an amazing opportunity. Note: every so often they appear to now be completely sold out...try again in a week or so.

Holgagraphy has nothing to do with holograms: it's the art form formerly known as Lomography (the art and craft of making compelling photos with crappy cameras). It's a serious art form and also a lot of fun.

AViVA PF1

New! a true 35mm SLR with Holga/Lomo-style lens
manufactured by Beijing Camera Factory's "Great Wall" division. This is the same camera offered elsewhere as the "Hipstermatic."

Check out the fabulous Holga/Lomo-style photos creative photographers are getting with this intriguing, inexpensive 35mm SLR:
PF1 Flickr Group

Free Shipping to US and Canada! Includes full one-year warranty

Use any 35mm film.
Exposure control is automatic or manual. For ISO 100, 200, or 400 film, LED over-and under-exposure indicators are visible in the viewfinder. Simply turn the aperture ring until the green LED lights up and correct exposure is assured.

Turn the meter off (or ignore it) for full manual exposure control.

True SLR through-the-lens viewing so you know exactly what you are photographing

Built-in flash powered by two AA batteries (batteries included). Guide no. 58 with ISO 400 film.

Manual focus 3 ft to infinity

40mm semi-wide angle lens (non-interchangeable) is perfect for intimate portraiture, small groups, street photography.

f/ stops from f/2.8 to f/16 for shooting in just about any light conditions.

Accepts standard 49mm lens accessories: filters, polarizing filters, close-up adapters, wide-angle and telephoto auxiliary adapters, etc. All effects are visible through the lens.

One shutter speed and non-adjustable leaf shutter. You control exposure with the aperture ring.

Includes case and neck strap.

Item: AVIVAkit

~~59.95~~ each

(A personal note: I have been experimenting with this camera and will share my experiences as I go along.

First impressions: Yes, it works, and it works well at its intended purpose. Good flash, good exposure control, excellent creative control. It's attractive and well-finished.

The downside?...well, here is one example: the battery compartment is so tight I have to use the tip of a pocket-knife to pry the batteries out. Another — in the one I use, the frame-counter is jumpy and I never know how accurate it is.

None of this stops me from using and greatly enjoying it. Stay tuned.

Shoot our Promax 35mm black and white films in your AViVA SLR and develop them at home in instant coffee and vitamin C. Then scan on your flatbed scanner.

35-100LAU
ISO 100, per roll:
(3-roll minimum)

Expose at ISO 100. Process in D76 1:1 for nine to eleven minutes

35-400LAU
ISO 400, per roll:
(3-roll minimum)

Expose at ISO 400, and process in D76 1:1 for ten to twelve minutes

If you plan to develop these films in instant coffee and vitamin C, don't use the ISO 100 film. Use ISO 400 instead, but expose it at ISO 100. The coffee/C developer robs your film of speed.

Need scanning and photo-manipulation software? Check out this FREE easy-to-use Photoshop workalike that we use all the time.

Shoot Shanghai GP-3 120 film in your Holga, and develop it at home in instant coffee and vitamin C. Then scan it on your flatbed scanner.

For the ultimate in Holga-Lomo style expressive photography, pit yourself against this: the famous Ansco 50, a re-useable plastic minicamera, including a roll of outdated Fuji 110 24-exposure, ISO 200 color print film.

Item: 110-MINIANSCO

each

Add several rolls of our "Greenscale" long-outdated Konica 110. It has serious color distortions and just begs to be worked over in PhotoShop (or this free Photoshop workalike).

Item: 110-KON

per roll. 24 exposures per roll
(3-roll minimum purchase, please)

Introducing
The Holga Starter Set

Introducing
The Holga Fisheye Camera

Introducing "Holgawood," the camera formerly known as Holga.

The original Holga, the one that started it all.

Convert your 120 Holga to 35mm film.

These filters add new creative possibilities.

This film is factory-wound for exposure through the back.