How Film Prices Have Shot Up Over 20 Years

In comparison to 10 years ago the cost of photographic film seems to have taken an interesting run, or at least that’s what photographer Nick Seaney showed Reddit not too long ago. He got his hands on a catalog from 2005 and took a look at the prices of film back in the day–which truthfully wasn’t too long ago if we really think about it.

All images by Nick Seaney. Used with permission.

Editor’s Note: This article, previously from our archives, is being brought to you again for several reasons. We thought it was great, but at the time, it didn’t get the attention we wanted. So we’ve given it a new title and a bit more polish. It, and all articles here at the Phoblographer are done by humans, not AI.

Kodak Portra 160 came in two different varieties back then; NC and VC where the colors varied depending on the type of look that you were going for. that was eliminated a couple of years ago, and now These days a roll of Kodak Portra 160 in 35mm is $6.99 over at B&H Photo as opposed to the $7.59 that it was.

Kodak Tri-X 400 on the other hand seems to have risen a bit in price, though we’re not necessarily sure if these prices reflect what schools pay as educational institutions usually get discounts. But for what it’s worth, Tri-X is still an extremely popular film even according to a Wired article that could use fleshing out.

When we talked to folks about the state of the film industry, we got the feeling that even though film sales are dwindling for the bigger and more well known companies, film is booming with the newer and more Bohemian companies that take a different approach when it comes to marketing.