Film price hike. What should i do?

Film is getting expensive for me and most of you too.

Those of you that are into film photography would have already heard about the Fujifilm price hike in April 2022 and Kodak price hike at Mar 2023. We knew this day would come and some of us film "purist" would lie in bed thinking about which of the digital "film" cameras should you buy, and with that had an internal war of what justification one could give for such "hypocrisy". Or. should i just soldier on?

Well, i still lie in bed thinking if i should just get a Leica M9 or M8? or perhaps go and get a Fujifilm X100F or T, how about the Fujifilm X-E4? 3?, X-Pro series? Quite some options until i look at my bank account balance. Nope.

Either way it's expensive. So here are some ways that i thought that would help a regular joe like me out and might help you out too.

1. Shoot sparingly.

While i never had the spray and pray kind of shooting habit/style whenever i use a film camera. With the price per shot going up, it would be wise to be a little more intentional with how or what i shoot.

2. Use cheaper film (for the time being).

Recently i have been seeing many film shooters using cheaper film and so have i.

Here are some that i have been using:

Color

Kodak Vision3 250D: RM27* per roll. (35mm)

Kodak Vision3 250D: RM34* per roll. (120)

Fujifilm C200: RM30* per roll. (35mm)

Black and White

Kentmere 400: RM24* per roll (35mm)

Fomapan 100: Rm19* per roll (35mm)

Fomapan 100: Rm19* per roll (120)

3. Bulk roll your own film.

This is something that i have been meaning to try. The initial cost of getting a 100ft roll or film and a bulk roller does seem quite steep. But if you can share the 100ft of film with some friends that would bring the cost down to a comfortable level. A 100ft roll of 35mm film could give you 18 rolls of 36 exposures.

While you might be limited to certain film stock as not all film could be bought in a 100ft roll. It's still a cheaper way to shoot film in a long run.

Lloyd 35mm Bulk Film Loader LL01: RM250*

30.5m Bulk Roll 35mm Fomapan 100: RM205* = RM11.40 per roll

Used 35mm film canisters: Free (most film developers give them away)

*Note that these are the prices i could find at this current time (11 Mar 2023) of writing. Prices will vary.

I hope that this has been helpful to you. Happy shooting!