The sad loss of Jessops in the U.K.

Arminius · Joined: 11 Nov 2012 Posts: 24 Location: U.K.

It has been some weeks now since we in the U.K. lost the only remaining national photographic retailer.

I did not have any other real place to get my film and have for the time being had to suspend my use of film!

I need input as to who I can rely on to get film from in the future.

I will read the threads and try to decide how best to keep my interest in film photography alive, albeit mainly B/W.

I wish you all the best of luck in our joint endeavour in keeping the waining industry alive!

Good luck and keep up the fight for the dying art.

MfG Andreas

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

GeorgeSalt · Joined: 09 Feb 2013 Posts: 336 Location: Norfolk, UK

Arminius · Joined: 11 Nov 2012 Posts: 24 Location: U.K.

Well at my Boots they have no better, in fact only one equally good quality film(experia) and they are only cheaper on the lower iso films and on makes that Jessops did not even carry!

But my point was as much, if not more to do with having larger outlets, that concentrate more on certain services/aspects of photography, that you will not get at a 'general store' like Boots!

Without this larger retailer base, the film manufacturers, and certainly the distributors will have even less confidence in continuing with film as a commercial venture!

It is all so wrong!

Shocked

GeorgeSalt · Joined: 09 Feb 2013 Posts: 336 Location: Norfolk, UK

Ahh.. you had a larger Jessops.. my local carried very little film, perhaps four or five 135 films (mostly colour negative, perhaps two Ilford B&W, no slide film) and only one Ilford 120 b&w (no colour, no slide). My local Boots over twice the range in 135 that the Jessops shop in the same street ever did in the last ten years (although no 120). Jessops really was the worst shop locally for film buying.

Jessops lost the way many years ago, they didn't have a long-term strategy for the transition to digital, their e-sales system was a shambles, the quality of prints they produced was appalling. Sad to see them go, but the writing was on the wall five years ago. It's a wonder they lasted as long as they did.

Jessops was an extremely minor retailer of film - I expect that Boots and even Poundland sold more film nationwide. The only impact their going will have on the film market is that their High Street developing service has been lost. But there's been an over-supply of developing services compared to the market place for a few years (135 C41). Hopefully this will allow someone else to boost their market share and continue to be profitable. I will now use mail order labs for 120 developing.

Arminius · Joined: 11 Nov 2012 Posts: 24 Location: U.K.

I used to have no trouble getting 1600asa film at Jessops and that is something Boots and especially Poundland have never, cannot and will never be willing/able to supply!

While I commend the amount of available outlets for developing, I do not see these two high street retailers being enough to ensure full or even satisfactory continuation of film supplies and online sales as always are fraught with an over abundance of unassured and uncontrolled rip-off 'retailers'!

It is only a matter of time before film gets dropped altogether, and that is my major concern.

Rolling Eyes

p.s. I only have a Pentax ME Super with 50mm f1.7 and soon to arrive very fringe Vivitar 3800n with Ricoh 50mm and Vivitar 35-70mm, that I prefer for just using with Ilford 400 B/W film.

Wink

p.p.s. we also in a 1 year period lost 2 of 4 independant photo retailer, incidentally both were the more knowledgable traders with 80 years combined experience, the remaining 2 traders having only 30 yrs combined and a much more sell it now and stuff the old school attitude!

Shocked

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

You were lucky having a larger Jessops, the small shop in my local town was really useless. I don't miss it at all.

I buy my film on line:

http://www.silverprint.co.uk/Catalogue.asp?PrGrp=2

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/eng/browse/categories/film-darkroom/film

http://www.speedgraphic.co.uk/film/46_0c.html

http://www.7dayshop.com/photo-video-supplies/film

I hope this helps - I prefer low-ISO (<200) fine-grain film and I haven't checked what they stock in fast films.

GeorgeSalt · Joined: 09 Feb 2013 Posts: 336 Location: Norfolk, UK

As I said, you obviously had a larger and better stocked Jessops. My local was very poor as far as stock was concerned, although the staff were excellent - and at least half still shot film at least occasionally.

7DayShop - www.7dayshop.com/photo-video-supplies/film - that's where I've been getting most of my film for a while. Watch their Special Offers and Clearance section because there are some great deals to be had on short-dated stock.

Film special offers - www.7dayshop.com/photo-video-supplies?cat=21&special=
Film clearance offers - www.7dayshop.com/photo-video-supplies?cat=21&clearance=

Silverprint and AG Photographic all stock a good range of film and will sometimes have a specific film cheaper then 7DS.

Amazon have a good selection of film, and there are several good sellers on Ebay that have solid reputations.

Film will not die for lack of retailers, although a few retailers have died because they no longer met the needs of the needs of the market. We also lost an independent a few years ago - they persisted in selling at full retail price, they're shop staff were less knowledgeable than Jessops, they decided that the internet was not for them - and that decision was probably the one that cost them the business.

Arminius · Joined: 11 Nov 2012 Posts: 24 Location: U.K.

Thanks for the links, I use my trusty Pentax for mainly heavy metal and thrash concerts, especially from the 'moshpit', so I need fast everything as well as some available depth!

Cool

We had the luck of having a large-ish branch of Jessops run by a very knowledgable lady with herself over 45 years of film photo experience. And she still is active as a photographer, particularly working at historic/re-enactment shows!

It is her that I owe a lot of thanks to for her superior memories of tech and spec of cameras and 3rd party lenses, in particular Tamron!

But yes, I suppose we are/were a bit lucky in that respect.

Rolling Eyes

Xpres · Expire: 2014-10-28

Not sure where you live, but outside of London and the large cities your only choice now is mail order... unless you are very lucky and still have an independent near you.
There are others not already mentioned such as...
http://www.morrisphoto.co.uk
http://www.morco.uk.com/film.htm
http://www.theimagingwarehouse.com/Products/Film
http://www.processuk.net/
http://www.thedarkroom.co.uk/
http://www.secondhanddarkroom.co.uk/index.php/
And so on....

nurkov · Expire: 2014-03-09

It's always sad to see a company go especially with the loss of 4000 jobs but jessops was terrible as a shop. No knowledge whatsoever, very little hardware to play with and very expensive as well.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

It sounds to me like Jessops wasn't really meeting the needs of most of its clientele. Here in the US we have a similar situation with Wolf/Ritz Camera, who seem to be constantly going in and out of bankruptcy. It's gone from a national chain with its own brand of aftermarket lenses (Quantaray) to a total of 13 stores across the country now. And I'm not sure if these are the last 13 stores left as the parent company continues to liquidate assets or if it's attempting to sustain some semblance of business at this level.

Last time I was in a Ritz/Wolf, they had a decent selection of digital photo gear, but stocked almost no film -- and this was a couple years ago. Chances are, your average Ritz/Wolf these days doesn't stock any film anymore.

Contrast that with the two last remaining camera shops of any importance in my city of several million people. Both these shops are independents, and both are doing well, catering to the gamut of clientele, from neophyte to pro. I know that pretty much the same is true in other large cities here in the US (and probably a lot of smaller cities as well), so I've come to the conclusion that photo gear chain stores are not all that viable as a business plan. At least around here they aren't. So by extension I guess I'm wondering if the same thing is going on in the UK. Do you, for example, have the equivalent of Best Buy over there? Here in the US, it seems that BB occupies a niche that meets the needs of most amateurs through its reasonably thorough offerings and low prices, which was pretty much the same clientele that Ritz/Wolf was after.

DigiChromeEd · Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Posts: 3462 Location: Northern Ireland

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

I get a lot from www.ag-photographic.co.uk/

Eugen Mezei · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 265

For Europe I think cheapest is to order from one of the german companies.
Fotoimpex, Macodirect, Nordfoto, Calumet but also Webphota, Filmotec, Sp�rsinn and Lumiere-shop.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

If you live in Germany maybe, but the postage costs to England are cost prohibitive.

Eugen Mezei · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 265

I wrote Europe and I stick to it. German posting fees are one of the lowest in Europe.
Price for film is definitevely higher than in Germany. Did you compare above which ordering amount it will be cheaper than ordering from the UK, shipping included?

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

It's not cheaper for me to order from Germany, I've looked into it before. There isn't actually much difference in price between UK and German suppliers on the major brands, however, there are some films that are available in Germany that aren't available here and the German brands like Adox and Rollei are slightly cheaper in Germany, but only slightly.

Having bought several items from Germany, I can tell you, shipping costs are a considerable factor to consider and wipe out any cost saving if the item is actually cheaper.

Eugen Mezei · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 265

OK, I had the impression film being cheaper in Germany. International shipping cost shure are.