Report finds film prices in 2026 remain relatively stable

Film shooters got a calmer price check than the online hand-wringing suggested. Analog Cafe’s 2026 Film Price Watch tracked 37 film products through 13 major stores around the world and found an average increase of 2.5% over the previous six months, a move that sits close to normal inflation rather than a market blowout. That matters because the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put headline CPI at 4.2% for the year ended May 2026, with core inflation at 2.9%, so film is rising in a broader economy where plenty of everyday costs are moving too.

The sharper reality check comes at the roll level. PetaPixel’s read on the report noted that Kodak Gold 100 in a 24-exposure roll would equal about $11.40 today when its 1990s price is adjusted for inflation, while Kodak Gold 200 in a 36-exposure roll averaged $10.34 in 2026. In other words, some current film still looks like a better buy than memory makes it seem, especially when the comparison is against the myth of uniformly cheap film from decades ago. Analog Cafe’s watch backs that up with a longer baseline, using thousands of data points dating back to 2018 and refreshing every six months.

The market was not flat across the board. Kodak Kodacolor 200 climbed 10.5%, Ilford XP2 Super 400 rose 10.4%, and Ilford FP4 Plus 125 was up 9.2%, moves large enough to change what lands in a shopping cart. But several stocks went the other way: Kodak Ektapan, also known as T-Max, 400 dropped 4.9%, Ilford Delta Professional 3200 fell 3.5%, and Kodak UltraMax 400 was 2.6% cheaper. That is the difference between a category in motion and a category in crisis.

The steadier 2026 picture also fits the recent run of analog news around the supply chain. Kodak Alaris’ January 2025 increases were mostly under 10%, with many in the 5% to 8% range, while Harman Technology raised U.S. Ilford film and paper prices in response to tariffs. Since then, silver prices more than doubled in 2025, Chemical & Engineering News said analog’s resurgence has spurred reinvestment in film and development chemicals, and China Lucky’s Color C200 reached U.S. buyers in June 2026. The market still has pressure points, but the data says those pressures have not turned every roll into a panic purchase.