I cannot say enough good things about this vendor. I recently made a mistake in ordering some paper but didn't discover it until I went to have a darkroom session. I thought I had ordered glossy paper but found I had ordered semi-matt. I filled out their convinient return/exchg form and sent it off. They have processed it and my paper is on the way: no hassle, no questions.......no problem! These folks are GREAT to do business with. Yes they don't have everything but they have a very good selection of films, papers and chemicals. I have found that if they don't have it I don't need it so my hat is off to them and I can reccomend them without reservation.
I haven't dealt with any other vendors who routinely make follow-up calls to see if their products and service are working out well for me. Nice!
I'm also not the next major art photographer on the horizon, so I make use of their house branded films, papers and chemistry. They are all great products that serve me well while shaving serious money off my photo habit.
Freestyle has had many odds and ends I've wanted to play with but never go the chance to do so until recently - by that time, Kodak had quit making most of it.
Granted, much of the film and paper is European, but to me that's preferable to supporting the Chinese - they've got WalMart; they don't need me.
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"Education is what remains after one has forgotten all things learned in school".
Albert Einstein
I like Freestyle a lot--who else has their collection of silver-based photography materials? I wish they were a little quicker with shipping, but that's a very minor gripe compared with the amazing selection and reasonable prices they have.
Add my kudos to this company. I've only made a few small orders, but they arrived very promptly, and they were terrific to deal with on the phone.
I'm pretty impressed by their catalogue, too. For a guy who's re-discovered analog photography it's great to see easy access to so many products. Why, with all these possibilities, one could even -- *gasp* -- let their creativity fly.
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It's great being able to walk in to a retail store and buy E-6 chemicals off the shelf, and special order Ilfochrome chemicals with no shipping hassles. They always respond to e-mails in my experience. They have a great selection of stuff on hand at any given time. No worrying about whether something has to be ordered and what not. They just stock so much. They also know what the hell they are talking about! Good luck at Samy's or B and H finding people who know squat about film.
It would be nice indeed if Freestyle had an east coast outlet, but on the rare occasions I've been able to shop at B&H in person, they had some very knowledgeable staff--if you can find the right person. It does hurt with the shipping charges on wet chems and there's nothing decent around DC anymore.
Freestyle is great. I really like having a printed catalog. It is the only good one that I know of. Sometimes it is quicker for me to buy from Calumet or B&H. I have had very good service from Calumet also. B&H is cheap, has relatively weak service, and I always seem to want things on Saturday and get their annoying pop-up reminding me of their piety.
I like Freestyle's catalogue and website. Their selection of black and white film and enlarging paper and chemicals can meet any budget. I've enjoyed their catalogue for many years and keep returning to do business for their economy prices and the the specialty items they make available.
On B&H... I recently received their catalog. Remember when it was chock full of photography stuff (back in the 1970s and 1980s)? I (used to live on the East Coast) have ordered and bought (at the counter) many things from them in the past. Even went there in person on a Saturday (the very first time - and never again) on a Saturday only to find they were closed and take the long walk & bus ride back to Jersey. I learned about religion quickly thanks to photography
Anyway, back to their recent catalog. I think it had 3 pages of analog items! And several hundred pages of digital and video! Things have certainly changed.
Freestyle Photo 
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