~ last update on 09. October 2022 ~
Film photography has become quite popular and more and more shops start selling and developing film. In this article I want to share my sources in Taipei for buying and developing film, film cameras and accessories. I started this list in 2017 when there were only a few shops in Taipei selling and developing film. Now there are much more and I will try to add more shops. Remarkably, all shops from 2017 are still listed here. Film is really not dead.
If you know other shops in Taipei, please let me know in the comments. I am still looking for a shop that has a good selection of chemicals for film development.
Bestphoto (林屋婁位沖印)
The shop was located near the intersection Bo’ai Road and Hankou Street in the camera shopping district between Ximen and Taipei Main station. In the past they shared the space with a lottery shop. But sometime in 2019 they moved to a new location, which was just opposite of the old one. They were inside another shop that sells photography equipment. However, nothing has changed with Bestphoto. They have a good selection of consumer and professional films from Kodak and Fujifilm. Also some exotic types or expired films for those who like experiments. Besides selling film, they also do processing, scanning and printing. And you can also find a small selection of film cameras there.
Update 2022: The shop moved again to a new location. It is still in the camera shopping area, but now on Kaifeng Street. See new address is below. I haven’t been inside the shop, so I cannot say much about their products and service yet.
Address of the shop
100台北市中正區開封街一段71號
No. 71號, Section 1, Kaifeng St, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100
Violet Digital Image Center (紫蘿蘭數位影像中心)
Recently a fellow film photographer, Marcel Sauder, recommended this shop for film processing to me. It is located in Hankou Street. It is not in the camera shopping district, but closer to Taipei Main Station. This shop offers a great variety of services related to printing. But they also process, scann and print film. Additionally, they offer a decent selection of films. Film processing is fast and you can get the film in one hour or less, depending how busy they are. You can also check their website to see the whole range of services and which equipment they use for film processing.
Address of the shop
台北市漢口街一段44號
No. 44, Section 1, Hankou Street, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100
Yu Li Photographic Equipment (宇利攝影器材)
This is a real camera shop selling all the recent camera gear and accessories. It is also located in the camera shopping district between Ximen and Taipei Main station on Hankou Street. Surprisingly they still have a big collection of films, mainly films from Kodak and Fujifilm, and a limited amount of films from Agfa and Ilford. The choice of films is bigger than at Bestphoto. However, they do not offer film cameras. Not sure if they offer film processing.
Address of the shop
100台北市中正區漢口街一段69號
No. 69, Section 1, Hankou Street, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100
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Linch Industrial Co., Ltd. (長勵實業有限公司)
The name is a bit unusual for a shop selling photographic equipment. Nevertheless, this one is a paradise for people who develop film. It is also located in the camera shopping area between Ximen and Taipei Main Station. In this shop everything for film development is sold: chemicals, papers, accessories, etc. They offer mainly products from Ilford, but also from Jobo, Paterson, and a few others. On their webpage the whole product range can be seen. I am not sure if it’s possible to order online from this page.
Address of the shop
10044 台北市中正區博愛路16號
No. 16, Bo’ai Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 10044
Lomography
There is a Lomography Embassy Store in Taipei. I have been there a few times to buy films and to bring them for processing. Compared to the Lomography online shop the choice of films in the Taipei store is quite limited. They mainly offer Lomography brand films, as well as a wide range of cameras and accessories. A few years ago they offered also film processing, scanning and printing. Not sure if this service still exist, because I haven’t been there since a long time. Also over the last couple of years the shop changed it’s location already three times. If you want to go there, please double check the address.
Update 2022: At one point in the past the shop moved again to a new location. The new address is below.
Address of the shop
106台北市大安區大安路一段51巷21號
No. 21號, Lane 51, Section 1, Da’an Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, 106
Gobido (享樂攝影)
Gobido has a shop hidden in the third floor of an old building at Electronic Plaza. In the past I went there a few times to buy films and chemicals for film developing. For some Kodak b/w films they are selling bulk loaded rolls, which are a bit cheaper than the regular rolls. They also offer some exotic films like the repacked cine-films from Kodak. However, this shop is more an office and storage for their online business. You cannot really browse the shelves, either you have to go there and ask what they offer or check the webpage first.
Address of the shop
10058台北市中正區八德路一段43巷28號3樓
3. Floor, No. 28, Lane 43, Section 1, Bade Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei 10058
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Online Shops selling film
Lomography
The online shop from Lomography has a huge selection of different films. I ordered once from them and shipping was very fast. To my surprise the shipment came from Hong Kong. Not sure if Lomography ships now from Taiwan. A good thing is, that the webpage is in different languages.
Gobido
Gobido sells quite a good selection of film photography related items in their online shop. Films, chemicals, accessories, and they sell many cinefilms, e.g. Kodak Vision 3, which are bulk loaded by Bokkeh. I ordered a few times from them. It was easy and shipping was fast. The shop is only in Chinese and has a quite messy layout which makes it a bit difficult to navigate.
Ruten
Ruten is something like a Taiwanese version of Ebay and it works pretty similar. In the past I ordered accessories, chemicals for developing and some films over this site. The site is only in Chinese and has an extremely messy layout. I found this page not user friendly.
Ebay
Good old Ebay. So far I only bought cameras and accessories from there. Mostly from Japanese sellers. Even though there is no Taiwanese Ebay page, I had no problems using the US page to order things and let them ship to Taiwan.
Fotoimpex Berlin
This shop is in Berlin in Germany. Currently it is for me the most awesome shop for film photography related stuff. They sell basically everything related to film. Of course a large range of films of different formats, chemicals for developing, papers for printing, dark room equipment, etc… Every time I go back to Germany, I like to place a big order and let it ship to my parents place. So I can bring it back to Taiwan. I usually buy there films that are not available in Taiwan. I also bought all my film developing equipment there and brought it back to Taiwan. They have an English version of the webpage and they also ship worldwide. But this might be quite expensive.
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Hi Alex,
That’s a good report – although at the moment my darkroom is not very active, it’s always good to know some sources in Taipei.
I always to my shopping at ‘Shing Fu Photo Supplies’ (Sec. 1, No. 65) which is next to the shop you mentioned on Han Kou St. They only carry Ilford, but a very big range: paper, films (even large format) and all chemicals you wish for. Infrared films and the Haman b/w positive paper (perfect for pinhole photography) is also available.
Kind regards,
Jens
Hi Jens,
Thanks a lot for your contribution. I will have a look in this shop next time I need chemicals.
All the best,
Alex
I want to add, that the shop mentioned in the comment moved to a new location. This is the new address of the shop:
10044 台北市中正區博愛路16號
No. 16, Bo’ai Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 10044
I also added this shop in the list above.
I usually develop my rolls at 台灣沖印網 3min from Zhongxiao Fuxing Station.
https://www.google.com.sg/maps/place/%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E6%B2%96%E5%8D%B0%E7%B6%B2/@25.0403868,121.5407629,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3442abd0cb8c229f:0x19f3927993e15770!8m2!3d25.040382!4d121.542957
I go here mostly to buy my film, all refrigerated and sometimes you can find decent used camera deals.
https://goo.gl/maps/EUzXc8nDk4E2
Thanks a lot for your comment. I didn’t know that outside of the “camera street” you can find shops selling film. I will check this shop and add it to the list here.
Hey Alex, I wanted to thank you for this post, I feel I owe you a drink or coffee! I want to get back at shooting film (medium/large format) and at Linch photo (I agree, weird name!) I could find tank, reels and my favorite films at decent prices (well by today standards that is). I couldn’t find there my developer of choice back then, the Kodak HC 110. They pointed me to another shop, but it wasn’t available there either. D76 is relatively widespread. I think I might go for the Ilfotec HC, which should be a close equivalent (available at that same shop). Do you happen to know anyone who has HC 110 in stock in Taipei? Cheers
I am happy to hear that my list helped you to find all the things you need. For Kodak, I don’t know who has it in stock. In the past I bought some Kodak developer from Gobido or online (mostly from ruten.com.tw). But it was difficult to find it. So I switched now completely to Ilford, because the supply is so much better.
Thanks for the tips! I go to Best Photo all the time and they’re great. There’s also Snappp by Taipei City Hall Station which has a huge range of cameras and film.
Thanks Chelsea for your comment and mentioning Snappp. I will have a look and add it to my list. However, at the moment Best Photo and Violet are my places to go for film development.
Hi Alex,
I’m moving to Taiwan for school, and I’m from the Caribbean, but I wanted to get into film, but what’s a good affordable film camera, and are you still in Taiwan. I’d love to make friends 🙂
Hi, I’m planning a trip to Taiwan and would like to buy some Polaroid film while I’m there. Do you know of any stores that sell it? Thanks.
Bestphoto and Yu Li Photographic Equipment have a wide selection of films. A while ago I also saw Polaroid films there. Not sure if they still have them. Most of the shops I mentioned in this article are in the same area. It’s easy to quickly check them all.
Hi Alex,
Thanks for this detailed blog post! I really appreciate it 🙂 I was wondering if you could comment on the prices of the popular film stocks (ie: Fuji superia 400, fujifilm 200, kodak gold 200, portra 400, ektar 100, etc.) please? I’m planning to go back to Taiwan in the near future and was wondering if I should order a bunch before I go? I’m based in the U.S. and prices for film are quite high. Fuji 200 is now going for almost $28 for 3 rolls.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
KT
Hi KT,
I did not buy film for a while, so I don’t know the exact prices in the shops right now. Usually the prices in the shops were similar to the prices online. But when I checked online, I was shocked how expensive film became in Taiwan. Prices have doubled or tripled from a few years ago. One roll of Fuji 200 costs here around 450 NT$, which is about 15 US$. So better buy the film in the US.
All the best,
Alex
hi Alex,
just wondering whether you know of any places that can scan sprocket holes…
i used to know three places, but they all seemed to have closed…
Hi Daniel, unfortunately I don’t know a place where you can scan sprocket holes. Not sure if Lomography could do it, since they were also selling film that is exposed around the sprocket holes.