Slide Film- Imported? USA? Difference?

[Mr.U]

Is there a difference between the two?? If so what are they?

[Michael Fanelli]

Is there a difference between the two?? If so what are they?

"USA" means that the film is made for the US market. For Kodak, that is a local delivery. When I used to buy film, "imported" meant that the film was made for sale in countries outside of the USA. The film is "reimported" into the USA by big sellers (e.g., B&H) or other distributers.

Sometimes films are made with different characteristics for different tastes in other countries. Sometimes I see, in my imagination at least, crates of film sitting in the sun in Saudi Arabia waiting to be loaded onto a ship.

Lots of people use the cheaper imported film without a problem. Personally, I never trusted it. Be aware that this applies mostly to Kodak. Fuji film has to be imported! :-)

[Mr.U]

OMG! Crates of film sitting in the sun in saudi arabia !! ARHHHH never thought of that.....Bet it would be a pretty photo though.

[Lionheart]

Is there a difference between the two?? If so what are they?

I bought imported all the time in the pre-digital days. For the life of me, I couldn't tell the difference between USA and imported, except for the packaging and the savings.

[another view]

The real difference is how the film is handled after it leaves the factory. In the case of USA film, each manufacturer controls it until it gets to the store. In the case of Imported film (or "USAW" film at B&H) you don't know where it sat and for how long.

I have used USA, Imported and USAW films and never had a problem. But for the small price difference I always use USA for important work.