The WonderBox ULTIMATE - Bi-Monthly 35mm Film Subscription Box

I’ve been getting the box for over a year and I do always love the surprises! It’s often films I love plus something I’d never think to buy.

Here’s some sample photos from some past boxes:

-Candido 800 pushed to 1600 at a dark concert
-waterfall photos were Silver Screen Negative
-Frankenstein 200
-Hanalogital Leak 400
-Phoenix 200 film in Seattle

I love the ultimate box! It helps keep my stocks up so I'm never low of film and allows me to try out new and skme old favourites!

Love the element of surprise and love the selection, I received a good mix of colour & black and white films as well as a few lovely items. As others said, it's great to try out films you wouldn't buy otherwise.
My only tip is don't check their social media stories until you receive the box as this can spoil the element of surprise.

Having started the subscription in October and being very pleased with the first instalment (photo of my previous review above). The subscription represented great value and showed that the film stocks had been carefully selected to not only demonstrate good value for cost but also a great range of film. I was thinking of submitting a new review for the Ultimate subscription since I got the AW email notification that I could receive wonderpoints, however, the most persuading factor was the March/April and the May subscriptions and seeing another two reviews (attached) by James B and Alice D. To quote said review who subscribed for March/April months, the film selection was a “pedestrian selection” and “individually would have been £60 so it hardly feels like a bargain either”. I must agree with them, although my film selection differed by a single roll, I wouldn’t have had a massive effect and theirs was actually better value.

Now the 4th and most recent instalment has been the most disappointing by far (photo of the box above). The idea of the subscription is pick out film that perhaps people haven’t shot so much or are popular stocks that still represent value for money with the big bundle purchase.

Unfortunately, 3 of the selection of stocks are probably the MOST popular/shot films - FP4, Gold and Kentmere 400. So the idea that the Wonderbox also contains a guide/tips to help people shoot the film included was pretty redundant considering that Gold and FP4 are so popular and the Kentmere films are known to be a great low price option for black and white.
Moreover, it feels that AW almost cheated me with these 3 rolls considering that for each of aforementioned stocks they were all 24 exposures rather than the possible 36. 3 lots of another 12 exposure would be the equivalent of another roll. It would have been nice to see that they didn’t select the cheaper options (this will point be mentioned later) for all 3 stocks and that one could have been 36 exposures.
On the other film stocks, I was more than pleased to see the newly stocked Mr Negative film, Orwo and Delta 100.
However, when you check the prices of all 6 rolls (taking into account them being 24 exposures) included in the box it would come to £59.25, for March I received it was £63.50. So it seems the value of film is not only decreasing but falling under the £60 mark. Again it seems that the review from another subscriber was right and you should consider just purchasing specific stocks rather than trusting the Wonderbox selection.
So what else was in the box that contained some extra value for money, a birthday sticker which may cost around £2 (I do really like the sticker) and a discount/pamphlet for SAIM. Of course this doesn’t always suit every subscriber, not just because of where you’re based but also what you typically shoot but it may help you venture outside your comfort zone.
There was also a return label and film dev order card included, yet this is included with most orders for film.
The final add on in the box, is a QR code that takes you to a page to help provide tips for shooting the film included in the box. Now after scanning this, it was anticlimactic. The 3 films featured with tips/help on how to shoot them, are the Orwo - great as it isn’t a film stock with loads of reviews but the others are the Kentmere 400 and FP4 (photos attached) - I don’t think I need to speak too much about the abundance of sources available either reviewing, examples, tips etc on these two stocks. Luckily, I was able to reach out to someone who really knows the Mr Negative film to ask for some guidance/tips since it isn’t featured. Lastly, on the QR page it only displays a certain number of the films in your subscription, which is understandable since you will receive some popular and well known stocks such as FP4 or Kentmere 400, so it’s not necessary to have tips on those stocks. But let’s say if there was even a guide for the Mr Negative film and I wanted to save that roll for the June photowalk. I wouldn’t be able to go back and rescan that QR code that was originally packed with the May Wonderbox because it’s not a specific QR code issued for a specific individual page dedicated for that month. Essentially, it’s a page that is completely updated every 2 months when a new batch of boxes/film is sent out.

Hopefully, June will emulate the first box I received when I signed up to the subscription. But the diminishing value and increase in disappointment is making me consider the Ultimate subscription and whether it’s just worth ordering and picking my own film for cheaper every two months rather than subscribing.

The Wonderbox Ultimate? Maybe try for a couple of cycles but make sure you are keeping an eye not only on the value (price and exposures) of the rolls but also the selection whether it’s just basic stocks. It was also after noticing the other customer’s review that I referred to at the start of this review, I realised a...

I’ve been on the standard wonder box sub for a few months but thought I’d give the bi-monthly ultimate sub a go for more variety.

Honestly feels like a bit of a pedestrian selection. Fomapan 400 and XP2 hardly very exciting, glad to have a go with Phoenix but it’s still a bit mundane. Total cost of these films individually would have been £60 so it hardly feels like a bargain either.

Generally a big fan of AW but you might be better off spending your £60 on individual rolls