Agfa film coming to stores in the U.S.

[tunalegs]

Maybe this is already something that is well known but I somehow missed. Yesterday I was at the local photo store and noticed they had several bricks of Agfa Vista film which they were about to stock into the cooler. I asked them about it and they said their distributor for Ilford was now taking on Agfa. I asked if Precisa was going to be stocked, but they didn't know.

Is this news, or old info? I haven't seen Agfa stocked here in the U.S. for something like 10 years, and it'd be a dream come true if Precisa were available on the shelf.

 

[Chris101]

I haven't seen it yet in Phoenix. We have a lot of film support here, so I would expect it.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Everything I've read says this is just Fuji film rebranded. Why bother, unless it is a lot cheaper. It is not real AGFA film, which is a shame; I loved the color from AGFA's Portrait 160 film.

 

[Pete B]

I'm very keen on AgfaVista200.

Pete



And converted to B+W

 

[Pete B]

Why bother, unless it is a lot cheaper.

£1 for 36 exposures in the UK
😀
Pete

 

[tunalegs]

Honestly I don't really care about Vista, but the possibility that a not-absurdly-insane-priced slide film could appear on the shelves in the U.S. is exciting. I've been buying Agfa Precisa online for a while since it costs about half as much as "official" Fuji products.

 

[Muggins]

PeteB, that street with the Figaro parked in it looks incredibly familiar - somewhere along the Essex-Suffolk border, maybe Coggeshall?

Adrian

 

[Mauro]

I have purchased these Agfa films last weekend: as printed on the boxes, the Agfa Precisa is made in Japan (therefore, it should be a Fuji film) while the Agfa Vista is made in China (Lucky Film, I suppose). I will try to test them soon, but I have read some good comments on them.

 

[css9450]

No word on Scala?

 

[sevo]

No word on Scala?

Agfaphoto don't list it on their German site any more. A few (far from all) German dealers still have old stock, but given the above, that will be out of the dealer's cold storage.

If any, I'd expect a Scala successor from other makers (given Silvermax, which some insiders described as a first step towards a Scala reissue, most likely Adox/Fotoimpex). Agfaphoto seem to concentrate on products that are so mainstream that they can be sold through German drug store chains.

 

[Lauffray]

Can you even develop Scala anymore, didn't the qualified labs close ?

 

[sevo]

Can you even develop Scala anymore, didn't the qualified labs close ?

There are still one or two around In Germany. Plus recipes for home development. And the majority of users always seemed to use it as a excellent negative film rather than reverse processing it as intended.

 

[regularchickens]

What about APX 100?

 

[Pete B]

PeteB, that street with the Figaro parked in it looks incredibly familiar - somewhere along the Essex-Suffolk border, maybe Coggeshall?

Adrian

That's exactly it! Outside Paycockes House.
Pete

 

[totifoto]

Agfa Vista has been popular in the Lomography community for a long time and is usually available in there online store, not right now though 🙂 Don't know if they have been selling them in Lomo Stores. Price tag is 5$ 🙁

 

[sevo]

What about APX 100?

Hereabouts, there still is some old Agfa stock around, but many of the bigger dealers have switched to new APX 100 (presumably Kentmere 100).

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Don't I recall an announcement within the last couple years of plans to manufacture new APX100 based on the old film?

Chris

 

[sevo]

Don't I recall an announcement within the last couple years of plans to manufacture new APX100 based on the old film?

Not quite. Fotoimpex/Adox frequently have stated that they are working with Inoviscoat on a APX 400 resurrection, with APX 100 to follow after that. But these would be Adox branded.

The project seems to progress slower than announced - I would not hold my breath for it. Adox currently seem more intent on launching a broad range of niche products than releasing yet another mainstream film on a already crowded market - the number of black and white 100 and 400 films decreased much less than they may have expected. Indeed, the direct competition to APX did not decrease at all, all premium brand films in either class that existed after the demise of Agfa are still around, even Fuji Neopan 400 still seems to be available in irregular intervals.

 

[Photo_Smith]

I have purchased these Agfa films last weekend: as printed on the boxes, the Agfa Precisa is made in Japan (therefore, it should be a Fuji film) while the Agfa Vista is made in China (Lucky Film, I suppose). I will try to test them soon, but I have read some good comments on them.

The Agfa VistaPlus is made by Fuji and is identical to Fuji C200, In the UK it is sold in poundshops...

 

[pvdhaar]

As already pointed out, it's not actually Agfa Vista, it's Agfaphoto Vista. It's rebranded Superia, but only costs about half of that. Nothing wrong with that, as Superia isn't bad at all. The only thing unfortunate, is that the beautiful colour rendering of earthy tones that he original Vista had isn't there..