Astia 120 is discontinued

[maddoc]

but the latter never had a big market share...

It had, for documentation purposes lots of Astia was used at Japanese hospitals for it's neutral rendering of skin tones as I was told ...

 

[sepiareverb]

I wonder if Ilford will start looking at color again?

 

[photogdave]

I spoke to Fuji Canada yesterday and they say Astia 135 and 120 is still current. That might mean they have stock.
However what's available and what's not in print film is truly baffling:
Pro 160C: 135 in, 120/220 out.
Pro 160S: 135 out, 120 in, 4x5 in.
Reala 100: 135 out, 120 in.
No 800 film at all.
1600 Superia 135 in.

 

[lordvader]

I was under the impression that it's only been discontinued in 35mm.

I noticed that B&H had it listed as discontinued, but they've had it like that for quite a while.

I've still been able to purchase Astia in 120 and 4x5 without any hassles.

 

[bwcolor]

E-6 labs are few compared to C-41 and the many mini-labs/one-hour film operations are almost gone. It seems like film makers will need to make some tough choices. I can't imaging that they will bring out a film to replace Astia once it is discontinued. They have Provia and Velvia and the choices there will probably slim down also. Perhaps Provia will be the last standing, much like Portra 400NC/VC got together in the middle and we have the New Portra 400.

 

[HHPhoto]

Here is the official statement from Fuji:

http://fujifilm.jp/information/articlead_0066.html

Astia 100F is only discontinued in 135.

120, 220 (!!) and sheet film production is continued.

Astia is one of the best slide films ever made:
Excellent natural colors, fine skin tones, highest dynamic range of all color slide films, extremly high resolution and fine grain, excellent sharpness, excellent results with push processing.

I'll keep using it.

Cheers, Jan

 

[sevo]

Here is the official statement from Fuji:

Old news. It would be rather a surprise if the balance between 135 and 120/sheet had tipped so far to the latter that makers cancel 35mm film in favour of bigger formats. It is far more likely that Fuji has stopped to cast Astia, but still has master rolls for roll and sheet film left while they have already run out of 35mm stock.

 

[HHPhoto]

Old news. It would be rather a surprise if the balance between 135 and 120/sheet had tipped so far to the latter that makers cancel 35mm film in favour of bigger formats. It is far more likely that Fuji has stopped to cast Astia, but still has master rolls for roll and sheet film left while they have already run out of 35mm stock.

I doubt that.
Astia is mainly used for portrait, fashion and so on. And for these applications seldom 35mm was used, but mainly 120 and sheet film.
I think that is the main problem, that Fuji has always advertised Astia as a portrait and fashion film. It is excellent for that purpose, but Astia is also outstanding as a general purpose film, and due to my experience much better than Provia 100F for example.
Lots of slide film shooters have never tried Astia because they thougt it is an portrait film only.

Cheers, Jan

 

[kmallick]

Sorry for resurrecting this thread.

This is July 2012. How come I cannot find Astia in 120 in stock anywhere on online stores? I knew Astia in 35 was killed. But I thought 120 was still alive.

 

[kmallick]

Sorry for resurrecting this thread.

This is July 2012. How come I cannot find Astia in 120 in stock anywhere on online stores? I knew Astia in 35 was killed. But I thought 120 was still alive.

Ooooops, B&H says that its discontinued. RIP Astia 120. 🙁