Fuji dropping some negative films?

What I find amazing about this and similar threads is the confusion and speculation, hopes and fears, based on reading "tea leaves". What kind of business (Fuji) "communicates" so poorly that no one seems to know definitively what, if anything, has changed. This is not to criticize anyone's comments, however it sure is a crazy world. 🙂
 
...yes indeed, this bodes grave news when a company kills off its most popular emulsions.. For me Neopan 400 is the highest royalty of all Black and White films. I haven't shot that much of it in 120 (for 6x17, 6x12 or 6x45), but when working fo newspapers I shot well in excess of 285,000 rolls of it in 35mm format. I recently went back to one of those newspapers to check for a file for a rescan, and it looks as good today as it did the day I shot it.
If Neopan disappears in 35mm format, then I will no longer shoot film.
As for their C41 I cant imagine why they are killing it all off, it makes no sense as its extremely good film.
 
You worry needlessly. Search the threads. You will find that film use is exploding, there is more film being made then there ever was, and Kodak and Fuji are introducing new films all the time, so why worry? And, even it that should cease, it's a lead pipe cinch to take a few things from your cupboard, and with the aid of an old spinning wheel in your garage, produce any 35mm film you can imagine. Film will be with us forever! All of this angst for nothing. 😉
 
Pickett Wilson said:
You worry needlessly. Search the threads. You will find that film use is exploding, there is more film being made then there ever was, and Kodak and Fuji are introducing new films all the time, so why worry? And, even it that should cease, it's a lead pipe cinch to take a few things from your cupboard, and with the aid of an old spinning wheel in your garage, produce any 35mm film you can imagine. Film will be with us forever! All of this angst for nothing. 😉
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wow, the sarcasm is thick here. 🙂

Is this how you get when someone points out you jumped the gun?

Fuji didn't announce the elimination of a single film line. What they did was announce minor changes in how it is sold. Basically changes in quantity, with the most changes relating to 12 exposure rolls. I'm guessing that impacts the fewest people, and therefore has the least affect on their bottom line. After all, they didn't discontinue 12- ex. rolls, merely ensured that people buying 12 ex. rolls bought more than one.
 
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TWoK said:
Fuji's last new film was Provia 400X, right? Kodak has only released new emulsions of most of their films in the last 10 years and their only new film I can think of is Ektar 100.
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Then you are forgetting the Portra line. That was introduced relatively recently (sorry, didn't mark it on the calendar) and they made quite a push with it, giving away numerous rolls in 35mm and 120 sizes. Maybe 4 years ago? Definitely within the last ten years. 2006, I think?

You are also forgetting Fuji killing Velvia 50 in 2005, only to re-introduce it a year later because of overwhelming market feedback.

How often did Kodak introduce films before digital totally killed film and relegated it to the 10 people on the internet besides Picket Wilson? I'm struggling to remember a new emulsion in the 90's. When did they introduce the TMAX line? Seems that was before nobody shot film anymore, sometime in the middle ages, I mean the 1980's. (heavy sarcasm, sorry 🙂 ).
 
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40oz said:
Then you are forgetting the Portra line. That was introduced relatively recently (sorry, didn't mark it on the calendar) and they made quite a push with it, giving away numerous rolls in 35mm and 120 sizes. Maybe 4 years ago? Definitely within the last ten years. 2006, I think?
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That was the Portra 2 line. I don't know when Portra was originally introduced. A quick google search says 1998.

But after that 2006 introduction, about 16 months later, both 400NC and 400VC were revamped again, giving us two films in the Portra 3 line. I think Portra 800 also went through a third revision, even though it is still edge coded as 800-2.
 
yeah, I wasn't very sure that portra was intro'd in 2006, but it's tough to find exact dates on the internet if you aren't marking your calendar yourself 🙂 (and you don't use studio film, I might add. I don't track all known films as a matter of course. But I still can't forget or ignore things that have happened.)

But the point still stands. There is churn in the market but companies like Kodak and Fuji are still being active with film. It does them a disservice to forget reality. I'm not sure of the motivation to pretend that film is a forgotten realm. It's a viable and valuable market for many companies. What motivation does anyone have to pretend otherwise? Unless they work for Canon and Nikon?
 
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Maybe the problem is that Neopan 400 is just getting edged out by everything else out there, there is a lot of choice when it comes to B&W films I think, and that's just in the UK, there are a probably a few brands in Japan I've never heard of.

For all we know there will soon be Acros 400, or something like that.
 
thegman said:
Maybe the problem is that Neopan 400 is just getting edged out by everything else out there, there is a lot of choice when it comes to B&W films I think, and that's just in the UK, there are a probably a few brands in Japan I've never heard of.

For all we know there will soon be Acros 400, or something like that.
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I'd love to believe that, but if that was going to happen it's customary to state that the product is being replaced by a "new offering". No word like that has come from Fuji. It's all very cryptic.
 
Ok, Fuji news made your day. You are smiling in front of your computer. Now it is time to shut it up and stop acting like a kid. nanana told u so, nanana told u so.

Give people a break dude.

Pickett Wilson said:
You worry needlessly. Search the threads. You will find that film use is exploding, there is more film being made then there ever was, and Kodak and Fuji are introducing new films all the time, so why worry? And, even it that should cease, it's a lead pipe cinch to take a few things from your cupboard, and with the aid of an old spinning wheel in your garage, produce any 35mm film you can imagine. Film will be with us forever! All of this angst for nothing. 😉
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my dad showed up at my wedding with a P&S loaded with a 12 exposure. I don't think he managed to take all 12 shots in that one day 😀.

Pickett Wilson said:
24 exposure rolls are (were) popular with consumers since it took many of them a year to shoot even that many. I haven't seen 12 exposure rolls on store shelves for years, though.
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From APUG on the matter:

Everybody:

I have had face to face meeting with Fujifilm this week and this is the deal.

160s, 160c, 800z and T64 in "ALL SIZES" also Neopan 400 in 120 - GONE...

With the possibility of some more (chrome) (I have no idea what is for sale in Japan now or in the future)

If you want some of this film you better go buy it NOW !!

I commented on this thread days a go but I guess no one believes...

I will have a interview on this very topic very soon.

This is what happens when people don't BUY film !!

I will update everybody on this topic soon.

So NOW go buy some film and SHOOT IT !!

Thanks

Scott
--
Scott Sheppard
Inside Analog Photo
http://www.insideanalogphoto.com
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So, apart from Superia and 400H (probably because it's not such a distant cousin of Superia 400...) Fuji's professional colour negative line is effectively dead. E6 looks like it's going to be culled at some point and I wouldn't be surprised to see either Velvia 100 or 100F disappear, as well as Astia. And maybe some of the Sensia lines (maybe Sensia 200).

I've not seen anything to confirm Reala's continuance but I hope so, I could just about keep my chin up with Reala and 400H for 120.

There is still Portra which is excellent, but 160NC and 160S did and do have a slightly different pallette. I love Portra but Fuji was just a bit cheaper and I just liked it.

I really can see myself needing a digital camera for colour in a few years. Personally I think that blows because then there's the cost of a printer, and ink and having to do all that stuff on a computer...

So long as Kodak doesn't bail out on Portra we'll be fine otherwise all we'll have is high saturation films -- which are great and I use them -- but sometimes I don't want to be slapped up with vivid colour.

Still, black and white should remain safe if increasingly expensive.

Vicky
 
I just don't know why people are surprised at this. For Fuji and Kodak, all if this is simple economics. It's not a passion with them. And the economics don't add up for film anymore.
 
Pickett Wilson said:
I just don't know why people are surprised at this. For Fuji and Kodak, all if this is simple economics. It's not a passion with them. And the economics don't add up for film anymore.
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Strange that Era, Shanghai, Ilford, Rollei, Kodak, Foma and Efke are all producing BW emulsions. How do they do that if "the economics don't add up" ?

Fuji has 3 BW emulsions for the entire planet. They can't make a go of it but Kodak, the Chinese and these tiny Europeans can? I'm glad I didn't buy one of Fuji's newly released 6x7 MF folding cameras!
 
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jan normandale said:
Strange that Era, Shanghai, Ilford, Rollei, Kodak, Foma and Efke are all producing BW emulsions. How do they do that if "the economics don't add up" ?
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Jan, you have forgotten to mention the big BW manufacturers Agfa-Gevaert and Lucky, and the smaller but high-tec producers Filmotec and InovisCoat in Germany. And Tasma in Russia 🙂.

By the way, here ist the first official Fujifilm statement concerning this topic:

http://www.photographyblog.com/news/fujifilm_retires_three_films/

http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=873759

Seems that Pro 800Z and Pro 160C will stay completely.
Pro 160S will stay under new name Pro 160 NS in 120.

Neopan 400 production has to be stopped by environmental reasons.

Here is a statement from one of the biggest Fuji distributors in Germany, that due to Fuji Germany there will be a successor for Neopan 400:

http://www.aphog.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13026

Regards, Jan
 
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