Fuji price increases

JayM said:
Interesting that these companies are increasing the price of 35mm film to the point that it can't be shot like 35mm film. $3 bucks a roll is pretty reasonable for 36 B&W exposures in 35mm. $5-10 dollars though? Might as well use sheet film and a view camera.
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Have you checked the price of sheet film lately? I have. :bang:
 
My biggest issue with color film is development. Wal-Marts quality control went out the window a couple of years back, Walgreens was the best in town now is send out only. After it is all said and done I am paying almost a buck a shot. For this reason alone I quit shooting E6. I don't have a lot of color film in the fridge. I may shoot it up while I can and be done with it while I can and it's at least some what affordable.
I think the market now a days if a company doesn't sell something in the millions of units range it is not worth it to them. Even digital cameras, Ipads, Tablets, cell phones and all. It is ashame we live in a world were someone can't make a small profit and be happy. those corporate jets and golf trips is what it's all about.
 
I guess if you owned the company yourself and did not have to answer to the share holders you might be able to be content with a small profit. Anyone own shares? Price increases for film will only get worse for a few reasons. Increasing costs of raw materials and production spread over ever fewer units sold, satisfying share holders and the last man standing gets to name the price among them. Add in bloated executive salaries, corporate jets and other perks you have the perfect storm against seeing any halt in price increases. Sadly, not much you can do about it except rant.

Bob
 
Annnnnnnnnnnnnd speaking of ranting - for those that are damning Fuji here....would you (if you owned one of their digital cameras) praise them in their responsiveness regarding firmware upgrades?

Just a curiosity that's been on my mind seeing as how both the price increase and the X-Pro1 firmware upgrade happens within mere hours of each other.

Cheers,
Dave

(and I would tend to agree with Bob above me..)
 
You just knew that once Kodak went bankrupt and, among other things, bowed out of the slide film game, that Fuji would up its film prices. Economically, it makes total sense for them. There is no other competition. These days if you want to shoot slides, all you have is Fuji (at least here in the US anyway). They know that, and therefore they've got us.

In any case, I just ordered a bunch of Provia and Velvia while the prices still are reasonable. And if I can scrounge up some more money in the next week, I'll put in another order and try to stock up. It sucks, but it's the way it is. I'm just happy they're still making it.
 
cosmonaut said:
................... It is ashame we live in a world were someone can't make a small profit and be happy. .................
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Same chance as an employee saying they will just take a small paycheck and be happy. Maybe less so since the owner(s) put up their capital at risk and will always have the chance of losing their investment (ala Kodak)
 
semilog said:
I'm doubt it's easy to run a large company in Japan right now, and I doubt that the thing foremost in the minds of Japanese executives at the moment is gouging the small and delining number of American film users.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/japan_earthquake_aftermath.html
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I never said anything about the Japanese and their intent toward US customers. My point was that, just as with anything else, if you are the only one making a certain product you can pretty much charge whatever you want for it. Whether they said so or not, they know it's basic economics.
 
Isn't there a problem with the "be happy they're making it at all" arguments here? If they are charging $10/roll, they might as well not be making it once you factor in processing costs.

Any chance Fuji has seen how well their digital cameras have done recently, and would prefer to just be done with the whole film thing altogether? Perhaps they are just trying to drive more people out before ultimately ending production soon.
 
anjoca76 said:
if you are the only one making a certain product you can pretty much charge whatever you want for it.
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Does it makes sense if product is primary or secondary? Say, food is primary product. Film is...well, people can live without it.

If economy is good, people willingly pay for secondary goods. If people are on tight budget, then raising price doesn't mandatory raise income to manufacturer. No point beating tired horse for too long.

boomguy57 said:
Any chance Fuji has seen how well their digital cameras have done recently, and would prefer to just be done with the whole film thing altogether?
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Done? If you have a hen which isn't as good as ten years back but still lays some eggs - would you kill it or sell if there's buyer? Right, probably Fujifilm may want to concentrate on digital imaging but I don't think they would throw film out of window. Probably Asian investors would buy FF's film business.
 
boomguy57 said:
Isn't there a problem with the "be happy they're making it at all" arguments here? If they are charging $10/roll, they might as well not be making it once you factor in processing costs.

Any chance Fuji has seen how well their digital cameras have done recently, and would prefer to just be done with the whole film thing altogether? Perhaps they are just trying to drive more people out before ultimately ending production soon.
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Definitely true, and I admit I am among those who said that. But I guess the way I see it, I love my film cameras, I want to keep using them, and I especially like slide film. If the only way I can shoot slide film in the cameras I love to use is to spend an extra $3 per roll, then I guess that's what I'll do. If I were going through 20 rolls a month, then I suppose that could become a deterrent, but at the rate I shoot the price difference isn't enough for me to sell off all the gear I enjoy using and go all digital.
 
boomguy57 said:
Isn't there a problem with the "be happy they're making it at all" arguments here? If they are charging $10/roll, they might as well not be making it once you factor in processing costs.

Any chance Fuji has seen how well their digital cameras have done recently, and would prefer to just be done with the whole film thing altogether? Perhaps they are just trying to drive more people out before ultimately ending production soon.
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There is no problem with being happy that they still make film at all because the cost is the new reality. You either accept that or stop using film. To make the profits at the levels they need to the charge a certain price. When the price they have to charge to meet their profit expectations reaches a point where users balk at it they will likely call it a day and cease film manufacturing. You might see some cheaper film then on inventory close outs. I don't think any company deliberately sets out to destroy a profitable part of their company. OTH if it becomes unprofitable it is gone.

Bob
 
I find it interesting that many people here will religiously buy Leica products at whatever price. $4000 for your favourite lens, $6000 for a digital body to use it on ... no worries it's the best after all so why not?

I think film shooters are cheap! 😛
 
Does anyone actually know what the new prices would be, or at least approximately?

I don't believe they would be much higher than the current Kodak prices for similar types of film.
 
starless said:
Does anyone actually know what the new prices would be, or at least approximately?

I don't believe they would be much higher than the current Kodak prices for similar types of film.
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Based on what someone was saying on here, there will be a 20% increase on film. So take any price on B&H or freestyle and multiply it by 1.2. So, Neopan 400, which was $4.50 on B&H will now be $5.40.
 
$10 a roll too much? Most of Fuji's product has been way north of that in Australia for years.

Surely, if Fuji "would prefer to just be done with the whole film thing altogether" they would simply stop making film? It's not as if they need our permission to discontinue it. And yet, here we are in 2012 and Fuji offer more options than Kodak, despite all the naysayers over the last few years in all the other threads like this one. I can't believe the amount of Fuji-bashing that happens on this site. It was Kodak that discontinued reversal films recently, not Fuji, wasn't it?

And I think Keith's right.

Regards
Brett
 
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