Neopan 1600: Status?

Wow, I had no idea. I bought 15 rolls of Neopan 1600 as part of an order from Freestyle just last week. Now the film is not listed on their site. Had I known, I would have bought much more. I truly hope this film has not been permanently discontinued.
 
B&W film, for me, doesn't get any better than Neopan 1600 shot at 800 and dev'ed in Xtol. Beautiful stuff.

I guess it's time for me to get a better feel for pushing neopan 400, HP5, and Tri-X!
 
All kinds of internet chatter recently about Neopan 1600. Some say the film has been discontinued while others say that only some varieties (bulk rolls) have been dropped. It's still on the Fuji USA website, but not be Freestyle, B&H. Google "Neopan 1600 discontinued" for more info.

Jim B.

There were bulk rolls of 1600? Where?
 
So why would the backing paper be different on acros 120 compared to Neopan 1600? Acros 120 is still alive.

There never has been Neopan 1600 120 format.

Neopan 400 was formulated well before perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) was discovered to be a persistent organic pollutant, then slated for listing in Annex B of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (which finally occurred in 2009). The research had been building since the late 1980s. PFOS was therefore included as part of the antistatic coating of that film. It isn't just the backing paper either, the anti static agents are used in both the backing paper and the antihalation coating on the non-emulsion side of the film.

Acros was formulated after it was well known that PFOS would be banned and as such the anti static coatings were formulated using other products.

It was probably too expensive to re-engineer Neopan 400 120 in comparison to how much was being sold, so they pulled it out of production.

Marty
 
Last edited:
Could it be that Neopan 1600 will be exclusive for the Japan market?


Mark
Quito, EC

I had asked at one of the large photo-shops in Tokyo (last week) and they had no information about 1600 being discontinued (yet). As far as it is halfway official, stock will be sold out within one week ... :bang: Neopan400 in 120 was gone within days after the rumors became more substantial...
 
I was just messing around on yodobashi's site and it appears to be cheapest to order from them for store delivery. Will see how that goes as I just placed an order for 15 rolls @ 440yen/per.
 
What's wrong with Fuji, it's like they're morphing into Kodak... depressing.

Product changes, lines dropped and no explanations and no discussion of replacements.
Ilford may end up getting all my business. Sad, because all three of them are in my fridge now.
 
It's gone... i'm convinced. I had a photo exhibition tonight, and some of it was Fuji. I sincerely doubt any attending will ever see another show shot on Fuji large format film.
 
Well, I called Yodabashi in Shinjuku and ordered 40 roll’s, they will have it in stock tomorrow and will hold it to Wednesday for me... So at least in Japan Super Presto 1600 is still available.
 
S*h*i*t!

I'm really standardized on Pan F, Plus X and Neopan 1600; they all work great for me in DD-X.

How long does high sensitivity film really store in a freezer? How long could I seriously store Neopan 1600 for?

Cheers,

JP
 
How long does high sensitivity film really store in a freezer? How long could I seriously store Neopan 1600 for?

Not long. Even frozen, Neopan 1600 I stored for a year past expiry was 2/3 stop slower than it was fresh. Reliance on incorporated development accelerators for speed means it stores poorly.

Marty
 
A friend of mine, a professional developer, is developing Fuji filmstock ND80 at +5 stops (equivalent of ISO1600), getting results that have finer grain than Neopan 1600. I've ordered some and will try it and post results later. What I've seen looks really good. I love Neopan 1600, but for economy I shoot more and more filmstock. ND80 looks like it will take up the high ISO space where Eastman Double X can't go.
 
Back
Top Bottom