Topic: In case anyone was still under the delusion that Fuji has a "commitment" to film...

[Indofunk]

http://www.japancamerahunter.com/2016/08/film-news-fujifilm-discontinuations

The big news here is that some sheet film is being discontinued. I don't shoot sheet film, but I mourn the loss of any film

[lharby]

The link wont load for me. But if this is 4x5 colour sheet film then that is a real pisser for me.

[Francois]

Fuji color pro 160 in the 4x5 and 8x10 formats is gone.
And all the multipacks too. So this means another price increase for their products.

[Faintandfuzzy]

It is for their Pro 160NS 4x5 film in Japan.  It was never available in the rest of the world.  More worrying is the discontinuation of multi packs of 3 and 5 rolls.  When I am in Japan, I always grab the 5 packs of Superia 400 and the 3 packs of Natura 1600.  It works out to about a $1 more per roll when bought individually.  It may be the first step at getting rid of films like Natura and the Superia 800.

[SLVR]

I never thought fuji had any commitment to film... This is why I've been shooting kodak for the last 3 years with small exceptions here and there.

[jharr]

I wonder if their motion picture division is still profitable enough to continue? Their remjet is easier to remove than Kodak.

[Faintandfuzzy]

My understanding was Fuji ceased production of their motion picture stock a while back.  Kodak is the only one in this market.  I mostly threw my supert to Kodak a while back...but when in Tokyo, Fuji film is so much cheaper than Kodak, I tend to grab Superia and Natura and run with that instead.  For my work back home, Portra and Ektar are my mainstay.

[ManuelL]

Hmm, I shot quite a bit with Fuji Pro160NS 4x5. Really liked the green tones for landscape. But I moved to the Kodak 4x5 films recently because the Fuji was already getting more expensive.

[MacArron]

I've never heard of Fuji Natura. Is it any good? Sadly, I think I must have said WAS it be any good...

I'll check the web to know more about it. Just for fun, of course.

[Faintandfuzzy]

I've never heard of Fuji Natura. Is it any good? Sadly, I think I must have said WAS it be any good...

I'll check the web to know more about it. Just for fun, of course.

Natura 1600 is a great high speed color film.  The grain is pretty decent for the speed.  I rate it at 1250.

[Late Developer]

I've never heard of Fuji Natura. Is it any good? Sadly, I think I must have said WAS it be any good...

I'll check the web to know more about it. Just for fun, of course.

Natura 1600 is a great high speed color film.  The grain is pretty decent for the speed.  I rate it at 1250.

I'd heard of Natura but never seen any in the UK.  I did a bit of digging around the interweb and there's a couple of references suggesting that it's the same as Superia 1600 - readily available in the UK.  I've only shot a few rolls of this 1600 film in 35mm (not sure they make it in 120 and definitey doubt they'd make it in sheets) and quite liked it. 

[Faintandfuzzy]

I've never heard of Fuji Natura. Is it any good? Sadly, I think I must have said WAS it be any good...

I'll check the web to know more about it. Just for fun, of course.

Natura 1600 is a great high speed color film.  The grain is pretty decent for the speed.  I rate it at 1250.

I'd heard of Natura but never seen any in the UK.  I did a bit of digging around the interweb and there's a couple of references suggesting that it's the same as Superia 1600 - readily available in the UK.  I've only shot a few rolls of this 1600 film in 35mm (not sure they make it in 120 and definitey doubt they'd make it in sheets) and quite liked it.

While a lot of people think the emulsions are different...my understanding is that Fuji treats the Superia line like an amateur film and releases it early in anticipation of it being on the shelf for a period of time.  Natura is like the old Kodachrome Pro....shipped at its prime...and kept refridgerated.  I have noticed slight differences in color, but nothing that isn't a 2 second tweak away in Photoshop.

[Kai-san]

I've never heard of Fuji Natura. Is it any good? Sadly, I think I must have said WAS it be any good...

I'll check the web to know more about it. Just for fun, of course.

I think the Natura is very good considering the high speed. There is a Superia Venus 800 as well which is very good too. I don't think any of them have been marketed outside Japan. I think you can still get them here: http://www.japanexposures.com/

[Faintandfuzzy]

I've never heard of Fuji Natura. Is it any good? Sadly, I think I must have said WAS it be any good...

I'll check the web to know more about it. Just for fun, of course.

I think the Natura is very good considering the high speed. There is a Superia Venus 800 as well which is very good too. I don't think any of them have been marketed outside Japan. I think you can still get them here: http://www.japanexposures.com/

I've never used the Venus 800.  Might be worth a try the next time I am in Shinjuku.  The wall of film in the fridges are a site to behold

[clagom]

Fuji Natura 1600 is a great film. Of course Fuji will kill the single ones too pretty soon... they already killed beautiful other film without caring at all.

[MacArron]

Thank you guys for the info provided. I've checked a couple of reviews and concluded that it is not my kind of liking film. It seems that it is still grainy (yeah, I know it is 1600 but...) and daylight balanced, which results in nice colours for day photos (at 1600?) and yellowish/greenish colours at night, depending on the lamp used. And most of the photos I've seen are night photos...

Anyway, any film ceased production is a sad notice to me, even if I am not using it.

[hookstrapped]

This says the rumors aren't true, at least for the US market

http://www.thephoblographer.com/2016/08/02/no-fujifilm-usa-will-not-discontinue-film-multi-packs/#.V6HLhCOANBc

[Faintandfuzzy]

This says the rumors aren't true, at least for the US market

http://www.thephoblographer.com/2016/08/02/no-fujifilm-usa-will-not-discontinue-film-multi-packs/#.V6HLhCOANBc

I'm not certain what their source is talking about.  36 exposure rolls have always been readily available.  You cant "bring back" something that has always been there.  I think Fuji has no idea what is going on in their various markets...very strange.

[Francois]

Strange yet not. I know Japanese companies are pretty opaque and it's been shown many times that the presidents will gladly save the honor of their company by playing with the numbers. I'm thinking about the big Olympus scandal of a few years back when the company was constantly in debt yet the numbers were showing big profits... Until he was caught and shamed for doing so.

[Late Developer]

I know it's a statement of the blindingly obvious, but the best way to avoid rumours is for the company (in this case Fuji) to make a clear and unambiguous statement - either at product level or more strategically (although the latter is highly unlikely as it would play into the hands of competitors).  Also, if the impact varies by region, that would also be very useful to know.

No point getting too up or down on speculation or rumours as, of course, those who spread them tend to impart their own "spin" on them.

[Francois]

I guess the only proof of what's really going on will be the store shelves...

[gothamtomato]

It's not a 'delusion'. Fuji is committed to film and I know that for a fact (this coming directly from a company rep).

[Faintandfuzzy]

It's not a 'delusion'. Fuji is committed to film and I know that for a fact (this coming directly from a company rep).

I can only presume that is true....as currently they make more from film and Instax than they do their whole digital imaging category

[Francois]

Unless they have a devilish plan to come up with a working version of the eFilm vaporware gadget we've all seen come and go since the early days of the digital revolution.

[Skorj]

Might be worth a try the next time I am in Shinjuku. 

Ping me, and I'll meet you there... Skj

[Faintandfuzzy]

Might be worth a try the next time I am in Shinjuku. 

Ping me, and I'll meet you there... Skj

Will do