Film News: Fujifilm raises prices/cuts film, again.
As we all know, there is no love lost between myself and Fuji(film). But they are a huge multinational cosmetics company who have shareholders to suffice and a different product line to focus on (no pun intended). So it really comes as very little surprise to tell you that Fujifilm are raising prices and cutting yet more film.
I think I feel a sense of deja vu, didn’t this happen before? Oh, yes, so it did. More than once in fact!
It really seems to be a self fulfilling prophecy though, they raise the price, complain that nobody buys film (whilst doing zero advertising), cut the film, rinse and repeat. But at the same time I cannot hate fuji for doing it. It is the simple economics of scale in business. They are set up to manufacture quantities that there is no longer a market for. They are also a very large company, with a Japanese style of rigid structure, so scaling down or changing the model is just not really compatible with the way they do business.
But enough about the why and more about the what.
Anyway, on July the 10th Fujifilm made the following announcement on their Japanese website, which you can see the link to here http://ffis.fujifilm.co.jp/information/articlein_0040.html
It starts with the usual spiel about being very sorry, but we have to do this etc. And then we get to the meat and bones of it.
OK, this first one is the price increases. There are going to be roughly 20% price increases across the board for the products listed here. The price hike is expected around October. There is no plan to cut production of any of these at this time, but the prices are going up. This is for the domestic market, so you can expect to see the same overseas too. 20% is a big hike, but not as big as the nearly 50% hike we got on Kodak products in Japan earlier this year. That was a shock.
But this one, this is the important one for all of you that want to know what we will be losing.
Yes, 220 Pro160NS is going, but that is not really a surprise at all. Practically nobody buys it.
The real bummer is the Provia 400X, which I had already been told would happen, but now you see it on the screen it kind of makes you want to shoot as much as you can of this really versatile film (pricey though). I am personally going to get as much of this stuff as I can get my hands on, because I love it.
Also no surprise for the 220 versions of the other reversal films. But this shows a growing trend really. It really feels like death by a thousand cuts.
But I think saddest of all is really the Velvia 100F sheet film. Because this stuff is lovely. But again, it is expensive and hardly anyone is shooting it anymore.
The Provia 400X will apparently cease sales in December 2015, though I anticipate there is going to be a run on some of these films, just like the last time there was a cut and we will see all of them gone by November. The others between December and April of 2016.
Whilst it saddens me to bring you this news, I remain optimistic about other avenues for film. We have rumblings coming from Italy about Ferrania being ready soon. And Rollei are really doing a lot to get more and more film out there.
CFP are making cool film bundles too and there are other makers in Europe still churning it out.
What can you do about this? Not a lot really, apart from getting out there and shooting, of course.
In fact, I might make some Provia 400X bundles as a send off…
Cheers
JCH
I am so sad to read this! I feel like my relationship with film and especially Velvia 50 just started. The colors are just uncomparable. I find the prices nowadays to be high already, so I am thinking of filling up the fridge. Any advice for a studentbudget Bellamy?
Thanks for the news on Fuji! Would love to get a Fuji Provia 400X film bundle :D Greetings from Germany
Here’s something I don’t get. On the one hand, we have film manufacturers who are forced to act like Kodak and Fuji and rise prices/cut films stating that the market is shrinking, and so on and so forth.
On the other hand — and it’s something I’ve observed by closely monitoring eBay for the past 3 months — people keep looking for and buying all kinds of film cameras and formats. I’ve followed a lot of auctions on eBay, in many cases for cheap, common cameras that aren’t collectibles at all. So, I wonder, what are all these people shooting with? Expired film? Are they all keeping huge stashes of film in their fridges?
Perhaps I’m just missing something obvious, but I feel it’s a big disconnect between this apparently high demand for film cameras and the struggle we’re seeing with regards to film sales and market. There are surely collectors among the film camera buyers, who just acquire a certain piece of equipment for their shelves, not to shoot film with. But again, I’ve seen a lot of popular rangefinders, point-and-shoot, and SLRs being purchased on eBay lately, often through heated auctions. These are evidently people who are going to need film, right? I guess their numbers aren’t high enough to make a difference…
Cheers,
Rick
Well, looks like I’ll be stocking up on the Provia 400x as well. It’s been my go-to film for ages, and I really haven’t been shooting as much as I used to – partly because of the price, but mostly because I’m a black and white kind of girl now.
The worst part for those of who shoot chromes is that we are stuck with 100 speed films now – which is great for sunny days and tripods, but sucks for everything else. I guess Portra will be the only option now for colour if you need a higher speed film.
It’s always sad to see a dick move like this, and everytime this happens Fuji or Kodak make one I take one step close to stop using their product all together.
For those that use mostly b&w film, shifting to a company like Ilford, where the focus is analog photography and all it’s aspects.
On the long run, supporting these film centric manufacturers is the only way to ensure film availability. Clearly Kodak and Fuji don’t have a long term plan to keep this going.
It’s to the point I’ll use the color in the freezer and move to digital when I want color images. I prefer B&W anyway for ease of home processing and that look.
Still find it disheartening that business must see monumental profits or it’s not worth the effort to continue. It’s blamed on everything other than what it is. Simple greed. Greed of the Board of Directors,greed of the shareholders and saddest of all the greed of the end users. They want a great product that continues to improve however are unwilling to part with the $$$$$ to get it. I am more than willing to pay for a quality product. So deliver and I’ll buy.
If these guys don’t want to be in the film game anymore, why don’t they just sell off the division to a different company that could continue to make the film? It’s a no brainer to me. These jumps in price just seem to alienate a loyal and dedicated group of users.
I thought Provia 400X had been discontinued a couple years ago, or was that in the U.S. only?
Anyone have any idea when the price increase will be in effect in Japan? I will be living there from September onward, but I wonder if that price hikes will already be increase? Planning to buy a lot, in bulk.
Whooos sorry, was obviously in the article
I’ve got no data to back this, but I’d say that most photographers don’t shoot Fuji. I reckon 5-10% of all sold film are chromes, if that.
People that use most film are professionals. I’d say most are in the wedding/fashion industry and those guys all shoot Portra/400h.
Yes – Kodak did the race: They do have a strong innovativ product – the Portra films. The last resort of Fuji is the FP-100c “Polaroid” film. The instantfilm with the hidden negative.
I think: in a near future, the filmmarket will grow. Simply all the material in all the photograpfers friges are going to expire. It is important for Fuji not to bail out to early.
Good news is that I thought provia 400x was long dead- bad news is, its actually dead
Is provia 400x available in the US? I didn’t find it in B&H
Hiiiii,
Velvia 50, 100, 100F, Acros 100 un 135 & 120 itvs finished, They stop the production?
It’s like death by a thousand cuts. Why don’t they just be done with it and end their film production entirely? Personally I’d rather support film manufacturers that actually want to make film, like Ilford, CineStill, Ferrania etc.
More price increases, more cuts. For black and white there are affordable alternatives, but this year has not been good for color, what with the extremely high increases on Kodak color print film, especially Ektar. Now Venus 800 is going up (time to stock up, perhaps, as I’m sure its round of cuts is just around the corner) and Provia 400x is getting the axe. Time to give up color entirely?
sad to see this but not surprised at all
i think negative film, especially black and white, is unlikely to disappear but slide film has a good chance of disappearing sometime down the road…:(
Hiiii. I ask my question again : is it totally finished for VELVIA 50, VELVIA 100, ACROS 100 for 135 & 120? My question is, se will never find again, buy again in a few months these great films? I would like, please a very clear answer. Thanks so much. If it s finished, what we can buy now?
No, Velvia 50, Velvia 100 and Acros are not being discontinued. They will still be available, but the price will go up. Please check the article carefully.
Thanks
Thanks so much Bellamy ;-) for all and of course your great wonderful super web site.
I know it’s been said before (I think I’ve made this observation myself at least once) that when Fuji says it’s committed to film, it really means it’s committed to Instax (while I like that product it’s not only option).
Please Fuji, sell the provia 400x patents (or what ever) to some one that wants to produce them!!!!
They need to just sell the rights/patents and get out of the film game all together. I like ilford, rollei, etc but I want to see more color & especially E6 Slide film stocks available. Not a big fan of B+W personally, but luckily I already have a freezer full of 135 velvia 50 and lots of other color film stocks from Kodak, Adox, FFP, etc.
Fuji could surely make a 35 mm film camera to fill the huge price gap between the Holgas and the Leica film cameras. It’s great to buy a used camera on eBay, but if you want something new and guaranteed to be reliable, there’s not much out there today in the way of film cameras, despite what seems to be a growing interest in film photography on the part of both younger photographers who have only known digital all their lives and want to try something novel, and at least some of the older generation who are returning to film.
They did that. It was called the Klasse. They stopped making them last year I think? Correct me if that’s wrong. It’s in the JCH Premium Compact buyer’s guide:
https://www.japancamerahunter.com/2013/05/premium-compact-cameras-a-buyers-guide/
If i’m not mistaken, there is only 1 good IQ slide film left, the Velvia. This may go too in 2016.
I do not shoot B&W. What if Kodak goes under with Portra 160 and Ektar. This will be the dead of 35mm Leica. I can see myself shooting maybe B&W 120 format. Sad times.
I propose a mass boycott to Fuji, stop buying Fuji even digital products…
As a former Fuji Professional Professional Products Tech Rep who retired over 10 years ago, it seems selfish to condemn a company for surviving.
Would they do this if enough film was being sold?
The WSJ stated they “had never seen an industry so eager to dismember itself”.
You should be angry at Canon, Nikon and the rest. And don’t forget all the consumers who purchased digital cameras.
I remember a colleague at a sales meeting at the digital dawn who whispered to me, “We are eating our grandchildren” as the digital folks gushed over their 1 Mb chip cameras.
Now I use the Fuji X system and love it. With this system I can finally, happily state digital has matched film quality.
Many of the comments here sound like horse lovers bemoaning the advent of the automobile.
Remember how that turned out?