Acros 100 in peril?

faberryman · Apr 5, 2018

NB23 said:
Another reason could be that they disliked the font used for Acros on the packaging and they realized that it would be too costly to change it so they stopped production. Or maybe they had to order a new batch of plastic containers and that’s what ate their profits. Hey, we can speculate and this is the internet, right?

Or maybe, just maybe, there was insufficient demand for the product to continue to manufacture it at a profit. It really isn't rocket science.

redrockcoulee · Apr 5, 2018

In Canada Acros was by far the least expensive 120 Black and White film. I can buy 3 rolls of it for less than two rolls of Ilford with Kodak being slightly less than Ilford. In 4x5 it is pretty well the most expensive and have never used it in that format. I am certainly going to buy more when I get back from my holidays next month. I will miss it when it' gone.

I have no idea on how Fuji comes up with their prices and also wonder why so many complaints about their price increass when they stayed cheaper than Ilford. I had bought 10 rolls of Neopan 400 in 135, shot half of it and had just decided it would be my 400 speed film and Fuji announced its discontinued of it. So I still have those 5 rolls and did not buy anymore as it was just a new film to me however with the 100 it has been my standard in 120 size for a few years hence I will miss it

For this holiday I will be taking Pan F, Delta 100, TMAX 100 and 400, Acros 100 and Bergger 400 for both the Hasselblad and the pinhole trying to shot at least one roll of each film in both cameras. Just because I will survive this and be able to use a different film doesn't mean I cannot be sad about the discontinuace of Acros 100.

NB23 · Apr 5, 2018

I, by far, prefer my plastic cans theory. Haha

faberryman said:
Or maybe, just maybe, there was insufficient demand for the product to continue to manufacture it at a profit. It really isn't rocket science.

B.S.Kumar · Apr 6, 2018

Well, It's official: http://ffis.fujifilm.co.jp/information/articlein_0081.html

Kumar

Arcadia4 · Apr 6, 2018

[QUOTE="Arcadia4, post: 2061293,
This states discontinuation of;
Acros 135 (36 exp and 3x36 exp packs - latter sold in japan) and 120 format, 5 packs
Fuji B&W papers (only sold in Japan) .
In the case of Acros the first date 10/2018 is the final shipment (presumably from the factory) with stock expected to last 12 months to 10/2019 (but this is subject to demand)

The public announcement is quoted as being due April 6th...(so this would give dealers a weeks notice). https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg8j493nqmn/?taken-by=tokyocamerastyle
.[/QUOTE]

Right on schedule. So now we know dealers in Japan get a weeks notice. Compared to the dealer notice in my original post there is now no expected stock out date.

Part 2 of the notice sums it up - "All kinds of black and white film and black paper will be discontinued, so there are no recommended products available".

RattyMouse · Apr 6, 2018

B.S.Kumar said:
Well, It's official: http://ffis.fujifilm.co.jp/information/articlein_0081.html

Kumar

Google translate was hilarious and 100% correct at the same time:

"Although it is truly selfish, thank you for your kind understanding on your circumstances."

"We look forward to your continuous patronage of FUJIFILM products in the future."

You can keep looking Fujifilm, but I am 100% done with buying ANY of your products. I have spent thousands of dollars on Acros, 400H, 160NS, and E6 film in the past 6 years. You will not get a single dollar from me once Acros is gone. Not. One. Cent.

chris77 · Apr 6, 2018

hard to believe all this. acros was special. black friday for low-light-photographers.

mooseontheloose · Apr 6, 2018

RattyMouse said:
Google translate was hilarious and 100% correct at the same time:

"Although it is truly selfish, thank you for your kind understanding on your circumstances.
We look forward to your continuous patronage of FUJIFILM products in the future."

I laughed when I saw that too. If they cancel all their film (and related) products, how do they expect us to keep supporting them? What a joke.

bvy · Apr 6, 2018

Bastards. Why don't they just divest their film business?

Andrew O'Neill · Apr 6, 2018

Fuji: From film to makeup.

Ai Print · Apr 6, 2018

Now that it is official, it's setting in.

An easy to use film with great tonal range, easy to soup and love the self stick tab when exposed. How they managed to get it to be the reciprocity king is beyond me but it sure comes in handy at times.

After this order comes in I will have just under 500 rolls of it in 120 to get me by, I will use it sparingly for reciprocity reasons only.

RIP Acros

RattyMouse · Apr 6, 2018

I have 3 rolls of Acros drying on the hanger right now. God I love this film. The stock market is crapping all over my financial life again right now, inhibiting my plans to buy as much Acros as I can shoot for the next many years. It really sucks to be a film shooter right now who lives and breathes Acros like I do. Very very depressing.

ME Super · Apr 6, 2018

This is sad for the Acros shooters. It looks more and more like Fuji is going to pull out of film altogether. I'm sitting on 11 rolls of Provia 100F and 6 rolls of Velvia 50 in 35mm; I'll continue to buy when I can afford it, and anxiously await the Great Yellow Father's reintroduction of Koda - er, Ektachrome. Ferrania's reportedly supposed to have their 120 line set up soon, and won't have to rely on a third party to convert their 120 film. This means they'll have an additional revenue stream to use to get their 35mm converting equipment set up, which should allow for more throughput for their P30 Alpha. This in turn gets them more revenue to be able to work on their E-6 emulsions.

As Fuji shrinks, it appears that Kodak and Ferrania are trying to fill in the void. Now if somebody would make an ISO 400 E-6 emulsion, they'd have a captive market. There are some situations for which ISO 100 just isn't fast enough, even with a tripod. For some reason, race cars going around a track at high speed just won't attach to a tripod!

warden · Apr 6, 2018

ME Super said:
This is sad for the Acros shooters. It looks more and more like Fuji is going to pull out of film altogether. I'm sitting on 11 rolls of Provia 100F and 6 rolls of Velvia 50 in 35mm; I'll continue to buy when I can afford it, and anxiously await the Great Yellow Father's reintroduction of Koda - er, Ektachrome. Ferrania's reportedly supposed to have their 120 line set up soon, and won't have to rely on a third party to convert their 120 film. This means they'll have an additional revenue stream to use to get their 35mm converting equipment set up, which should allow for more throughput for their P30 Alpha. This in turn gets them more revenue to be able to work on their E-6 emulsions.

As Fuji shrinks, it appears that Kodak and Ferrania are trying to fill in the void. Now if somebody would make an ISO 400 E-6 emulsion, they'd have a captive market. There are some situations for which ISO 100 just isn't fast enough, even with a tripod. For some reason, race cars going around a track at high speed just won't attach to a tripod!

The E6 issue is on my mind too, and I just hope Fuji doesn't announce termination of their E6 line of products before I'm comfortable with Ektachrome. If I have experience with Kodak's E6 I'll know whether or not to stockpile Provia when Fuji exits. (Which I assume will be soon.)

lantau · Apr 6, 2018

ME Super said:
As Fuji shrinks, it appears that Kodak and Ferrania are trying to fill in the void. Now if somebody would make an ISO 400 E-6 emulsion, they'd have a captive market. There are some situations for which ISO 100 just isn't fast enough, even with a tripod. For some reason, race cars going around a track at high speed just won't attach to a tripod!

Maybe. I would like to scratch together some money after my holiday in May and order a few propacks of Acros, provided that the panic buying hasn't increased prices by then. But today I stopped by a camerashop on my way to the train home and bought a roll of TMX in 135 and 120, each.

Prior to the sad news I had no plans to even look at this film, but lets see if it comes close. I'm sure that sharpness and grain are as good or better than the Fuji.

What I love about Acros are the shadows. When exposed right these give the film a characteristic look, unlike anything else I've tried so far. The challenge is to be careful enough not to loose the deep shadows entirely. In those cases the transition into those dead shadow is often too swift to look really good. Would that be a steep toe?

Lets see what TMX is going to do. It'd be nice, too, if it liked to be developed in Rodinal.

Last December on my last day in Hong Kong I took a morning walk before checking out of the hotel. I strolled around the quiet streets of Western District on that Sunday morning and shot Provia 400X, probably in my X700. The speed was really good to have, given the low morning light in the shade of high rises. It feels a bit like using Tri-X/HP5 in E6. Without the grain and the extreme latitude, of course. But versatile. Getting an ISO400 E6 film back, would be nice. Provided it's as good as RXP.

Ai Print · Apr 6, 2018

RattyMouse said:
I have 3 rolls of Acros drying on the hanger right now. God I love this film. The stock market is crapping all over my financial life again right now, inhibiting my plans to buy as much Acros as I can shoot for the next many years. It really sucks to be a film shooter right now who lives and breathes Acros like I do. Very very depressing.

Tell you what, I will order extra and earmark it for you, no upcharge, not like I wont use it if you end up getting what you need. I hate to see people go without their primary film, I did this with Kodachrome and it made a number of people happy.

removed account4 · Apr 6, 2018

it loved coffee as much as foma, i'll miss it .. but
the bluesbrothers are taking some money...

Lachlan Young · Apr 6, 2018

Having spent the afternoon making prints from 120 Acros, it's ok but rather devoid of 'personality' for lack of a better term. Delta 100 doesn't seem to suffer from this & is (to my eyes) rather more tonally beautiful. That being said, I'm not necessarily looking for notions of perfect representations of 'reality', however if your best defence of a film is its reciprocity characteristics, I'd suggest that you really aren't looking at the stuff that matters anyway...

I'm much more excited about TMZ returning & 120 Retropan 320.

NB23 · Apr 6, 2018

~Fujicosmetics~

Not bad at all.

NB23 · Apr 6, 2018

Maybe ~Fujilipstick~?

NB23 · Apr 6, 2018

~FujiBlush~

I purchased 75 rolls of FujiBlush acros. I’ll use them on a single project and I’ll move on to Plus-X, if they ever revive it.

Tmax3200’s revival was such good news to me that It really offset FujiCosmetic’s decision to axe Estée-LAcros.

Still sad though.

Damn you FujiLipstick!

Ai Print · Apr 6, 2018

Lachlan Young said:
however if your best defence of a film is its reciprocity characteristics, I'd suggest that you really aren't looking at the stuff that matters anyway.

How do you figure?

It's a tool for me and a good one as some of the best light I like to work in falls off quickly in weather and shorter seasons. You had mentioned it was not a film with personality and from a purely technical standpoint, I would agree with that but a great photographer can take this film and pair it with great light, great subject matter and end up with a stellar photograph.

Conversely, I like Pan-F for the opposite reasons, when I want super long exposures and want to take advantage of it's dismal reciprocity characteristics. Again, a tool for me, not a sole decider.

Craig · Apr 7, 2018

redrockcoulee said:
In Canada Acros was by far the least expensive 120 Black and White film.

Where do you get it so cheap?

redrockcoulee · Apr 7, 2018

Craig said:
Where do you get it so cheap?

Downtown Camera in Toronto. If you join their program or buy 150 dollars you get an additional 10% of Kodak products and 25% of Kodak film. Even with the discounts Acros is cheaper than TMAX. I have 100 rolls coming supposedly Tuesday but hope it' on Monday as going to be in Cow Town on Tuesday. Downtown camera is cheaper than thecamerastore and as I usually order by mail might as well get it there.

With 10% off Acros 30 for a 5 pack, Ilford 43 dollars and TMAX at 25% off is 32. B&H is 32 Canadian however the brokerage fees really adds to the cost.

pentaxuser · Apr 7, 2018

For the sake of posterity and future search in Photrio on the demise of Acros, isn't there a case for changing the thread's title?

pentaxuser

Acros 100 in peril?

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