Can Fuji hang onto at least 1+ type of slide film?

[rayonline_nz]

I shoot primarily slides, as it is WYSIWYG. Kodak have pulled out completely, Fuji is the only significantly company who does it. Rollei may do slides I heard ... Velvia have been pulled on large format and out goes Provia 400X. Do you think Fuji can hang onto at least one slide film? If they choose to bin slides, do you think it's going to be like Kodachrome when they may give you 1yr to develop them?

B/c film costs go up every year, I am slowly stocking up Velvia RVP in 120 size mainly, mind as well take the fuss if it is going to be shortlived or be a boutique. I shoot them sparingly as it is expensive, 5 or 10 rolls a year when I do trips.

 

[BMbikerider]

Agfa have reappeared with their last film reincarnated Agfa Precisa. Where it is made is probably Japan but no one is letting on. If it is Fuji Film it is about half the Fuji price. There was also a story on the internet (I can't remember where I saw it but the Italian company Ferrania may be on the way back too. A time scale of 18 months to 2 years was mentioned. Plus, if you don't mind the grain there is Rollie Digibase 200ISO which I believe is the old Agfa film of that speed re-manufactured.

I have used several rolls of this and whilst the grain is there, the saturation, so long as it is exposed at 250 iso instead of 200 is pretty impressive.

The attached image is Digibase 200

 

[railwayman3]

Agfa have reappeared with their last film reincarnated Agfa Precisa. Where it is made is probably Japan but no one is letting on. If it is Fuji Film it is about half the Fuji price.

The current boxes of Precisa say "Made in Japan" and the batch number and expiry date overprinting, together with plastic tubs and cassettes, look exactly like Fuji.

 

[clayne]

The current boxes of Precisa say "Made in Japan" and the batch number and expiry date overprinting, together with plastic tubs and cassettes, look exactly like Fuji.

I'm gonna have to say that's Fuji then.

 

[thegman]

I shoot primarily slides, as it is WYSIWYG. Kodak have pulled out completely, Fuji is the only significantly company who does it. Rollei may do slides I heard ... Velvia have been pulled on large format and out goes Provia 400X. Do you think Fuji can hang onto at least one slide film? If they choose to bin slides, do you think it's going to be like Kodachrome when they may give you 1yr to develop them?

B/c film costs go up every year, I am slowly stocking up Velvia RVP in 120 size mainly, mind as well take the fuss if it is going to be shortlived or be a boutique. I shoot them sparingly as it is expensive, 5 or 10 rolls a year when I do trips.

I think Fujifilm will keep making slides for a while, but of course, it'll depend on sales. They themselves said they were open to bringing back emulsions if there was demand. I think Provia 400X was very expensive, and most people wanting a faster film are happy with C-41. Velvia 50 and Velvia 100 look practically the same to me, so having both seems odd.

I think they'll keep on going as best they can, and last I heard Velvia sales were up.

As I understand it, inflation adjusted, most films are going down in price, not up. The heyday of film I guess was the late 90s, and film is cheaper now that it was then, in some cases, a lot cheaper.

It won't be like Kodachrome, as you can make your own E6 developer if you want, and of course other companies can do it:

http://www.opie.net/orphy/photo/dr/wkft-e6.html

I'm no chemist, but I understand that developing your own Kodachrome (as colour) is very tricky, and not very practical, but E6, people do it at home all the time.

Cheers

Garry

 

[mnemosyne]

Agfa have reappeared with their last film reincarnated Agfa Precisa. Where it is made is probably Japan but no one is letting on. If it is Fuji Film it is about half the Fuji price.

Agfa (the Belgian film manufacturing company) has nothing to do with this. The current Precisa was brought to market by a small German distributing company called Lupus Imaging, who owns the right to use the "Agfaphoto" brandname (nut not "Agfa", that is why you won't find the word Agfa on the box, only "Agfaphoto"). The current Precisa is a rebranded Fuji Provia 100F. They (Lupus) have also been selling off the remaining APX100 stock of the Agfaphoto bankruptcy in 2006 over the last years.

 

[Vonder]

I shot 5 rolls of the CT Precisa recently and it's good stuff. I don't know why Fuji made the deal though; it undercuts the sales of a current product. I know everyone says it's Provia (due to edge marking keys) but I feel it's closer to Velvia 100F.

Supply and demand. That's all that will keep any film being manufactured. Worrying about what will happen in the future is a total and complete waste of time. Buy some, stock up, shoot. If your stock runs out and it's still available, buy more. If not, move on. The world doesn't revolve around film production.

 

[brianmquinn]

I don't know why Fuji made the deal though; it undercuts the sales of a current product.

What matters most is total profit, not just profit per roll. There are some shooters who would just stop shooting slide film if they had to pay the full Fuji price. Better to earn a little less on some rolls but still bring in more total profit. It also keeps the labs processing it. Without commercial labs the sales of E6 would drop off.

 

[rayonline_nz]

Velvia for LF is gone. If I get evil ... from a corporate point of view and when movies fully go digital, what if all slide film gets canned. It might make sense financially. No need to produce slide chemistry to the few labs either. If they produce disposable proprietary (to most ordinary people), digital cameras. They could get rid of C41. And what's left are b/w. I don't know how credible but a report in Fuji said that in 2000 they had 19% of the business in film and now it's just 1.9%.

I am only in little NZ but 1 lab here does slides, in my city. 3 does C41 in total. A few more may do prints off film but they outsource the development even thou they have a Fuji Fronteir machine. And of course many more, do digital prints only off their Frontiers like electronic appliance stores ie digital kiosks.

 

[clayne]

19% of market, 1.9% of Fuji specific sales - not 1.9% of market.