Discontinuation of FP100C

Wayne · Apr 22, 2016

No surprise there.

Theo Sulphate · Apr 22, 2016

Doc's efforts would be better spent trying to convince Impossible to make pack film.

For Fuji, it's over.

Roger Cole · Apr 23, 2016

Got an update this morning:

Dead Link Removed

Hi guys!
Today is a very sad day for the photography...
During the last days i was hoping for an happy ending of this analog story even though the situation was complicated since the begin.
The first reply from Fuji was something strange but i've never thought that it could reveals what i'm writing now.
Well, Fuji has replied to our second letter and they said this:"...we cannot now change our decision. Thus, we respectfully decline your proposals. "

He goes on to express shock. I'm not shocked. I recognized this as a very long shot at best. But it was still one worth taking.

Theo Sulphate · Apr 23, 2016

They are acting like melodramatic teenagers and should be embarrassed. Products come and go as demands warrant. I don't see Hershey bars disappearing anytime soon.

Their best hope is to appeal to the Impossible Project.

bvy · Apr 23, 2016

No problem. CatLABS announced today that they would pick up production of pack film.

http://www.catlabs.info/we-will-make-packfilm

mooseontheloose · Apr 23, 2016

bvy said:
No problem. CatLABS announced today that they would pick up production of pack film.
http://www.catlabs.info/we-will-make-packfilm

I'm happy someone is willing to take up the challenge of keeping packfilm alive. I don't know much about CatLABS, so am not sure of their statement "We have the experience, knowledge and history to back this up" but certainly hope that it's true.

bvy · Apr 23, 2016

mooseontheloose said:
I'm happy someone is willing to take up the challenge of keeping packfilm alive. I don't know much about CatLABS, so am not sure of their statement "We have the experience, knowledge and history to back this up" but certainly hope that it's true.

You can have all the experience and knowledge, etc., in the world, but if you don't have the money, it's a lost cause. I hope they can pull it off. The Doc, earlier, reported having an investor or interested party with the resource to back his efforts. Maybe they should all team up.

Roger Cole · Apr 26, 2016

That is GREAT news that someone is working seriously on it at any rate.

It would be great if we had both the FP-100c/FP-3000b style quarter plate size film to fit the many cameras and medium format backs which use this as well as 4x5 film. Given only one or the other I'd choose the quarter plate size. It is close enough to 4x5 to be very useful in a 4x5 camera with appropriate gg markings, as I've been doing with the Fuji.

The critical point here after the film actually becoming available and of good quality becomes price. A buck a shot like Fuji before the announcement would be great, but maybe not realistic. Speaking only for myself, two bucks a shot wouldn't lose any of my interest and I'd use a fair amount. Somewhere between that and New-55 level prices though it would lose me and I suspect many others. Note that I am NOT fussing that anyone is charging too much, or apt to. I realize it's an expensive undertaking, and also that no one is in business to lose money or even to just break even. I'm just hoping it isn't a case of "I recognize why, but it's still too rich for my blood."

Diapositivo · Apr 26, 2016

This certainly is a wonderful news. Curiously, they had been thinking about it since month but they made the announcement only after it was totally clear that Fujifilm gave up on packfilm.

I hope they come out with a seriously useable quality product (with all the sympathy for the Impossible project, what I have seen had an Impossible quality to stomach).

BAC1967 · Apr 26, 2016

I think it would be hard for them to replicate the great colors of FP-100c but a black and white film would be nice. I'm sure $10 packs are a thing of the past.

Wayne · Apr 26, 2016

BAC1967 said:
I think it would be hard for them to replicate the great colors of FP-100c but a black and white film would be nice. I'm sure $10 packs are a thing of the past.

I think the key to success will be pricing it so average people (= high volume of people) can afford it. If only a few wealthy can buy it it will be short-lived. So people should be careful about encouraging them to overprice it...

skorpiius · Apr 26, 2016

Wayne said:
I think the key to success will be pricing it so average people (= high volume of people) can afford it. If only a few wealthy can buy it it will be short-lived. So people should be careful about encouraging them to overprice it...

Impossible Project pricing or less I would hope.

iandvaag · Apr 26, 2016

I gotta say, pack film is probably over for me. I'm not interested in impossible-esque films (expensive, not long lasting, skewed color reproduction, etc.) and I can't imagine catlabs will ever be able to recreate the incredible quality film that was FP100C. I think the best hope for people like me is if someone were to build an instax wide adapter that could fit into pack cameras (at a reasonable price point.) Yeah, there's no negative, but at least the film has good color, is sharp, long lasting (for instant), and cheap. Also looks like instax makes Fuji a lot of money and will be around for a while.

I wish CatLabs the best of luck, but there's a long arduous road ahead for them.

skorpiius · Apr 27, 2016

iandvaag said:
I gotta say, pack film is probably over for me. I'm not interested in impossible-esque films (expensive, not long lasting, skewed color reproduction, etc.) and I can't imagine catlabs will ever be able to recreate the incredible quality film that was FP100C. I think the best hope for people like me is if someone were to build an instax wide adapter that could fit into pack cameras (at a reasonable price point.) Yeah, there's no negative, but at least the film has good color, is sharp, long lasting (for instant), and cheap. Also looks like instax makes Fuji a lot of money and will be around for a while.

I wish CatLabs the best of luck, but there's a long arduous road ahead for them.

I wonder if they might team up with the new 55 people so they can hit the ground running with a peel apart film. This is assuming they don't have intellectual property from Fuji under license.

I agree starting at a similar position that Impossible Project did at first would be a long road...

captain ZZM · Apr 27, 2016

skorpiius said:
I wonder if they might team up with the new 55 people so they can hit the ground running with a peel apart film. This is assuming they don't have intellectual property from Fuji under license.

I agree starting at a similar position that Impossible Project did at first would be a long road...

Maybe they can use Polaroid's technology?

TomNY · May 6, 2016

FYI...My March 1st order for FP-100C from B&H is arriving today. I was starting to get concerned it wasn't going to be restocked.

amellice · May 6, 2016

TomNY said:
FYI...My March 1st order for FP-100C from B&H is arriving today. I was starting to get concerned it wasn't going to be restocked.

yup mine is coming today too. I thought I'd never see it

bvy · May 6, 2016

My March 3 order is still "pending".

$29.99 now!

richyd · May 7, 2016

bvy said:
$29.99 now!

Well that's about what we were being charged in the UK before Fuji's "supporting photography" discontinuation notice (in Japanese only). Wonder how much more sales they would have got in UK without price gouging. I only bought direct from Germany at a third of the UK price. I have no idea if any new sales of remaining stock will happen in the UK, cannot imagine what the price would be.

1L6E6VHF · May 7, 2016

I placed an order for four packs at $12.99 (USD) each. It has not been charged to my card yet.

They aren't going to bill me at the higher price when it becomes available, are they?

FWIW, at this point, I'm not really expecting to receive my four packs at all. If it's really gone, it's gone.

EdSawyer · May 7, 2016

Adorama was still at 27.99, only slightly less egregious.

mooseontheloose · May 7, 2016

richyd said:
Well that's about what we were being charged in the UK before Fuji's "supporting photography" discontinuation notice (in Japanese only). Wonder how much more sales they would have got in UK without price gouging. I only bought direct from Germany at a third of the UK price. I have no idea if any new sales of remaining stock will happen in the UK, cannot imagine what the price would be.

Long before the discontinuation notice, the prices were similarly high here in Japan too - around $24-26 a pack.

Ricardo Miranda · May 8, 2016

richyd said:
Well that's about what we were being charged in the UK before Fuji's "supporting photography" discontinuation notice (in Japanese only). Wonder how much more sales they would have got in UK without price gouging. I only bought direct from Germany at a third of the UK price. I have no idea if any new sales of remaining stock will happen in the UK, cannot imagine what the price would be.

See here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BFEqggUw9P6/?taken-by=filmsnotdead

TomNY · May 8, 2016

richyd said:
Well that's about what we were being charged in the UK before Fuji's "supporting photography" discontinuation notice (in Japanese only). Wonder how much more sales they would have got in UK without price gouging. I only bought direct from Germany at a third of the UK price. I have no idea if any new sales of remaining stock will happen in the UK, cannot imagine what the price would be.

No. My March 1 order was for $10.99 per pack and that's what I paid. I remember the price jumped to 12.99 about an hour after I put my order in.

Morris Hersko · May 9, 2016

For all of you still waiting for your back-orders to be filled, we are expecting a shipment from Fuji sometime in July.

We unfortunately cannot accept new orders at the moment due to existing orders having priority. If (and that's a big if) we end up getting more units than are currently back-ordered, we will obviously be accepting new orders at that time.

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of help in any way.

Discontinuation of FP100C

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