Fuji Acros Returns in Autumn with Acros II in 35mm & 120

DREW WILEY · Jun 11, 2019

Sadly, if you want Quickload back, like I do, that would require two whole more reconstructive operations : first, recoating sheet film base with Across emulsion, which might or might not ever happen, and then remanufacturing the worn-out or thrown-out facility and equipment necessary for the sleeves. They didn't think that would be cost-effective when all Quickload options ended a while back; so don't see why they would now. But did they in fact ever handle that side of the equation? I was of the understanding that what remained of Polaroid put Fuji sheet film in those sleeves. It had to be specially sized and perforated at the film source to do so; but as I recall, it was a joint effort requiring a partner, and that if it was attempted again, they'd have to start from scratch on their own. I still have a print on my wall from a Fujichrome 50 transparency using the previous roller glue-together Polaroid 545 sleeve system. Then Kodak came out with their own double-sided Readyload system, which was an undependable bellyflop. And after that, the new more reliable single-sheet versions of Readyload and
Quickload came out.

Deleted member 88956 · Jun 11, 2019

Sad part is that if film production continues on upward trajectory, we will have environmentalists on our back in no time, which will bring film prices to $100 a roll, buyer will need to go through a background check prior to purchase, and then one won't be able to process it due to planet earth losing it entirely. Disposal of exposed and unprocessed film will then fill miles of trenches photographers will be required to dig themselves at own costs and wear a tattoo on forehead with sole consolation being choice of the tattooed name of the pollutant supplier.

dutchsteammachine · Jun 11, 2019

Modern camera and E-waste is a bigger problem than the few people around the world that still use film...

Think about all the camera's, batteries and memory cards that het thrown away each day.

With film? Sure, development chemical waste, the film canister. I think the latter can even be reused?

Deleted member 88956 · Jun 11, 2019

dutchsteammachine said:
Modern camera and E-waste is a bigger problem than the few people around the world that still use film...

Think about all the camera's, batteries and memory cards that het thrown away each day.

With film? Sure, development chemical waste, the film canister. I think the latter can even be reused?

Calling any part of "e- energy" a waste will not take you anywhere, perhaps one day but not now. Chemicals, liquids, spilling things (even if only on your own lap)? An instant trouble.

DREW WILEY · Jun 11, 2019

E-waste a "bigger problem"? That's incorrect. It's a VASTLY bigger environmental problem. Not only is there a gigantic highly toxic recycling problem poorly handled at present, but all kinds of very nasty chemicals are involved in the whole techie electronics industry to begin with, not to mention horrible human rights abuses and downright wars waged over control of critical ingredients. I realize that the EU has certain stringent rules that are inconvenient for some us; but don't blame "environmentalists". If you use a cell phone or computer, you're part of the problem, just like the rest of us.

removedacct1 · Jun 11, 2019

Witold said:
Calling any part of "e- energy" a waste will not take you anywhere

I believe he was talking about electronics (computer components, digital equipment of all types: the physical materials of a digital life), which is all on a fast track for transitioning to landfill - if its not recycled, which so far we are doing a very poor job of.

Ariston · Jun 11, 2019

dutchsteammachine said:
Yes it is an official anouncement from Fuji.

Like pack film they would rather murder the knowledge and equipment than to share...

I still hold out hope that they are trying to figure out how to scale pack film to the new lower demand. It is wishful thinking, but not impossible, I think. Pack film is more nearly like their precious Instax film than any of the negative or slide film they still sell. I would really like to see Fuji release an all-new Instax pack film camera of their own. They can call it InstaxPax.

mshchem · Jun 11, 2019

I think you will need to buy it from a dealer in Japan. I saw somewhere on the Web initial plan is for Japan market. Not sure if this is true. I have Acros in 120, don't plan on buying the new stuff.

mshchem · Jun 11, 2019

Ariston said:
I still hold out hope that they are trying to figure out how to scale pack film to the new lower demand. It is wishful thinking, but not impossible, I think. Pack film is more nearly like their precious Instax film than any of the negative or slide film they still sell. I would really like to see Fuji release an all-new Instax pack film camera of their own. They can call it InstaxPax.

I would settle for a back for 4x5 cameras using the Instax Wide for proofing. Manual crank lowest tech, cheap to build.

markbau · Jun 12, 2019

After spending most of today printing 120 Acros negs I must say I'm pretty unimpressed with this film. Sure it is super dooper micro-fine grain which I'm sure would mean it would scan well but like most modern T grain film, it just never seems to print sharply. Even though the negs were well developed (possibly a tad overdeveloped) the mid tone separation was quite bland. I understand it has great reciprocity characteristics so that would be a plus but for normal outdoor/daylight work I didn't think much of it at all. Just my 2 cents.

Andrew O'Neill · Jun 12, 2019

markbau said:
After spending most of today printing 120 Acros negs I must say I'm pretty unimpressed with this film. Sure it is super dooper micro-fine grain which I'm sure would mean it would scan well but like most modern T grain film, it just never seems to print sharply. Even though the negs were well developed (possibly a tad overdeveloped) the mid tone separation was quite bland. I understand it has great reciprocity characteristics so that would be a plus but for normal outdoor/daylight work I didn't think much of it at all. Just my 2 cents.

That's odd. My prints are quite sharp, with great midtone separation. Pyrocat-HD.

Tom Kershaw · Jun 12, 2019

I've never had a problem with tone separation or sharpness and Tmax / Delta / Acros films in various developers.

removed account4 · Jun 12, 2019

mshchem said:
I think you will need to buy it from a dealer in Japan. I saw somewhere on the Web initial plan is for Japan market. Not sure if this is true. I have Acros in 120, don't plan on buying the new stuff.

Most likely BS Kumar will be able to do something like that...

pentaxuser · Jun 12, 2019

mshchem said:
I think you will need to buy it from a dealer in Japan. I saw somewhere on the Web initial plan is for Japan market. Not sure if this is true. I have Acros in 120, don't plan on buying the new stuff.

I am getting a little confused - not unusual these days Was this a reply to a previous post about pack film or is this a reference to Acros 35mm and 120 not being sold outside the Japan market? If it is was a reference to Acros 35mm and 120 what is the evidence that iFuji only intends to sell it in Japan? Thanks

pentaxuser

Andrew O'Neill · Jun 12, 2019

mshchem said:
I think you will need to buy it from a dealer in Japan. I saw somewhere on the Web initial plan is for Japan market. Not sure if this is true. I have Acros in 120, don't plan on buying the new stuff.

I'll be over there next year for a month or so... guess what I'll be filling my carry on with?!

markbau · Jun 12, 2019

Tom Kershaw said:
I've never had a problem with tone separation or sharpness and Tmax / Delta / Acros films in various developers.

It's a subjective thing. I grew up printing Verichrome, one of the last truly old fashioned emulsions, for many years I used nothing but Verichrome developed in PMK on a jobo, it was heaven. I really don't like any of the T grain films except for Delta. I don't know the technical terms but the really fine grain reduces the sharpness you see in a print. It's funny though because Tech pan in Technidol, perhaps the finest grain combo ever, looked really sharp. They even introduced T grain and dye technology into TriX which is now nothing like the film it used to be. I still like FP4 but now that I'm down to my last 20 rolls of Verichrome I don't know what I'll do when they run out.

MattKing · Jun 12, 2019

Finer grain often leads to decreased "sharpness" because "sharpness" is a subjective (rather than objective) phenomena.
We are wired to notice edges - the more obvious the better. If grain is fine, the edges of detail are more likely to appear as gradations between elements of that detail than hard boundaries between those elements. So finer grained films tend to create less of that "sharp" feeling when we observe the print.
Grainy film gives us perceivable hard edges - which may actually be as much due to perceiving the grain as perceiving the edges in the scene.
If in the balancing act that is film and developer choice you give more weight to "sharpness" over fine detail resolution, you may wish to change your choice of developer.
Verichrome Pan, for all of its advantages, was not a high resolution film.

Oren Grad · Jun 12, 2019

pentaxuser said:
If it is was a reference to Acros 35mm and 120 what is the evidence that iFuji only intends to sell it in Japan?

So far the press release has been issued only in Japanese and posted only on the home-market website. It makes no reference to sales outside of Japan. This is classic Fujifilm behavior. They may have plans to distribute it elsewhere at some point, or they may not. Sales in any particular country may depend on whether the local distributor perceives demand and asks for it. So if you want it, speak up. In the meantime, I'm sure there will be opportunities to buy it through vendors who purchase it in Japan for resale elsewhere.

pentaxuser · Jun 12, 2019

Thanks Oren. I can wait until things in the U.K. become clearer. I might try one if a U.K. stockist gets it and the price is reasonable.

pentaxuser

DREW WILEY · Jun 12, 2019

If you don't get sharp prints with ACROS, don't blame the film! It's not only fine-grained but high acutance (good edge effect). TMax 100 is more dependent on developer choice if you want good edge effect. I've shot both in sizes all the way from 35mm to 8x10. They're different, but both superb in their own way.

mshchem · Jun 12, 2019

pentaxuser said:
I am getting a little confused - not unusual these days Was this a reply to a previous post about pack film or is this a reference to Acros 35mm and 120 not being sold outside the Japan market? If it is was a reference to Acros 35mm and 120 what is the evidence that iFuji only intends to sell it in Japan? Thanks

pentaxuser

Acros, 120 and 135. It's more likely we will see Woolly Mammoth clones than Fuji making pack film.

mshchem · Jun 12, 2019

Andrew O'Neill said:
I'll be over there next year for a month or so... guess what I'll be filling my carry on with?!

Friend, I can think of a lot of things I would love to fill my bag with than Acros II. It may suck. The press release refers to blow back Fuji got from people wanting to shoot film to post on social media sites. Maybe it's only scan worthy.
The Acros debate is like the Kodachrome debate. Everyone knows that when Kodak came out with the high speed Kodachrome II (ASA 25) the film was only a shadow of it's former self. Anything with a II after the name usually stinks.

.

mshchem · Jun 12, 2019

DREW WILEY said:
If you don't get sharp prints with ACROS, don't blame the film! It's not only fine-grained but high acutance (good edge effect). TMax 100 is more dependent on developer choice if you want good edge effect. I've shot both in sizes all the way from 35mm to 8x10. They're different, but both superb in their own way.

XTOL!

markbau · Jun 12, 2019

MattKing said:
Finer grain often leads to decreased "sharpness" because "sharpness" is a subjective (rather than objective) phenomena.

Verichrome Pan, for all of its advantages, was not a high resolution film.

Very true, no one ever accused VP of being high resolution, possibly why it wasn't offered in 35mm, (at least it wasn't in my time) but prints made from it "looked" so sharp you had to put gloves on to view the print!

DREW WILEY · Jun 12, 2019

I prefer PMK pyro for ACROS, but it's amenable to many developers. TMax 100 is capable of higher contrast and greater scale, but has poor edge effect unless you know a few special tricks. TMax 400 has good native edge effect but isn't quite as fine grained. I hope the replacement Acros II has the same special orthopan sensitivity as the original. That as well as its superb recip characteristics set it apart.

Fuji Acros Returns in Autumn with Acros II in 35mm & 120

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