Fuji freezer film rumour

Prest_400

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Some more anecdotical news and rumor:
A photographer reports that their photo store had the backorders cancelled, with the mention of Fuji having halted production (refers to 120 Provia and Velvia) with intentions to restart it in 2025.
Well again, Fuji did inform in 2022 of difficulties with the manufacturing of color reversal film. They have been making some and less C41 with time.

Would like to quote a participant's point of view that seems quite valid, and covers too "old prices". I was able to buy some Provia 120 at 10.80€ a roll during Christmas, but that price does not reflect what Kodak is doing or inflation per se

 

koraks

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IDK what's going on. I did reach out to a retailer here in NL and they indicated that Fuji 35mm slide films can be ordered and/or are on stock, the same is true for some 120 roll film, but some 120 and all sheet film is not orderable at this point. Whether that means anything towards the future is unclear. I'd be hesitant to jump to conclusions.
I think this particular retailer I talked to didn't have anything on order at the moment. Maybe that explains why he didn't receive the kind of message quoted on Reddit.

With these things it's always a bit like that whispering game where you sit kids down in a circle, tell the first kid that "cherry pie is very tasty", then get to whisper the message on to the next kid and the last one understands that "the runner bean harvest wasn't very good this year".

Personally, I'm fine with both runner beans and cherry pie.
 

ChrisGalway

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I purchased a box of 5 120 Provia 100f from FotoImpex last week ... €17.90 per roll, up from around €10.60 a roll a couple of months ago!!! Wow, that's what I call a price increase, around 70%.

FotoImpex are a good company (they get Provia 100f in stock around 3-4 times a year, sells out in minutes/hours) and are known for good prices ... so I'm sure this price increase comes from Fujifilm, not FotoImpex.

The good news? (i) it's still cheaper than Ektachrome, at least in Europe and (ii) Provia 100f is still available, albeit sporadically.
 

Crysist

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B&H here in NY had some Provia pop in stock over the weekend, followed by Velvia soon after on Monday. Both had been out of stock in 35mm since I set up the alert back in May. The first sign of hope was the listings always saying "Expected availability" as the last day of the month, apparently as some kind of placeholder since it'd come and still be out of stock, but this month it got changed to the August 22nd. I jumped at each, thankfully, as they were out of stock again within half an hour or less.

Velvia marked 12.2025, Provia is 04.2026

LETS GOOO

 

Angarian

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ChrisGalway said:
FotoImpex are a good company (they get Provia 100f in stock around 3-4 times a year, sells out in minutes/hours) and are known for good prices ... so I'm sure this price increase comes from Fujifilm, not FotoImpex.
Click to expand...

Or the price increase comes from the wholesaler. My local film shop told me that Kodak Alaris, Fujifilm and Harman/Ilford Photo are all using wholesalers in Europe. So even big online shops like Fotoimpex cannot buy directly at the big three, but must buy via wholesalers. That increases the prices for us end-users.

I recently bought fresh Provia 100F 120 (03/2026) from my local shop at the price of 11€/roll.

ChrisGalway said:
The good news? (i) it's still cheaper than Ektachrome, at least in Europe and (ii) Provia 100f is still available, albeit sporadically.
Click to expand...

During the last 12 months it was possible for me to buy fresh Provia 100F both in 35mm and 120 without great problems. My favourite film shop is informing me when a new shipment comes in, and then I get my film .
 

ChrisGalway

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Lucky you! I asked my local shop in Ireland, and they ordered 4 boxes of 120 Provia 100f for me ... that was over a year ago, and they have not received any stock and the Fujifilm Irish rep says "do not bother waiting"! So I have to go via the mail order retailers mainly in Germany. I got film at €10.50/roll 2-3 month ago, also dated 03/26, it's only this latest purchase that was very expensive.
 

MattKing

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Either the manufacturers set up their own distribution network, incur all the related costs, invest in all the necessary resources, and raise their selling price accordingly, or ...
The manufacturers sell at a lower price to wholesalers, who cover all that overhead themselves, and re-sell the product at a price that reflects that reality.
TANSTAAFL.
 

ChrisGalway

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MattKing, PSUTOA. **

Of course I agree with your statement.

I wonder who these wholesalers are ... another mystery it seems, just like the actual sales of film appears to be a secret. We live in a strange world.


** please stop using these obscure abbreviations ... isn't that "obvious"!
 

Angarian

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According to my reliable sources, reality is not as simple as that theoretic model. They have to deal with the problems permanently.
 

MattKing

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Sorry Chris - lifelong Robert A. Heinlein fan here.
"Time Enough For Love" excluded
And as for the wholesalers, they vary. The wholesalers who specialize in selling to retailers like camera stores, the wholesalers who specialize in selling to grocery chains, the wholesalers who specialize in selling to people like small photo labs, etc.
 

cmacd123

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back when I was selling cameras in a department store, Many lines came from Anglophoto in Montreal (Minolta for sure) . Pentax was McQueen Sales, who later became Pentax Canada. we did enough volume to buy film direct from Kodak. (although our buyer did get some film from a tobacco distributor in Montreal who was importing from Kodak Limited London. I think Kodak may have caught on when they were getting a lot of Prepaid Kodachrome originaly intened to be sold in the UK, and we were told to ONLY order from Kodak. (only in the USA was kodachrome NOT sold with Processing Included)
 

MattKing

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ChrisGalway said:
I wonder who these wholesalers are
Click to expand...

One of the likely contributing reasons that Sino Promise Holdings went under is that one of the largest European distributors of Kodak paper and chemicals was Tetenal. Who knows how much material Sino Promise ended up not being paid for.
The distribution networks were a mess due to the effects of Covid, and remain affected by what has ensued thereafter.
 

aranzebia

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In April in Japan, I bought Fujicolor100 with an expiration date of 2027.
It seems like they're still producing the film, given that it has a 2027 expiration date.

I visited several photo stores and the staff didn't know that the X-TRA400 was being discontinued.
Japan also had a lot of complaints about Fujifilm.
I've heard that when a photo shop places an order with Fujifilm, they only receive a small amount, and it's late.

 

Film-Niko

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MattKing said:
One of the likely contributing reasons that Sino Promise Holdings went under is that one of the largest European distributors of Kodak paper and chemicals was Tetenal. Who knows how much material Sino Promise ended up not being paid for.
Click to expand...

No, it has definitely nothing to do with Tetenal. Kodak branded color paper wasn't regularly available anymore in Europe long before Tetenal went bankrupt.
I had asked Tetenal several times, and they made it always very clear that they would like to sell Kodak paper in Europe, but the manufacturer is not delivering.
And I got the same information from prof. labs here in Europe, which have been loyal Tetenal and Kodak customers for years, even decades: They got their chemistry from Tetenal (as long as Tetenal was in operation), wanted to buy Kodak paper as well, but that was not possible because first Kodak Alaris could not deliver (regularly) anymore, and later Sino Promise could not deliver.
These labs have all switched to Fuji RA-4 paper, and to Fuji RA-4 and C-41 chemistry.
 

MattKing

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Probably because Tetenal wasn't paying their bills.
 

Film-Niko

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MattKing said:
Probably because Tetenal wasn't paying their bills.
Click to expand...

No, definitely not.
Because all the problems with Kodak paper availability in Europe started before Tetenal's financial problems.
It has been a major problem with Kodak Alaris capability to serve the paper market in Europe for a longer time, completely independent from Tetenal. That was also admitted at that time by Kodak Alaris employees here in Europe. Already after closure of the paper factory in Harrow these supply problems started, and from year-to-year they have increased.
 

mshchem

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Yes, once the great Harrow factory stopped it was just a matter of time.
 

blee1996

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I am happy to see that you can still get fresh Fujicolor 100 film in Japan. Maybe it's time to plan a Japanese trip.
 

dokko

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I‘m traveling in Japan atm, so here‘s some info about what I see in photo stores here:

Fujicolor 100 is pretty much sold out anywhere (I was in about 15 shops total, mostly Yodobashi, Kitamura and Bic Camera, but also some smaller ones). I found 3 rolls in Kitamura in Naha and 2 in a small Lab in Tokyo (National photo). Price was around 1400-1500 yen and expiration date 06/2027.
There was also a store in the Ginza area which had quite a few in stock but 50% more expensive.

Fuji Premium 400 was also sold out pretty much everywhere, but some Bic camera stores had them, limited to 1 per person. Price was around 2000 yen, and expiration dates in 2027.

One smaller shop hat Fuji Superia 400, forgot to check the expiration date because it was too expensive.

Most stores had Provia and Velvia in 120 in stock (didn‘t usually check 135 - edit: check some of the mobile snaps and price was around 3300-4200 yen for 135. Kodak E100was 6500 yen!), but at around 170‘000 yen for a 5 pack, which is twice what I pay in Germany (when they turn up occasionally).


Fuji 200 and 400 were in stock everywhere, but obviously Kodak emulsions. Portra was also easily available, but expensive.
 
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