Fuji Superia 100 - 120 Format, Discontinued?

ilford_king · May 16, 2009

I am a pinhole shooter mainly, and when I shoot color my film of choice for the past several years was Fuji Superia 100, 120 format. I used this film for two primary reasons; cost (the pinhole camera I use gets 4 shots per 120 roll) and sharpness/saturation. At any rate, I went to order a new batch this month and there was none available anywhere except Chinese sellers on eBay.

Does anyone know if this film has been discontinued for certain? I picked up some Fuji Reala and Kodak Extar to try, but they both cost more so they failed to meet one of my criteria right away. I tried Fuji and Kodak Pro 160 films, but they are noticeably different than Superia in the final print.I am right in the middle of a big project I have been shooting with Superia, so I really need a film that is not describable from Superia in the final print.

Thanks for any help!

Tim Gray · May 16, 2009

I think Fuji Reala is now called Fuji Superia Reala. I could be wrong about that, but that's what I found just the other day looking for information on the current Reala. I don't know if that means there's no longer plain old Superia 100. Maybe on of the Fuji shooters can chime in.

That being said, Adorama has Superia Reala in 120 for about $3/roll. I don't know how this stacks up against the plain old Superia 100...

ilford_king · May 16, 2009

The Reala I got is listed as "Superia Reala" on the B&H web site where I purchased it, I have not shot it yet, but the first thing I noticed is the "4th Color Layer" is not listed on the box like the Superia I have been using, also on the box there is no "Superia" printed anywhere, it just says "Reala". I could find no mention of it anywhere on the FUJI web site either.

I'm just waiting for the sun to make an appearance so I can do some test shots on the "Superia Reala" for comparison.

nickandre · May 16, 2009

Reala is a different film than plain superia.

http://www.ultrafineonline.com/fucn100sucop.html

Ektagraphic · May 16, 2009

Is $3.79 that bad?? http://www.freestylephoto.biz/83140981-Kodak-Ektar-100-120-size-Single-Roll-Unboxed

Tim Gray · May 16, 2009

Here's the Superia Reala datasheet fuji superia reala. Interestingly, there is no 120 format listed.

ilford_king · May 16, 2009

tiberiustibz said:
Reala is a different film than plain superia.

http://www.ultrafineonline.com/fucn100sucop.html

Have you ever ordered from these guys? The price is nice, the outdatedness makes me a bit nervous.

BetterSense · May 16, 2009

Wow that's really lame. Freestyle used to sell what I thought was superia 100, in 120 format, for only $3 a roll. I have some in my freezer, but it seems like there isn't any on their website. I should have bought more, but I had no reason to think they were going to up and discontinue it.

nickandre · May 16, 2009

I have used them, my school does too. I've never had a problem. It's cold stored. Expect slight probably not noticeable base fog.

nickrapak · May 16, 2009

I just looked on Fuji's (USA) website, and they don't even have Superia 100 listed. All they have is Reala. This also means that there is only one "consumer-level" MF film in existence, and that is Reala.

PhotoJim · May 16, 2009

Superia 100 in 120 has been a hard-to-find film. B&H and Adorama both carry it (or at least have; I've gotten some from both) but it's a grey-market film. I suspect it's produced primarily for the Japanese market.

If neither of those sources has it, and Freestyle's price is more than you care to pay, you are probably out of options.

Superia Reala is a different emulsion, but excellent. If you have to settle for it, you will be fine... but it is a little different.

I still have about 40 rolls of Superia 100 so I'm good for awhile.

srs5694 · May 16, 2009

re: Ultrafineonline

ilford_king said:
Have you ever ordered from these guys? The price is nice, the outdatedness makes me a bit nervous.

I've bought from them, with mixed results. Film advertised as being Agfa APX 400 turned out to be Agfa APX 400 S, which most people seem to think is the same emulsion but coated on a different (PET) base. I've bought some other films from them with no problems. The worst I got was some Kodak VC RC paper that had been stored too long, and ended up being virtually unusable because it produced mottled prints. It'll probably sit in my fridge for the next ten years, being taken out every once in a while for duty handling contact sheets. (I don't print many contact sheets.)

bagdad child · May 17, 2009

I buy Superia 100 in 120 from Fujilab in the UK. This is film is always available and possibly the cheapest color neg film in 120 at £2.24. I like the film. Reala 100 is different film.

Fuji Superia 100 in 120 format at Fujilab: http://www.fujilab.co.uk/catalog/colour-superia-c-30_31_62.html

2F/2F · May 17, 2009

Superia 100 and Superia Reala (or just Reala in 120 format) are two different films. Superia 100 is their consumer 100 film; the same kind you get in 35mm at Wal-Mart, etc. The Reala is a "pro-quality" film (IMO) that for some reason does not get labeled as such.

Both are available at Freestyle, last I checked. If it is not on the Website, give them a call. They stock quite a lot of stuff that is not on their Website.

AFAIK, both of these films are primarily made for non-U.S. markets, but every now and then U.S. retailers get them in. For a while, Reala was not available in 120 (much to my distress!), but in the last six months or so, I have seen it show up at several places in the U.S.

Unfortunately, 100 is the only speed of Superia I know of that is made in medium format. I would absolutely love to have the 800 and 1600 emulsions in 120/220!

sjg · May 17, 2009

Thanks for the link to superia 120 from fujilab - I've been very happy with superia recently in 35mm but hadn't found it in 120...

ilford_king · May 17, 2009

Ok, so it seems like some places outside the USA still have it around, but of course none of them ship to the states. Or I could buy outdated film and cross my fingers really hard that it behaves. Argh, decisions!

One of my colleges goes to Japan every year and he frequently visits Fuji while there, when he puts them on the spot about product availability in the USA he gets a lot of "stay tuned" and people winking and smiling, but no concrete info. Maybe part of my attraction to Fuji is their mystery, lol.

jun · May 18, 2009

May be superia 120 is equivalent Super G100 120 size film still sold in Japan, which does NOT even appear on Fuji's Japanese web site.
Super G100 120 film is sold about 410 Yen per roll and it is usally the cheapest color film avalable for 120 size.
http://www.yodobashi.com/ec/product/000000115101005232/index.html
However regarding price the Ektar 100 120 5 roll pack comes quite close to this cheapest film here, I paid 2080 Yen (416 Yen per roll, the second cheapest, I think in Japan for 120 size color film).
Reala is different, it is more expensive film, and in Japan it is named as Reala Ace.
But please note that unlike the reversal films, Fuji seems to put a different name to their color negative films for thieir export films and "probably" most of their export color negative films has a different emulsion (adjusted) than the one that is equivalent sold in Japan.
One of the reason is preference for color.
I think the color negative film from the yellow box seems to render skin color too pale white to me, but I do notice that is their intention and they engineered hard to achieve that.
We Japanese usally like some kind of weak red/magenda bias to skin color which Western pepole never like that kind of presentation.

ilford_king · May 18, 2009

Europe used to be on the top of my list for places to visit once I could afford it, but I think it's Japan now that film is in its decline and they seem to still hold many of their film treasures close to home. Thanks for the info Jun, very interesting stuff, although it seems odd they would bother putting English text on a package that was never intended to leave the island. And Jun you are right on the mark, in the USA (at least in my printing experience) the skin bias is towards the yellow so the emulsion changes would make sense based on color. I tend to focus on landscape, so the shift in either direction is a non-issue for me since I can correct it later in editing and no one really knows what the "real" colors were unlike skin.

bagdad child · May 18, 2009

2F/2F said:
Unfortunately, 100 is the only speed of Superia I know of that is made in medium format. I would absolutely love to have the 800 and 1600 emulsions in 120/220!

Fujilab in the UK also stocks Superia 400 in 120 format. The actual name of the film is Superia X-TRA 400. I have only shot one roll but it's a good film.

bagdad child · May 18, 2009

sjg said:
Thanks for the link to superia 120 from fujilab - I've been very happy with superia recently in 35mm but hadn't found it in 120...

Anytime mate! I wish you happy Superia shooting! I just ordered 15 rolls of Fuji Pro color negative film and 5 rolls of Provia 400X from Fujilab. Will keep me busy for some time! Fujilab prices are really good and they're excellent to deal with.

bagdad child · May 18, 2009

ilford_king said:
Ok, so it seems like some places outside the USA still have it around, but of course none of them ship to the states.

According to Fujilab they ship worldwide. Orders up to 900g = £19.99, 901-1920g = £29.99 (NO VAT).

http://www.fujilab.co.uk/catalog/shipping.php

The shipping costs may not make it worthwile for you considering the low prices in the States. In Sweden, on the other hand, medium format film is three times as expensive as in the UK!

Fuji Superia 100 - 120 Format, Discontinued?

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