fuji superia 400 in 36 exp, B&H says discontinued!

moosekaka · Dec 21, 2010

hi all,

first time post, i have been looking high and low for the above fillm at adorama and B&H, and while the 24 exp are available, 36 are not! worse, it says discontinued! is this for real? can someone in the know shed light on this?

how can 36 exp be less available than 24 exp for fuji 400, probably their most popular consumer film?

FWIW, i did find freestyle has it, and also ultrafine, but i am worried because those two are the the biggest retailers for film and for them to say its discontinued is frightening!

hpulley · Dec 21, 2010

I haven't seen Superia in 36-rolls for some time in Canada, just 24-rolls. Not sure why. Last batch of Superia 800-24 wasn't very good either (mushy colors, lots of grain) though the 400-24 still seems alright.

Fuji is discontinuing a lot of stuff lately, especially in 35mm (Neopan 1600, Astia, Reala). I can't seem them getting rid of Superia though, probably just reducing inventory overhead by going down to just one roll length.

HelenOster · Dec 21, 2010

moosekaka said:
hi all,

first time post, i have been looking high and low for the above fillm at adorama and B&H, and while the 24 exp are available, 36 are not! worse, it says discontinued! is this for real? can someone in the know shed light on this?

how can 36 exp be less available than 24 exp for fuji 400, probably their most popular consumer film?

FWIW, i did find freestyle has it, and also ultrafine, but i am worried because those two are the the biggest retailers for film and for them to say its discontinued is frightening!

FUJI no longer make superia film in the 200 speed, only 400 and above. On our website we used to have: FUJI COLOR SUPERIA 200 CA135-36; NOW, Fujifilm Fujicolor 200 Color Negative Film ISO 200, 35mm Size, 36 Exposure, CA-36

Hope this helps but please don't hesitate to email me directly if you need anything else

moosekaka · Dec 21, 2010

if that were the case why go down to 24 exp instead of 36 roll?

hpulley said:
I haven't seen Superia in 36-rolls for some time in Canada, just 24-rolls. Not sure why. Last batch of Superia 800-24 wasn't very good either (mushy colors, lots of grain) though the 400-24 still seems alright.

Fuji is discontinuing a lot of stuff lately, especially in 35mm (Neopan 1600, Astia, Reala). I can't seem them getting rid of Superia though, probably just reducing inventory overhead by going down to just one roll length.

hpulley · Dec 21, 2010

I don't know why 24, I guess you can finish the roll off quicker? Personally I prefer 36 rolls for processing them myself but for C41 which I don't do, a 24 roll can be finished quicker. Of course I love 6x7, 10 shots per roll so very fast to complete

nickrapak · Dec 22, 2010

24 exposures is the classic "consumer" length, so it would make more sense to sell the consumer film in shorter lengths.

moosekaka · Dec 22, 2010

Eugen Mezei said:
The typical aunt Judy consumer that barely finished a roll of film in a year (holiday, christmas and her sons birthday) switched to digital long ago. The consumer of these days is the enthusiast who is a couple of rolls a month and is angry of paying the same (increased) developing costs but getting out 12 pictures less from a 24 roll than from a 36 one.

my thoughts exactly!

perkeleellinen · Dec 22, 2010

My guess is that the 36exp ones are more popular and are sold out. Sold out often being rendered as 'discontinued' in online stores. The 24exp is all that is currently in stock.

moosekaka · Dec 22, 2010

hpulley said:
I haven't seen Superia in 36-rolls for some time in Canada, just 24-rolls. Not sure why. Last batch of Superia 800-24 wasn't very good either (mushy colors, lots of grain) though the 400-24 still seems alright.

Fuji is discontinuing a lot of stuff lately, especially in 35mm (Neopan 1600, Astia, Reala). I can't seem them getting rid of Superia though, probably just reducing inventory overhead by going down to just one roll length.

i have just been informed that ALL fuji superia has been discontinued! is this just a rebranding to fujicolor? hopefully!

CGW · Dec 22, 2010

moosekaka said:
i have just been informed that ALL fuji superia has been discontinued! is this just a rebranding to fujicolor? hopefully!

Might as well be since it's vanished from hooks in grocery stores, pharmacies, big box discount stores, etc. over the past year. Fujifilm Canada is doing very little business in consumer C-41 films and processing support any longer. I'm pretty much done with 35mm C-41 materials anyway.

henryp · Dec 28, 2010

moosekaka said:
hi all,

first time post, i have been looking high and low for the above fillm at adorama and B&H, and while the 24 exp are available, 36 are not! worse, it says discontinued! is this for real? can someone in the know shed light on this?

how can 36 exp be less available than 24 exp for fuji 400, probably their most popular consumer film?

This is "for real." Fujifilm CH 135-24 Fujicolor Superia 400 is in fact DISC in 36-exp and remains available in 24-exp. While B&H sold quite a bit more 36-exp than 24-exp, overall Fujifilm USA found demand for 24-exp remained while demand for 36-exp has dwindled.

BTW, @moosekaka - I have not hear "that ALL fuji superia has been discontinued." Can you cite your source?TIA.

perkeleellinen · Dec 28, 2010

henryp said:
...overall Fujifilm USA...

Henry,

This discontinuation is USA only, right?

Bob-D659 · Dec 28, 2010

Announced discontinuation dates could depend on what is left in inventory at various distributors and in country specific packaging.

moosekaka · Dec 29, 2010

b

well i think part of the problem is that for this line of consumer film, i see Walmart selling multipacks of 24 exp rolls but none in 36 exp....since their prices for 24 exp is so cheap (less than $10 for 4 rolls a pack), i bet ppl just buy that by default. I would think if they offered 36 multipacks in Walmart demand wouldnt dwindle.

henryp said:
This is "for real." Fujifilm CH 135-24 Fujicolor Superia 400 is in fact DISC in 36-exp and remains available in 24-exp. While B&H sold quite a bit more 36-exp than 24-exp, overall Fujifilm USA found demand for 24-exp remained while demand for 36-exp has dwindled.

BTW, @moosekaka - I have not hear "that ALL fuji superia has been discontinued." Can you cite your source?TIA.

michaelbsc · Dec 29, 2010

I think that offering 36 multipaks would hurt sales.

People try - ever so slightly - to frame film shots so as not to waste them. They cannot be deleted like the resourcless "digital" pictures. But shooting 36 exposures can take weeks if not months by the average consumers.

My guess is that 20 exposure rolls at 15 cents cheaper would sell even more film.

hpulley · Dec 29, 2010

It is funny in this digital age you can blow through hundreds of shots easily of nothing good but with film you want to make them count so 24 shots can take a while to finish.

As a kid I loved 126 format, 10 and 20 shot rolls though my Dad hated it as I could go through a roll pretty quick. Today I like 6x7 in 120 format, 10 shots again so I can easily finish a roll off in one session, get it in the tank the same day.

For 35mm processing my own however I much prefer 36 rolls as they fill a reel. 220 would be more efficient too, 20 shots instead to fill a reel and use the same chems as 120 though you can put a pair of 120 rolls on some plastic reels.

moosekaka · Mar 20, 2011

its back in stock

hmmm....after 4 months....now the fuji 400 is back in stock it seems at both adorama and b&h.....i will be sure to stock up on these!

perkeleellinen · Mar 20, 2011

Strange how these photo companies work. I suppose Henry from B&H must have got it from Fuji USA who perhaps use the term 'discontinued' to mean 'out of stock'.

henryp said:
This is "for real."[...] Fujicolor Superia 400 is in fact DISC in 36-exp

2F/2F · Mar 20, 2011

B&H seems to use the term "discontinued" to refer to items that they no longer carry, not to items that have been discontinued in manufacture. While the product may be gone entirely, I would not use B&H's, or ant retailer's, "discontinued" descriptions as a marker of what is being manufactured and what is not.

Unfortunately, info directly from Fuji tends to be no better.

hpulley · Mar 20, 2011

The moral of the story seems to be, if it's in stock then buy it. I just bought 10 rolls of Reala 120 at B&H for $3.49/roll a few days ago. Today I look and they're $3.99 a roll, obviously I should have bought 20 rolls! Reala is supposedly discontinued too but both B&H and Adorama have it. Adorama is out of Fuji 400H 120 however, go figure. B&H doesn't have any Fuji 160 120 at all at the moment! Lots of Kodak 160 however... shoot it, keep shooting it until it's gone I say! Hopefully if we buy enough it will stay.

Jeff Kubach · Mar 20, 2011

Lately I've been using shorter rolls. Got used to using my RB67.

Jeff

hpulley · Mar 20, 2011

Jeff Kubach said:
Lately I've been using shorter rolls. Got used to using my RB67.

Jeff

Agreed, 10 shots per roll is great! Easy to finish in a session while sometimes a 135-36 roll will sit for a few weeks. Even 24 shots seems long, I like to bulk load 12 shots worth when I can in 126.

2F/2F · Mar 20, 2011

AFAIK, Reala is not "supposedly discontinued." These rumors start every year or so, though. The way I had it explained to me by Freestyle is that Reala is coated and shipped out all over the world only once every so often. When these stocks run out, the discontinuation rumors begin. Then the next run is made, and Reala returns to overseas (meaning not in Japan) retailers' shelves. There have been at lease three discontinuation rumors for Reala in the past five years, and none of them have proved true except for in certain formats in certain markets (England e.g.).

Nonetheless, I stock up on Reala in 120 whenever I can afford it.

brucemuir · Mar 20, 2011

Reala 100 in 120 is great but I'm not crazy about the Superia 400 color palette.

Is the "Superia Reala 100" in 135 the same emulsion as reala 100 in 120?

perkeleellinen · Mar 20, 2011

brucemuir said:
Is the "Superia Reala 100" in 135 the same emulsion as reala 100 in 120?

I think so. I'd heard talk online of them being different but I've printed both optically and they print on the same filter pack and look the same to my eye.

fuji superia 400 in 36 exp, B&H says discontinued!

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