Fujifilm Announces Temporary Unavailability of Color Neg/Reversal Films in Japan in 135 and 120

[joelbolden]

From PexaPixel: https://petapixel.com/2023/03/29/fu...KXYiJ4M7mCSLSPj1Zj-h7g0S05R0-vAC2wTQ-lDSdSuOA

 

[MattKing]

Threads combined.

 

[Photomultiplier]

Another possibility: They have such an amount of backorders in their domestic market that they have to stop sales there temporary because they couldn't fullfill them anyway.

In the electronics industry, we had double and triple orders on components caused by the fear of the customers of not getting enough of them. This in turn extremely warps and invalidates
any forecast which is necessary for production planning.

Sometimes it is the best decision to say stop and just work on your huge backlog until things got sorted out.


Maybe Fuji does not want to reallocate all products that were meant for international distribution to just their domestic market.

Further, if the statement is translated correctly, they say "orders", not "shipments". There can be orders placed months ago which are fulfilled nevertheless.

 

[Kino]

Regardless of the cause and effect, what's gonna happen is gonna happen.

Keep shooting until it all disappears... or we do.

 

[Wallendo]

I personally find this somewhat worrisome. It is not uncommon for a manufacturer to halt production of one film due to supply issues, but halting multiple films is something else. Is there some Fuji-specific raw material used by Fuji in all of it's 35mm films and some 120 films? Is Fuji currently able to produce any 35mm film.

I doubt Fuji would stop film production at a time when demand and prices are high, so it seems to be a true technical issue.

As to the Japan-only nature of this stoppage, I suspect that is because foreign sales are handled by other distributors. Distributors who don't issue press releases.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Pretty much every time I hear "supply disruption" these days it translates to "we want to jack up the price." That extends to everything too, not just film.

It might be "Japan only" because, well, when was the last time you saw any Fuji film for sale any where else?

 

[Agulliver]

Pretty much every time I hear "supply disruption" these days it translates to "we want to jack up the price." That extends to everything too, not just film.

It might be "Japan only" because, well, when was the last time you saw any Fuji film for sale any where else?

Wal-Mart in the USA was pretty full of genuine "made in Japan" Fuji Superia 400 in the third and fourth quarters of 2022 and first of 2023. I've seen "made in Japan" Fuji C200 with 2025 expiry dates in shops in the UK and online stores here saying it is "in stock" as well as Superia 400.

 

[Arcadia4]

Fuji had already relabelled rest of world packaged product for the Japanese market as a short term measure in 120 and also recently reintroduced superia xtra 400 in japan, (which inevitably pulls supply from rest of world) presumably as inadequate supplies of the japan only premium 400.

In this context the recent introduction of a ‘fujifilm’ 400 product produced by Eastman Kodak in place of superia for the north American (and maybe later international) market makes sense to help backfill the production shortfall.

The pause indicates the scale of backorders exceeds supply rather than a pause of production, seemingly due to lack of enough supply of certain components, which are presumably unique to fuji or their supply chain

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Time will tell. Everyone's speculating as to what's actually going on.

 

[Craig]

Reading between the lines, it could be a problem getting the base materials to coat on, as this is limited to 35mm and 120. Sheet film uses a different base and there is no mention of problems with sheet film deliveries.

 

[Oldwino]

Time will tell. Everyone's speculating as to what's actually going on.

Yes. But Fuji could make this speculation go away by issuing a simple statement, ie "we are not getting out of the film production business."
But they don't, so...

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Yes. But Fuji could make this speculation go away by issuing a simple statement, ie "we are not getting out of the film production business."
But they don't, so...

This is what they said on their web site. They claim it's a problem with getting raw materials. They say they will resume accepting orders after getting a stable supply ASAP. That seems clear enough.

Don't stress on it.

「カラーネガフィルム135サイズ」と「リバーサルフィルム135サイズ・120サイズ」の国内供給に関するお知らせとお詫び | 富士フイルムイメージングシステムズ株式会社

www.fujifilm.com

Dear Customers,

We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your continued patronage of Fujifilm products.

We will suspend the acceptance of orders for "Color Negative Film 135 Size" and "Reversal Film 135 Size and 120 Size" in Japan from today due to the difficulty of supplying sufficient products due to insufficient procurement of raw materials. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
The resumption of accepting orders will be announced on our website again.

We will continue to take measures to ensure a stable supply of products as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

 

[Agulliver]

Fuji is a Japanese corporation. Japanese corporations are never as transparent as Western corporations....and the latter are often rather opaque.

Just accept it. We aren't going to get clarification from FujiFilm. It is not in their nature or culture.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Fuji is a Japanese corporation. Japanese corporations are never as transparent as Western corporations....and the latter are often rather opaque.

Just accept it. We aren't going to get clarification from FujiFilm. It is not in their nature or culture.

They were completely transparent. They explained why they're holding up orders and when they would release them again. All due to getting materials which are backlogged. What more should they say?

 

[koraks]

We will continue to take measures to ensure a stable supply of products as soon as possible.

This may mean "hold on, we'll fix this shortly" or it may mean "we'll give it a shot, but no promises on this getting fixed, ever". Of course, that's based on the English translation of a Japanese text, which is a notoriously lossy process to begin with. Fact of the matter is that even with the translation, it's pretty much an open question what it is they said - let alone what they meant to say, and how that relates to what's actually going on.

They were completely transparent.

Nah. I wouldn't call this "completely transparent". I'd call it "more informative than usual". That's a start, already.

 

[mshchem]

Here's a wacky speculation. Fuji Japan mixes up the top secret chemicals ships this stuff to Kodak for multi layer coating. Kodak puts the master rolls into Fuji's caskets and send to Fuji's US plant for finishing

Or it could be Kodak Max

 

[cmacd123]

Or it could be Kodak Max

Fuji ca expect great customer acceptnce of film made in U.S.A. in the states. it would go over like a lead balloon in their home market.

 

[mshchem]

Fuji ca expect great customer acceptnce of film made in U.S.A. in the states. it would go over like a lead balloon in their home market.

No kidding, try selling anything other than domestic (Japan) rice in the Japanese market. I don't blame them. The Fujifilm experience should include made in Japan, and a Green box!

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

This may mean "hold on, we'll fix this shortly" or it may mean "we'll give it a shot, but no promises on this getting fixed, ever". Of course, that's based on the English translation of a Japanese text, which is a notoriously lossy process to begin with. Fact of the matter is that even with the translation, it's pretty much an open question what it is they said - let alone what they meant to say, and how that relates to what's actually going on.



Nah. I wouldn't call this "completely transparent". I'd call it "more informative than usual". That's a start, already.

You didn't answer my question to your claim they weren't transparent. What should they have said to be more transparent?

 

[koraks]

Fuji Japan mixes up the top secret chemicals ships this stuff to Kodak for multi layer coating.

Theoretically possible, but unlikely IMO. They either do the whole thing in-house, or they don't do it at all. The Fujicolor 200 / Kodak Gold stuff illustrates that they don't hesitate to do the latter. In-between arrangements with production effectively being split between both entities would create complexities of logistic, technical and legal nature that don't weigh up to the marginal benefits.

You didn't answer my question to your claim they weren't transparent.

I did, but you either didn't understand or didn't like my explanation. What they said seems transparent, until you think about the possible implications of what they actually did say, and you end up realizing there are so many scenarios that are still covered by their generic statement that it's effectively void of concrete information. You know how messages get mangled as you run them through the communications department of a multinational corporation. At least I assume you know this, based on what you've let on about your career.

 

[Agulliver]

Yeah, this is as transparent as we're ever likely to get from FujiFilm or any other Japanese corporation. And that's not a criticism, it's just how business is done in Japan. Different culture. Like the rice....having a relationship with someone who does Japanese cooking and was trained by a chef, I can begin to understand why they don't accept rice from anywhere else. It's pretty much sacred and an integral part of a dish/dishes that will have many components. To us, it's often a cheap filler food. Wholly different approach and we can get away with cheap rice or not bothering much which variety of rice we use in the West.

We're not going to get a clarification. And I agree that there are many possible interpretations or conclusions to draw. Personally I look at the last few years and do not assume FujiFilm are going to pull the plug. I conclude that they're still trying to get production stabilised of colour film....as are Kodak. But Kodak communicate more frequently about their issues and solutions. All we can really do is sit tight and observe. One thing FujiFilm Japan won't appreciate is us all trying to contact them and either criticising or begging for film.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Theoretically possible, but unlikely IMO. They either do the whole thing in-house, or they don't do it at all. The Fujicolor 200 / Kodak Gold stuff illustrates that they don't hesitate to do the latter. In-between arrangements with production effectively being split between both entities would create complexities of logistic, technical and legal nature that don't weigh up to the marginal benefits.



I did, but you either didn't understand or didn't like my explanation. What they said seems transparent, until you think about the possible implications of what they actually did say, and you end up realizing there are so many scenarios that are still covered by their generic statement that it's effectively void of concrete information. You know how messages get mangled as you run them through the communications department of a multinational corporation. At least I assume you know this, based on what you've let on about your career.

What words should they have added that would have made it more concrete?

 

[koraks]

Alan, please. Use your imagination or something. I'm done with this game.

To be clear on why I think your repeated question to me doesn't make any sense: my statement was and remains that reading more in the words of the Fuji announcement boils down to speculation. Asking me what they should have said instead, therefore makes no sense at all. It depends on what they intend to say. Since we don't know that (my statement, remember), I can't answer for them. I thought this was kind of obvious, but perhaps you overlooked this.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Alan, if you do not like the message, why not just start a bunch of conspiracy theories? Just accept it at face value and stop reading in things that are not there and were never there.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Alan, please. Use your imagination or something. I'm done with this game.

To be clear on why I think your repeated question to me doesn't make any sense: my statement was and remains that reading more in the words of the Fuji announcement boils down to speculation. Asking me what they should have said instead, therefore makes no sense at all. It depends on what they intend to say. Since we don't know that (my statement, remember), I can't answer for them. I thought this was kind of obvious, but perhaps you overlooked this.

If you can't explain how they could have made their statement more transparent, then you should not have accused Fuji of being deceptive in the first place. It is very clear what they said and it is not deceptive. You just don't want to believe what they clearly stated.