Fujifilm

RattyMouse · Jun 4, 2012

I always thought Fujifilm was going to be the company that kept the film torch burning. After all, they released a medium format film camera recently!

But after looking at both www.fujifilm.com and www.fujifilmusa.com, I dont know anymore. At their main site, they fail to list at all any of their Neopan B & W films. It's completely missing! And over at the USA site, not only is Neopan missing, but all of their professional films as well as transparency films. Seriously, both of these sites look like they took about 30 minutes to put together. They should be doing so much more to generate knowledge and interest in film photography. It would not require a lot of effort if they had the passion and vision to get it done.

DREW WILEY · Jun 4, 2012

Take it with a grain of salt. Website geeks are often badly out of sync with what their company actually does.
Dime a dozen from the day labor line at Starbucks. But Fuji USA has long had internal communications problems,
if not downright infighting.

Klainmeister · Jun 4, 2012

http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/professional_photography/index.html

????

Brian Puccio · Jun 4, 2012

Sorry dude, but your intertubes might be busted.

http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/professional_photography/film/index.html

From the main site, under products, click Professional Photography.

zsas · Jun 4, 2012

^ and Neopan 1600 is still on the site!?

Ironic that the US Fuji site has Neopan 1600 still listed and the EU Kodak site has Plus X still listed...

*I wanted to say something witty but figured Blanksy would out do me anyway with a great Blanksy'ism*

Ektagraphic · Jun 4, 2012

Fuji isn't exactly keeping the torch burning with color negative films....

wildbill · Jun 4, 2012

onepuff · Jun 4, 2012

The B&W films aren't listed on the UK site but appear on the US site. Must have the same web techs as HP - if you visit their sites, products pop on and off at random.

RattyMouse · Jun 4, 2012

Klainmeister said:
http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/professional_photography/index.html

????

Very weird. I went looking all over this web site for information about fuji's films and could not find Neopan. But there it is. But what is Astia doing still on the page?? Wasnt that discontinued years ago?

I just dont get how poor Fujifilm's web site is.

brian steinberger · Jun 4, 2012

I lost all faith in Fuji when they discontinued Neopan 400 in 120 without warning, and released no information to the public regarding it. That was in my opinion one of the most versatile films ever. It's a shame. More power to Ilford in this day in age. I will support Ilford til the end.

arealitystudios · Jun 5, 2012

brian steinberger said:
I lost all faith in Fuji when they discontinued Neopan 400 in 120 without warning, and released no information to the public regarding it. That was in my opinion one of the most versatile films ever. It's a shame. More power to Ilford in this day in age. I will support Ilford til the end.

I 100% agree with this statement. I thought Fuji handled that situation so poorly and I have not supported them since. These days it is Ilford who gets my dollars.

Klainmeister · Jun 5, 2012

Why did you have to bring up Neopan 400 in 120.... it's early, but I will have to start drinking away the sorrow again.

hdeyong · Jun 5, 2012

Add my vote. I like to support the companies that look after and care about their customers, and I think Ilford does both. It's lucky for us that a company that is in it for the long run also happens to make great products.

Brian C. Miller · Jun 5, 2012

brian steinberger said:
I lost all faith in Fuji when they discontinued Neopan 400 in 120 without warning, and released no information to the public regarding it. That was in my opinion one of the most versatile films ever. It's a shame. More power to Ilford in this day in age. I will support Ilford til the end.

Fuji wakes up one morning and finds out that a key ingredient in a film has been banned. Now what? Well, they look at the sales. Not so hot. How much does it cost to reformulate that film? That much??? For how much in sales? Eh, it was good while it lasted.

I'll use Acros 100 until it runs out. It's good stuff, and I don't blame a film manufacturer because a bureaucrat wants to feel good. What would you do if Ilford had to discontinue an emulsion because an agency changes a rule? We are at the mercy of a lot of factors.

DREW WILEY · Jun 5, 2012

Does anyone else find it ironic that a company formally titled FujiFILM is advertising digital cameras?
But the mere fact they've kept the name should tell you something, esp about their at least keeping up appearances with corporate continuity. Maybe you folks who only shoot black and white
can do without them, but they're still very important in the color game. And ACROS is a homerun product in is own right. We all hate to lose a favorite item from time to time, but this is nothing new,
and as long as I can remember companies have been retailoring their lines. Blaming any single source
doesn't help a thing.

RattyMouse · Jun 5, 2012

Brian C. Miller said:
Fuji wakes up one morning and finds out that a key ingredient in a film has been banned. Now what? Well, they look at the sales. Not so hot. How much does it cost to reformulate that film? That much??? For how much in sales? Eh, it was good while it lasted.

I'll use Acros 100 until it runs out. It's good stuff, and I don't blame a film manufacturer because a bureaucrat wants to feel good. What would you do if Ilford had to discontinue an emulsion because an agency changes a rule? We are at the mercy of a lot of factors.

Do you know what additive was banned?

ftn jim · Jun 5, 2012

well you all have points to make but iford gets my bucks too a fine film must stay in the mix

Brian C. Miller · Jun 5, 2012

RattyMouse said:
Do you know what additive was banned?

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).

pentaxuser · Jun 5, 2012

Brian C. Miller said:
Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).

Which isn't present in the 35mm version of Neopan? Isn't present in any of the Ilford 120 films? Isn't a banned substance in the U.K. where Ilford films are made?

Do you know which of these apply?

I know there was a thread on the demise of 120 Neopan 400 but it was never very clear to me exactly what the nub of the problem was

Thanks

pentaxuser

Roger Cole · Jun 5, 2012

Klainmeister said:
http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/professional_photography/index.html

????

That site still lists Astia, which has also been discontinued.

Every time I say that here someone challenges it, then someone else posts the proof. I don't recall the proof so if someone wants to look it up, go right ahead. I was content to drink in mourning.

Brian C. Miller · Jun 5, 2012

DREW WILEY said:
Does anyone else find it ironic that a company formally titled FujiFILM is advertising digital cameras?

Actually, no. Not any more ironic than Fujifilm being an OEM for Hasselblad. Now imagine that Fujifilm had bought both the Olympus and the Leica brands. (link, "We make the Fujifilm sensor, software, and all the important components themselves. We also have a very good brand. So why should we put Fujifilm technology in a body from Leica?") Can you imagine the looks on the Leica fanboys' faces when they would be reminded that they are actually shooting with a Fujifilm camera?

Brian C. Miller · Jun 5, 2012

pentaxuser said:
Which isn't present in the 35mm version of Neopan? Isn't present in any of the Ilford 120 films? Isn't a banned substance in the U.K. where Ilford films are made?

Do you know which of these apply?

I have no idea what is actually used in the manufacturing process of the films. Since 35mm Neopan is still being marketed, I'm guessing that the chemical wasn't used for its production. I have no idea about Ilford, either. Do a web search, and there's lots of information about the chemical.

pentaxuser · Jun 5, 2012

Ignoring the Ilford part it for the moment it is still a strange one. Having been on the Ilford tour on two occasions my impression was that the 35mm and 120 versions of the Ilford films in terms of ingredients are exactly the same. I'd imagine that if they were different then the 35mm and 120 would behave differently and yet they don't. I imagine the same applies to Kodak films where we have 35mm and 120 versions and yet Fuji Neopan 400 is the exception to rule

However somehow the 120 Neopan was configured differently from the 35mm version and yet I presume the characteristics of the two films were identical in the same way that Acros 35mm and 120 are the same.

There are more questions than answers and while I'll look at the info on the chemical via a web search I have a terrible feeling that it won't answer the question of why two films were or had to be configured differently in Neopan's case when in other cases such as Acros, the Kodak range and Ilford range they are the same.

pentaxuser

perkeleellinen · Jun 6, 2012

From memory, wasn't the issue to do with static and the backing paper? Might explain why it doesn't affect 35mm. But that implies that Acros is also affected. Perhaps that film was re-jigged after the global banning of that acid but before Japan signed up to ban it nationally.

Poisson Du Jour · Jun 6, 2012

Brian C. Miller said:
Actually, no. Not any more ironic than Fujifilm being an OEM for Hasselblad. Now imagine that Fujifilm had bought both the Olympus and the Leica brands. (link, "We make the Fujifilm sensor, software, and all the important components themselves. We also have a very good brand. So why should we put Fujifilm technology in a body from Leica?") Can you imagine the looks on the Leica fanboys' faces when they would be reminded that they are actually shooting with a Fujifilm camera?

<*gasp!*> Talk about setting the cat among the pigeons. LOL! The two references to Hasselblad and Leica surely two of the most hallowed names on the planet (oh wait, there's Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus...) are likely to cause tremors and hissy fits (probably of haut denials, claim and counterclaim). The Fujifilm link is very interesting indeed, ditto the full interview. I wonder if Fujifilm has future plans to acquire Leica? The sensor business is evidently good stuff for the doyen of the little green box. God, I'd love to see the reaction on the faces of those who swear only of the red-dot German marque as much as they swear to drive only a BMW, VW or Mercedes (any variables of which are not wholely made in Germany!). Speaking of which, my brother in law upped his snob appeal by buying, as he puts it, a "beautiful all-German car", a VW Jetta. What the dealer didn't tell him another owner did: it was assembled in Mexico.

Fujifilm

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