Maybe I'm foolish but I never saw the loss of Acros coming. I probably lived in firm denial that this film would be discontinued or if it would, it would go the very last. Clearly Fujifilm has lost all interest in standard film photography, despite their brazen lies to the contrary.
This past week has been tremendously upsetting. As stated in other posts, Neopan Acros has been my primary film ever since I returned to film photography, now almost 7 years ago. Looking through my 8 binders of negatives, I see two main monochrome films that make up the very majority of film that I have used; Acros, and TMAX400. I was so royally screwed by TMAX400, losing tremendous numbers of images due to poor quality that I was forced to drop that film, even though I loved it dearly. I've stock piled a nice stash of Neopan 400 since then but have yet to fire off a single roll!
Now Acros is gone and I find my passion for film photography draining away quite quickly. Sure there are other films out there, but each one has their own baggage that makes me more than a little hesitant to place my hopes and future on them.
Kodak is swirling the drain again and it will be a major miracle if they can get through 2019. Since I'm primarily a 120 shooter I won't trust them that the paper issue has been solved too. I've lost far too many images to place my trust in their film.
Ilford has been bought out by private equity. My previous company was bought out by private equity and I know what it is like to be owned by "bankers". All they care about is short term profits. Long term stability simply is not on their radar. Long term stability will happily be sacrificed if short term profits can be increased. Investment in the future is not part of their vocabulary.
I have a LOT of pricey film equipment. My Fujifilm GF670W, GF670, and GA645 have served me well for many years. Just a short time ago I picked up a Fujifilm TX-1 w/all 3 lenses. What a great camera with lenses that simply define sharpness. Finally, I have my Nikon FM2n w/6 lenses and a Canon 1V w/35L, 85L, and 100-400mm II L. Not to mention my fairly high end 120 scanner.
That's a lot of money invested in film equipment. I think right now if I could unload it with zero effort, I would, just to remove this sinking feeling that has infected me since the discontinuation of Acros. It came so out of the blue. I thought it was a bad joke when I first heard it but instead it turned into my film nightmare.
I had a huge load of Acros all lined up in my B & H cart the day they first opened up after Acros was discontinued. The stock market took a nice dip that day so I figured I'd hold off awhile on the purchase and wait for a recovery (I day trade for fun during the day so watch the market closely). Who knew stock would disappear literally in one day?
Just thinking out loud here, trying to get my thoughts together. I need to unload this baggage because if a hobby doesnt bring joy, then it's time to move on.
This past week has been tremendously upsetting. As stated in other posts, Neopan Acros has been my primary film ever since I returned to film photography, now almost 7 years ago. Looking through my 8 binders of negatives, I see two main monochrome films that make up the very majority of film that I have used; Acros, and TMAX400. I was so royally screwed by TMAX400, losing tremendous numbers of images due to poor quality that I was forced to drop that film, even though I loved it dearly. I've stock piled a nice stash of Neopan 400 since then but have yet to fire off a single roll!
Now Acros is gone and I find my passion for film photography draining away quite quickly. Sure there are other films out there, but each one has their own baggage that makes me more than a little hesitant to place my hopes and future on them.
Kodak is swirling the drain again and it will be a major miracle if they can get through 2019. Since I'm primarily a 120 shooter I won't trust them that the paper issue has been solved too. I've lost far too many images to place my trust in their film.
Ilford has been bought out by private equity. My previous company was bought out by private equity and I know what it is like to be owned by "bankers". All they care about is short term profits. Long term stability simply is not on their radar. Long term stability will happily be sacrificed if short term profits can be increased. Investment in the future is not part of their vocabulary.
I have a LOT of pricey film equipment. My Fujifilm GF670W, GF670, and GA645 have served me well for many years. Just a short time ago I picked up a Fujifilm TX-1 w/all 3 lenses. What a great camera with lenses that simply define sharpness. Finally, I have my Nikon FM2n w/6 lenses and a Canon 1V w/35L, 85L, and 100-400mm II L. Not to mention my fairly high end 120 scanner.
That's a lot of money invested in film equipment. I think right now if I could unload it with zero effort, I would, just to remove this sinking feeling that has infected me since the discontinuation of Acros. It came so out of the blue. I thought it was a bad joke when I first heard it but instead it turned into my film nightmare.
I had a huge load of Acros all lined up in my B & H cart the day they first opened up after Acros was discontinued. The stock market took a nice dip that day so I figured I'd hold off awhile on the purchase and wait for a recovery (I day trade for fun during the day so watch the market closely). Who knew stock would disappear literally in one day?
Just thinking out loud here, trying to get my thoughts together. I need to unload this baggage because if a hobby doesnt bring joy, then it's time to move on.