Neopan 400 in 120 going away?

[zenrhino]

Anyone else heard what Fraction Mag is reporting? That Fuji is getting rid of Neopan 400 in 120 (and 12/24 ex rolls in 135).

It came up on Largeformat and the source there claims to have heard from "Asahi Camera."

Time to buy that chest freezer. =(

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

How about calling Fuji?

 

[Andrew Moxom]

There's been much speculation on this forum (product availability area) and Flickr about this. No one knows for sure what's going on. Fuji has let some people know, other fuji has told others that their film area is doing VERY well and nothing is being discontinued. I've heard Neopan Presto 400 in Japan is going away in 120, and heard that there will be 5 roll packs from now on for ACROS. No one knows 100% except Fuji. The fear uncertainty and doubt is rearing it's head.... Nothing we can do about it.

 

[Chazzy]

I wish that this could be resolved. I'm considering Neopan 400 as a replacement for Kodak's TXP, but I don't want to start using it if it has no future.

 

[BetterSense]

I love the stuff. I don't even have a "next-in-line" replacement figured out yet. To me there's nothing else like it...it has substantially finer grain than HP5 and Tri-X, yet does not look like TMY or Delta400.

 

[Ektagraphic]

You could always try to experiment with diffrent developers to get that look.

 

[perkeleellinen]

John Sypal had a entry about this on his blog. He linked to the Fuji document in question, which mentions that 120 ACROS will now be available in 5 packs, but offers nothing for Neopan Presto:

http://translate.google.com/transla...//fujifilm.jp/information/articlead_0029.html

 

[pentaxuser]

Based on info on another site that caters mainly for U.K members, the consensus seems to be support the "maybe/not yet decided" verdict mentioned here. Certainly the main UK distibutor said that it had heard nothing

pentaxuser

 

[Smudger]

Dirk Rosler,(Japan Exposures) has confirmed on the Large Format website, that Neopan 400 in 120 has been discontinued.
It's very sad..

 

[brian steinberger]

I'm gonna need some sort of confirmation on this one to believe it. I would be very upset if Fuji discontinued Neopan 400 in 120.

 

[iamzip]

Try posting in the Fujifilm forum.

 

[tkamiya]

There WAS a notice by Fuji for Japanese market that basically said upon exhaustion of current inventory, the product will be discontinued. Here is a link IF you can read Japanese. (I can)

http://fujifilm.jp/personal/jan/monochrome/film.html

Please notice there is (*1) on 400 Presto for 120 format. In Japanese, it says Neopan.
On the bottom of the chart it explains what *1 means. It says, "Upon exhaustion of inventory, offer of this item will be discontinued."

I e-mailed Fuji USA and asked. In reply, it said there is no plan for discontinuance. I e-mailed again and referenced this website for Japanese market. This time, I received no reply.

 

[brian steinberger]

tkamiya, thanks for the emails. Sounds good in the US anyway. Maybe the discontinuation is only in other markets and people are confusing them for discontinuation of the product in general.

 

[Andrew Moxom]

Seems like this corroborates the rumour..... http://www.japanexposures.com/2010/02/26/fujifilm-to-reorganize-film-lineup/

 

[perkeleellinen]

The news written by Dirk on JapanExposures was forwarded to him by John Sypal from the info in the blog entry I posted earlier. both these sites are using the same source, they're not independent of each other.

 

[Dirk-san]

It's not a rumour. It is in several places on the Fujifilm site and retailers have already removed the product tags from the shelves. The film they make for export has different packaging etc. (for a start it is not called Presto) so there may be well more in the pipeline outside of Japan, for now, but that should be it. WHat are the chances of them discontinuing it in their home market and keep exporting it? Sorry - I am as disappointed as anyone as I shot 400 a lot myself.

 

[brian steinberger]

Does anyone know what Fuji or Fuji USA's email address is? I just wasted the last 15 minutes of my life trying to get through the Fuji USA support center on the website and still no email address. I'd like to send them an email and figure this out once and for all. Anyone?!

 

[Dirk-san]

(n,vs) sale, selling, marketing, (P)
販売 [はんばい]

(n,vs) completion, conclusion, (P)
完了 [かんりょう]

 

[ZugPhoto]

There is also a lot of chatter on filmwasters.com about virtually all B&W Fuji Films going away. I wish I knew the truth! http://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=2795.msg26297#msg26297

 

[AlexG]

I'm very suspicious of these articles about the Fuji films going away. I'm sure there will be discontinuances here and there (just the way the market is right now) but I'm sure Fuji will continue to make B&W, Color neg, and Slide film.

Last time I was in Japan (last summer), the film shop had plenty of old geezers buying film. I think it's just habit that some old-timer photographers in Japan don't want to let go of.

 

[perkeleellinen]

That thread on filmwasters is extremely alarming.

 

[BetterSense]

I bought as many rolls as I can afford today. On my budget, that's only 40 rolls.

 

[Ektagraphic]

40 is quite a bit for a careful shooter.

 

[BetterSense]

If I shoot one per month, it will last until it's expired.

 

[Tom Stanworth]

I hope the 400 does not go away as I use it in both 120 and 35mm as my main film. This is a film I really, really do not want to lose; however if I do, time spent getting familiar with HP5+, D400 and TriX will not have been wasted. Neopan was the best all rounder of the bunch IMHO. Of a whole load of negs I had printed by a pro recently, he said they were technically all pretty decent but he commented, "these ones printed themselves." Those negs were Neopan 120 in Xtol 1+2. Beautiful.