velvia 50 experation date question

[destroya]

I'd like to ask a simple question, but really hope this does not turn this thread into a doom and gloom thread...

Two years ago I ordered 4 velvia 50 120 pro packs. exp date on those where 9/19. I also ordered 2 pro pack of provia 120, exp date 9/19.

last year I ordered another 3 velvia 50 120 pro packs, 1 velvia 100 120 pro pack and 1 provia 120 pro pack, all exp date 9/19

yesterday I got delivered 3 velvia 50 120 pro packs and 1 provia 120 pro pack, all exp date of 9/19. I called the retailer and asked about the date, and they replied that all their fuji slide film exp dates are 9/19 and have been for a while with nothing, going out longer.

my 3 orders were from 2 different retailers. I emailed the other last night but have not got a reply back yet. but is this going the same route as acros? I noticed the same thing with the exp dates on my acros orders over the last 2 years, all had exp dates of 9/19

please, keep your replies civil and ratty mouse, please stay out of this as I would like to replies to be constructive, not destructive

 

[1kgcoffee]

Would not surprise me one bit. What surprised me was that Acros was announced first. I think they're giving the die hards a chance to clue in and stock up before the wheelers and dealers try to scoop up remaining stock.

 

[railwayman3]

Might it be that sales numbers of all films are so low that Fuji only has a coating run (of any films) every year or two, or, similarly, only an occasional packing-and-finishing run from master rolls, and then puts a similar expiry on everything......just trying to put forward a less pessimistic suggestion?

 

[warden]

It does seem odd that for three years of purchases the expiry is the same. I also have Acros and Provia, all with 2019 or sooner expiry. I do hope they hang in there as long as possible. The products are wonderful.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

The 7 boxes of mixed RVP50 and RDPIII in my studio fridge and freezer all have expiry dates of July 2019. I will have used all of these by next April at the latest.

Note that I am on the opposite side of the world to you, so yes, it is interesting. One ginormous batch of film...

 

[faberryman]

Looking at it from the consumption side, it doesn't sound like transparency film is exactly flying off the shelves.

 

[1kgcoffee]

Might it be that sales numbers of all films are so low that Fuji only has a coating run (of any films) every year or two, or, similarly, only an occasional packing-and-finishing run from master rolls, and then puts a similar expiry on everything......just trying to put forward a less pessimistic suggestion?

We don't know until an official announcement has been made, but considering that 4x5 and 8x10 have been discontinued, it seems like a near certainty that 120 and 35mm will follow. What does that leave in the Fuji lineup, pro 400h? For how long? Superia is mostly gone. Reala gone, Industrial gone. Acros gone. Anyone that doesn't see the direction Fuji is taking is in serious denial. There is a chance Fuji might do another run given how unique the product is, but I'm very skeptical.

If you are right, then great. And if you are wrong, you won't have a chance to stock up before the price skyrockets. Because it will be gone in one day. That's how loved (but under bought) these films are.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Looking at it from the consumption side, it doesn't sound like transparency film is exactly flying off the shelves.

But it hasn't for years now. Consumption is slow, and the cost of it dictates that to some degree.

 

[iandvaag]

All the Fuji 120 slide film pro packs that I have are dated 07/2019 or earlier.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I refrigerate my Velvia 50 at 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2C). How long past the expiry date is it OK to use without any issues?

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I refrigerate my Velvia 50 at 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2C). How long past the expiry date is it OK to use without any issues?

Hi Alan,
Two views. Frozen storage over a long term (5+ years) can retard the expiration by quite a few years, but it can also increase the risk of damage to the film e.g. embrittlement (especially 35mm where the roll can become sticky). Cold storage, at or below the temperature you mentioned, is fine when you are using the film frequently. You could follow best practice: use the film progressively at a steady pace, and restock on depletion. I do not believe the airy-fairy populist crap about hoarding films in the deep freeze for decades.

 

[IzzyCat]

I've recently started to shoot Velvia for the first time. That was something I dreamed to try for 10 years and I shun away seeing the processing costs.
I tried doing it DIY with the Tetenal kit. Huge success ! Yet Velvia is going to die, I feel it that way, so I stock up to freeze, slowly, because my pockets are pretty shallow. I started stocking and freezing for the same reason OP talks about.

I only shoot it in 120, nothing in my stock goes past 2019.

Expiry dates printed on my own boxes

RVP50
11/2018 (1 box)
12/2018 (1 box)
3/2019 (3 boxes)

RVP100
3/2019 (1 box)

The end is dictated by some old people in suits, who are not photographers.
That may speak to some : Think about what Konami did to Kojima and the Metal Gear series... To prefer a dull yet cheap to make soccer game that has to be renewed every year

EDIT
---------

We could make a "universal Velvia best before dates spread sheet" that we can edit to post our own, with emulsion codes, etc, to guess a status. I don't know if we can get something out of that idea, but here's an idea.

 

[railwayman3]

We don't know until an official announcement has been made, but considering that 4x5 and 8x10 have been discontinued, it seems like a near certainty that 120 and 35mm will follow. What does that leave in the Fuji lineup, pro 400h? For how long? Superia is mostly gone. Reala gone, Industrial gone. Acros gone. Anyone that doesn't see the direction Fuji is taking is in serious denial. There is a chance Fuji might do another run given how unique the product is, but I'm very skeptical.

If you are right, then great. And if you are wrong, you won't have a chance to stock up before the price skyrockets. Because it will be gone in one day. That's how loved (but under bought) these films are.

After re-reading my original reply yesterday to your post, I think that I was probably being too optimistic. There's certainly a case to stock up, at least a moderate supply....if it's a false alarm now, it will, as you say, be gone one day. You list what has gone, and I think you can add to that the AgfaPhoto Vista and Precisa films, all Fuji rebranded product. And Astia was also a unique product........

 

[NJH]

OP you have fresher film than me but I have also seen a similar pattern. Bought some Provia100f early last year, early 2019 date. Bought some more later last year, 04/2019 dated. Bought another pro pack a few weeks back from the last place to bump the price up (gone from £27 to £32+ recently). Its dated 05/2019 with a code that is only 1 on from the last pack. I am shooting much less of this stuff than I was before as I felt I had to try some c-41. Got a real liking for portra 160 recently. I might just buy a stash of 120 size RVP and use it sparingly over the coming years for those occasions when you know its going look magical and forget about the Provia.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if Fuji have already stopped actually making these films and all we are doing is slowly working through the stocks.

 

[Mackinaw]

I refrigerate my Velvia 50 at 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2C). How long past the expiry date is it OK to use without any issues?

I just shot and had processed a refrigerated roll of 120 Velvia 50 with an expiration date of January, 2017. Looks absolutely perfect.

Jim B.

 

[dscottjorgenson]

Interesting.

- Two years ago, the Velvia 50 and 100 (120 format ProPacks) which I would receive from US retailers like B&H and Adorama, periodically throughout the year, were always expiration-dated for various different months in 2017. (I no longer have any of those boxes left.)

- Last year, likewise, as I ordered periodically throughout the year, the film would come to me dated about a year hence, ie various months in 2018. (I still have multiple boxes in my freezer acquired at various times last year, dated September and December 2018.)

- And this year, the film I have been receiving throughout the year has been dated 2019, anywhere from April to July.

Basically for years going back, as far as I remember, the film I would buy from these suppliers always came to me dated approximately a year out, give or take a few months.

So though I don't doubt the OP's experience, it hasn't been my experience at all. Not sure what that means, if anything.

 

[Berkeley Mike]

I have heard it said that Fuji announced that it would cease making films in this line. I have heard that 5-packs are disappearing with single rolls more prevalent. This is seen as sort of reducing packaging cost and dribbling out the stock on hand. I also recall hearing that this film is not longer even made but they are selling from "new old stock."

The last 8x10 stock was bought by on person for over $132,000 in 2013. In 10/17 Fuji announced the final shipping date for this film would be 3/18. All that said, what you shooters may be getting is the beginning of the end of this film which will expire 9/19.

 

[Alan9940]

FWIW, I just received two boxes of 4x5 Velvia 50 from Japan, yesterday, with 2019-4 expiration dates. At this point, I'm doubting if there is any Velvia 50 beyond 9/19 available.

 

[abruzzi]

Kumar in the "for sale" section confirmed the existence of Velvia 100 and Provia with a 2020 expiration, and Velvia 50 with as late as 12/2019:

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/fs-fresh-fuji-film-from-japan.159847/#post-2085538

 

[Thorpelyon]

I’m optimistic, yet realistic. Which is why I’m saying a prayer for Ektachrome.

 

[Berkeley Mike]

The base of film users seems top have coalesced substantially. Not so for film manufacturers; bankruptcies, sell-offs, resurrections, resurrecting cast-off machines, finding talent, boutiques, old stock, stock rebranded; things at their end are far from settled. We're awaiting the discovery of old stock that can give us volumes, hope that the majors keep as much alive as possible, and bouy-up those insane people who start-up new manufacturing in a smaller market.

This is when I am glad we have a world-wide market and decent shipping. Still, photo consumers are going to have to be pretty agile and flexible until this settles down.

 

[Mackinaw]

Kumar in the "for sale" section confirmed the existence of Velvia 100 and Provia with a 2020 expiration, and Velvia 50 with as late as 12/2019:

I just received a box of 4x5 Velvia 100 from B&H with an expiration date of 12/2019.

Jim B.

 

[Berkeley Mike]

As an administrator and analyst I have to see the film in hand before I believe anything.

 

[abruzzi]

As an administrator and analyst I have to see the film in hand before I believe anything.

As a resident of Berkeley, I would expect no less:

"esse est percipi"
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/berkeley/#2

 

[Berkeley Mike]

FWIW, think West Berkeley; lower blue collar, from the Tracks, who somehow managed Honors at Cal. Historically, there were the flatlands and the Goats in the hills where UCB was. For us, promises meant nothing; stuff in-hand was believed.