What is going on with Fujifilm Velvia and Provia availability?

[dscottjorgenson]

So for a few years now, since coming out of the pandemic, availability of these films (Velvia 50 and Provia), in any format, outside of Japan, has been intermittent, infrequent, and unpredictable. Here in the USA it seems to come in-stock with various online retailers only 2 or 3 times a year - with some, who continually list it as backordered, even less frequently than that. And the stock that retailers do receive, must be quite low, like just a few dozen rolls or so, because it tends to sell out within a few days, if not hours, and some retailers have quantity limits accordingly. Clearly there is pent-up demand for these films - see not just how quickly they sell-out at these retailers, but also how inflated the prices are that "flippers" are charging on eBay.

Fujifilm has never been shy about officially discontinuing films, and announcing it, not keeping it a secret. They haven't done so with these emulsions, despite all the opportunity to have done so over the past 20 years. So I don't think we are seeing Fujifilm "quiet-quitting" their slide films here, because that's just not their style, and the timing just isn't right, this far along, and with the film "rebound" of recent years.

A couple of years ago, with all of the global supply chain issues, Fujifilm announced they were having trouble procuring the source materials for the manufacture of these films, and that we should expect limited availability. But can those same problems really be persisting 2 years later? Or is something else going on? Eg is demand for Instax overwhelming their now-seriously-downsized production capacity, and driving less-popular products like their still slide films into the odd tight corners of their production schedule?

What is going on? Any insights?

 

[koraks]

'Anyone Able To Get Their Hands On Velvia Lately?

Like it reads....

www.photrio.com

Fuji freezer film rumour

Hello everyone, There is welcome news of new fuji (made in Japan) film in Japanese shelves, as shown in the following video : However, this news is followed by many commentators saying that Fuji did not restart mass production of film, but instead are only selling film cut from old master...

www.photrio.com

I don't think there's all that much to add at present that's not been said in either of the threads above.

 

[Taylor Nankervis]

'Anyone Able To Get Their Hands On Velvia Lately?

Like it reads....

www.photrio.com

Fuji freezer film rumour

Hello everyone, There is welcome news of new fuji (made in Japan) film in Japanese shelves, as shown in the following video : However, this news is followed by many commentators saying that Fuji did not restart mass production of film, but instead are only selling film cut from old master...

www.photrio.com

I don't think there's all that much to add at present that's not been said in either of the threads above.

I agree.

 

[Ben Hutcherson]

You'll find speculation all across the internet, and the "freezer rumor" seems to dominate Reddit(which...well there are mixed opinions on that site as a reference).

When it does come in stock, people lucky enough to get some consistently report getting expiration dates 1.5-2 years out, which support film.

By all means read the linked threads and draw your own conclusions, but I tend to think that for whatever reason(raw materials, capacity, some combination) that production runs are small and infrequent. Granted the short shelf life when it does become available may well also reflect pent-up demand. For me, I have stock alerts set up with a bunch of retailers, and the freshest Fuji slide films I have are now 5 years expired. Chances are good that when I get an in-stock notice, I'll buy as much as I reasonably can-not because I'm trying to hoard it, but just because 5 rolls doesn't sound like very much when it may be 6 months or a year before you can buy it again...