When did Fujifilm Acros come into existance?

[RattyMouse]

I'm just curious, when did Fujifilm Neopan Acros film come about? Is it old like some of the famous Kodak b & w films? I never used Acros until recently. Back during the film era, I shot exclusively Ilford film and never even saw Acros. So if it existed pre-digital, I missed it big time!


Thanks for the history lesson!

 

[AgX]

It's recent compared to Neopan.

 

[ath]

Memory says about 10 years ago. My oldest datasheet of Acros was generated in January 2001.

 

[jun]

RattyMouse,

Yes, ath is correct.

See the attached link for Yodobashi camera.
http://www.yodobashi.com/富士フイルム-FUJIFILM-ネオパン-100-ACROS-120-5本パック/pd/100000001001219374/

http://www.yodobashi.com/富士フイルム-FUJIFILM-NEOPAN100-ACROS-135-36枚撮/pd/100000001000126206/

If you your browser can correctly show Japanese,
you may can read the Chinese characters that says
the release date for 120 size (what Japanese typically call as “Brownie” film)
Acros was 2000/05/14, for 135-36 size Acros was 2000/11/30.

Note that Acros is a very new film (probably the latest) for made in Japan B&W film.

Please note that traditionally and in the old days most Japanese used Neopan SS (or Konipan SS) ASA 100 or Neopan SSS (ASA 200) probably because it was cheaper than the other imported competitor B&W films (e.g. Kodak Tri-X, Plus-X).
But as you know Neopan SS was discontinued recently and Neopan SSS was discontinued way before (Neopan 400 took it).

Also, note that Fuji really didn’t established “world wide” B&W film market in the in the heyday of film.
Only established domestic Japanese market somewhat.
I think one of the reason that this film is getting well-known in the world market is probably lot of companies are discontinuing film manufacturing so we are having less choice than we should have been before.

 

[pgomena]

Another reason it's becoming well-known on the world market is that it is a great film with fabulous reciprocity characteristics. In the U.S., it's also cheaper than many other films from the major manufacturers.

Peter Gomena