Why fuji across 100 was discontinued?
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fuji was losing money making it due to the small amount of film photographers left, cost of raw materials has increased and their factories were built for making much much larger batches than are needed after the collapse of film.
Fuji was not loosing money on Acros. They had small margin on it and focusing on other areas of business seemed to be better from business perspective. Also the chemicals are going to be costly with smaller production. There were rumours that Fuji stated they should consider whole "analog ecosystem" as one business area (including instant photography which is profit making) and they are reconsidering this decision. No final decision announced though. If they change their mind we should expect higher price levels though.
I speculate the prices will remain high though. Such a nice film is Acros 100.
I love Acros especially for its great reciprocity. Almost no correction needed (0 for less than 120 seconds, +1/2 EV for 120-1000 seconds). Great for night potos, pinholes... Have bought some stack to the fridge for the old price.
We cannot know this. Arguably, even Fuji itself would find it difficult to get a straight answer in this as it depends on how costs are allocated to product lines. Due to the lack of transparency that large corporations give (understandably) concerning the profitability of individual product lines, we will most likely be debating the profitability of Acros for years to come without getting a straight conclusion.
In general, we could infer though that apparently, the product was not profitable enough in their opinion to continue selling it, otherwise they would have.
I think they felt it's market was also shrinking, all manufacturers have noticed an increase in B&W film sales which is growing faster than predicted. I's possible they could re-introduce films but sub-contract manufacture, they've had films made for them here in the UK by Ilford - Neopan 1600 and their XP-2 equivalent and their Rembrandt B&W paper was also not made in Japan. With their UK coated films Fuji supplied some key emulsion components so they differed from Ilord's equivalents.
Ian
I don't care "why" Fuji discontinued the film, but I will not support (through purchases) a company that has a track record of making a superior product and then discontinuing it, to its customers dismay. Fuji does this repeatedly, so even if Acros Neopan comes back I will opt to buy from other companies (Ilford, Bergger, Foma, Rollei, Astrum, et al) that are better positioned to survive in a contracted, post-digital environment, and who demonstrate more dedication to supplying film and other materials for the remaining practitioners. I wish I could include Kodak in that list of "dedicated" suppliers, but I have no idea what Kodak's future is, and have a hard time believing they answer to any sense of obligation to continue manufacturing their admittedly superb products.
Exactly what you would expect. They ran out of master rolls, and either a) they couldn't, or b) it didn't make any economic sense given demand, to make more.
Good thing Rattymouse isn't here to give us his 2 cents...
its a tricky situation. as customers, we all get upset, complain or act angry when a product we like, use and love gets discontinued. I get it, I was sad when it went away along with astia and provia 400x. but like someone mentioned above, fuji is in the business to make money. Im sure there are some here who work for a company who discontinued a product of some sort and had their customers complain. its the free market business model. it happens. all we can do is move on. look at it from Fuji's standpoint. Im sure they have reasons for discontinuing whatever product the do. ITs just that they dont give enough information for many to justify why they did what they did. So its a lack of relevant information I feel that people are upset about. I also get that as i feel the same way.
But it happens. time to move on. its not like there aren't other products that are similar to it. astia and 400x dont, so those hurt more. but such is life. life is to short to worry about it. It seems like its human nature to complain a lot. huh. is that glass half full or half empty? its all how you look at it
I remember reading someplace, cant remember when or where, but I see, to remember FUji being the only company who used what gelatin in their film. And with global pressure to stop, as I read Japan was the last country in the world to allow its use, whale products, might have been a major reason for the hard to get or replicate ingredient. could explain their great reciprocity in their films. not sure if thats what the story I read stated, but it could be.
So if it makes you happy to stop buying all Fuji products great. go at it. Me, I happy i had a chance to make some great photos with their great products. I also want a new 65 mustang convertible, a 70's jaguar xj12, a real AC cobra, a.............
But it happens. time to move on. its not like there aren't other products that are similar to it. astia and 400x dont, so those hurt more. but such is life. life is to short to worry about it. It seems like its human nature to complain a lot. huh. is that glass half full or half empty? its all how you look at it
I remember reading someplace, cant remember when or where, but I see, to remember FUji being the only company who used what gelatin in their film. And with global pressure to stop, as I read Japan was the last country in the world to allow its use, whale products, might have been a major reason for the hard to get or replicate ingredient. could explain their great reciprocity in their films. not sure if thats what the story I read stated, but it could be.
So if it makes you happy to stop buying all Fuji products great. go at it. Me, I happy i had a chance to make some great photos with their great products. I also want a new 65 mustang convertible, a 70's jaguar xj12, a real AC cobra, a.............
Good thing Rattymouse isn't here to give us his 2 cents...
+1
My 2 Reichspfennig: I have heard many good things about Acros but never tried it because a japanese film doesn't feel right to use in my pre-war german cameras, so I prefer the brands that were used here in Europe at that period, like Agfa, Ilford, Kodak and Dr. Schleussner (Adox). One exception is Fuji Reala 100 that I have a couple of rolls left of. Excellent film. 
Glad my cameras aren't picky about what film I stick in them 
That's the thing - B&W seems to be the easier film type to bring to market, so it would seem strange that Fuji would kill it.
I seem to remember there's some cross over between Instax production and 35mm/120 film which is keeping Fuji's production lines going ? Perhaps there wasn't so much of a cross over for B&W ?
Good thing Rattymouse isn't here to give us his 2 cents...
Oh, he's here. He just can't share his Fuji love.
Fuji wanted to get out of the B&W market. It's already heavily saturated by Ilford, Kodak, and others. It didn't make much sense for them to remain in that market and try to compete with them. It's also why Fuji is slowly backing out of the C41 color film market. Kodak has a pretty strong foothold in that one, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to continue. Fuji is instead focusing on E4 slide film and RA4 color paper. Up until recently, they were the only game in town when it came to E4. And Kodak just has the one film. And while Kodak makes RA4 paper, they only sell it in rolls. Fuji sells theirs in sheets (and some rolls). Fuji doesn't make B&W paper, because there are so many other companies that do.
The trend here is that Fuji is being proactive and trying to keep their products with low sales volume from weighing down the rest of the company. So they're focusing on the market segments that actually have better long term viability for them, thus keeping themselves and the other photographic companies, in better financial health.
So while it may seem like Fuji doesn't care about film photographers, they actually care a good deal about them. Fuji pretty much just makes photography products as a service to their old customer base out of a sense of loyalty. Fuji, as a company, makes the majority of it's income through non photographic products, like healthcare equipment, pharmaceuticals, the print industry, and what they call "highly functional materials". If they were like most companies, they'd abandon photography all together since they don't need it to survive, there's not a lot of future growth potential, and it induces a lot more risk than possibility of reward.
The trend here is that Fuji is being proactive and trying to keep their products with low sales volume from weighing down the rest of the company. So they're focusing on the market segments that actually have better long term viability for them, thus keeping themselves and the other photographic companies, in better financial health.
So while it may seem like Fuji doesn't care about film photographers, they actually care a good deal about them. Fuji pretty much just makes photography products as a service to their old customer base out of a sense of loyalty. Fuji, as a company, makes the majority of it's income through non photographic products, like healthcare equipment, pharmaceuticals, the print industry, and what they call "highly functional materials". If they were like most companies, they'd abandon photography all together since they don't need it to survive, there's not a lot of future growth potential, and it induces a lot more risk than possibility of reward.
Reading between the lines Fuji had master rolls or roll of Acros 1o0 in cold storage, they'd confection these to meet demand, and demand was dropping so they didn't coat more. Kodak did exactly the same as Kodachrome.
There were softness issues with Acros 100 and people getting full blown reticulation and even emulsion lifting/flaking from the base. It's known that Fuji used whale bone gelatin in some emulsions, and there was moratorium on catching whales. I used Acros a few times, aside from no reciprocity failure I never found it inspiring, I didn't like it's tonality. I kept what I had to use up when in very low lighting conditions. I don't mean it was a poor film rather I was happy with the films I'd been using and it didn't warrant taking its use further.
Ian
Acros is a wonderful film, but considering how much competition there was - tmax, Delta, Adox, etc, and declining profits it did make sense to slash it from a financial perspective. They probably have employees aging out and it is all a part of their master plan to exit film. Nobody knows what happens behind the gate of the chocolate factory but don't be surprised to see the rest of their films get axed soon. Stock up on slide and colour negative is you like it.
Been running a lot of Acros through my two Fuji cameras because it just feels right. 
Actually have 3 Fuji’s but have been favoring the two 6x8 formats. Also have 645 but man it’s sure a small negative.
Roger
Actually have 3 Fuji’s but have been favoring the two 6x8 formats. Also have 645 but man it’s sure a small negative. Roger
Been running a lot of Acros through my two Fuji cameras because it just feels right.
Roger
I ran some through my Grand Father's old Brownie Target Six-20. It loved it. That 6x8 negative was sweet.
The law of profit-making:
As the demand for film goes down, the price of film goes up.
As the demand for film goes up, the price of film goes up.
As the film's raw materials cost goes up, the price of film goes up.
As the film's raw materials availability goes down, the price of film goes up.
As the film's price no longer creates profit, the film goes bye-bye.
What more is there to know?
As the demand for film goes down, the price of film goes up.
As the demand for film goes up, the price of film goes up.
As the film's raw materials cost goes up, the price of film goes up.
As the film's raw materials availability goes down, the price of film goes up.
As the film's price no longer creates profit, the film goes bye-bye.
What more is there to know?
The available evidence suggests that Fuji are unable to downsize their film production...when they do a coating run it's a big run or nothing. Kodak have stated that the process to reintroduce Ektachrome involved making some changes which have resulted in them having the ability to do shorter runs...thus making both Ektachrome and P3200 viable again. Part of Ferrania's plan for long term production also involves flexibility in terms of how much film they produce at any given time.
Fuji were probably just not selling enough Acros to use up whatever quantity they need to produce before it expired. While Acros may well have had unique properties there are a lot of medium speed B&W films out there.
Fuji were probably just not selling enough Acros to use up whatever quantity they need to produce before it expired. While Acros may well have had unique properties there are a lot of medium speed B&W films out there.
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