Fujifilm has announced that it will be discontinuing a few more film products. The latest to be axed are Fujicolor 160NS Professional 120 film and Velvia 50 in 4×5 and 8×10 sheet sizes.
In its press release announcing the discontinuation, Fujifilm explains that it was forced to make the decision because it can no longer (affordably?) obtain certain ingredients used to make its film stocks.
“[Fujifilm] has been working hard to absorb costs such as improving production efficiency and reducing costs for the 160NS 120 size color negative film for photography and the VELVIA 50 CUT size reversal film that have been used for many years,” the company writes. “However, because it became difficult to procure some of the raw materials used for production, we have no choice but to discontinue production and sales.”
The discontinuation of Fujicolor 160NS Professional 120 film is the final nail in the coffin for Fujicolor Pro film. The professional color negative film family was originally introduced in 2004 for wedding, portrait, fashion, and commercial photographers, and the lineup included Pro 160S (later renamed Pro 160NS), Pro 160C, Pro 400H, and Pro 800Z.
Fujicolor Pro 160NS is known for its natural color reproduction, especially of skin tones, making it an ideal choice for photographing people. It had especially fine grain (an RMS granularity of 3), a wide exposure range (-1 to +3 EV), and a 4th cyan-sensitive layer on top of the standard RGB layers to more accurately capture how the human eye sees color.
The discontinuation of Fujicolor Pro 400H film was announced in January 2021, so the film will no longer be available once current stocks run out.
Velvia 50 sheet film is known for its extremely fine grain and its brilliant color reproduction, and it has been a popular choice for landscape photographers who want photos with extreme sharpness, tonality, and vibrancy.
With the discontinuation of these three film products, Fujifilm’s film lineup now comprises six lines: Velvia 50 (in 35mm and 120), Velvia 100 (in 35mm, 120, and sheet), Provia 100F (in 35mm, 120, and sheet), Neopan 100 Acros II (announced in June 2019, available in 35mm and 120), Fujicolor C200, and Superia X-TRA 400.
Options are dwindling for diehard Fujifilm film photographers, particularly in sheet film, where Velvia 100 and Provia 100F are the final two choices. It’s unclear where Fujifilm’s non-Instax film business is headed, but it could be a good idea to stock up on any Fujifilm film stocks you can’t live without.
Author: Michael Zhang
Source: Petapixel
