Photokina 2012: Fuji Neopan 400 is back

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Originally Posted by Newt_on_Swings

I remember the end of freestyle carrying their rebranded arista version of neopan 400 in 135. That was last year. I thought that was tied into all of this as well.

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No, that was because students were complaining it was too good for such a cheap film. ;-)

LOL. Seriously, I would buy an extra freezer to stock up those ridiculously cheap legacy pro films. But I missed the deal last year and guess it's gone forever.

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Originally Posted by rich815

No, that was because students were complaining it was too good for such a cheap film. ;-)

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Originally Posted by brian steinberger

Ok, I just pulled up the FUji USA site and found this:

http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/...400/index.html

They have it listed as available in both 35mm and 120! This is promising.

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Hooray!

Good news! Now if they start to make it in 120, that would be really great.

Jeff

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Originally Posted by Henning Serger

Hello,

- Fujifilm has successfully solved the problems with one raw material, which caused the former production stop
- they see increasing demand in this film segment
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Best regards,
Henning

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Like others I am confused. My understanding was that the problem with one raw material only affected the 120 film which was discontinued because of this and not due to lack of demand and that no such problem existed with the 135 film which would explain why it is still available in the U.K. Of course it may be the case that the problem with 120 meant that curing the problem was not economically viable at the then current demand but Fuji changed its mind or found a solution that wasn't as expensive as it originally thought it would be in relation to the demand but either way this would lead to Fuji announcing a restart of the 120 which is not what was said to you by the Fuji representative.

If the raw material problem has been solved and it is good news if it has then I would have thought that the Fuji announcement would be that production of the 120 film will be re-started.

pentaxuser

I never knew 135 had been cut! Supplies have been OK here. Glad it's back as it's my favourite, but odd that I never knew it had gone away...

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Originally Posted by Henning Serger

Hello,

I've visited this years Photokina and besides their new Instax camera and two new silver halide colour photo papers (for the increasing market of photobooks) Fujifilm presented the re-introduced Neopan 400 (135). Visible both in the showcase and the brochures at their booth.
I talked about Neopan 400 with the responsible Fujifilm manager, and he told me the reasons for the Neopan 400 comeback are

- Fujifilm has successfully solved the problems with one raw material, which caused the former production stop
- they see increasing demand in this film segment
- in Germany the Fujifilm BW film sales of the last three years have been the highest they ever had (new sales record)
- there is an increasing interest in film from younger photographers.

He said that if there is new interest and sufficient / increasing demand than Fujifilm is in principle willing to re-introduce films. At least there is no "if the production has stopped, the product will never, ever come back" policy at Fujifilm.
It's all about demand.

Best regards,
Henning

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Seriously, this is like one of those things that goes on behind closed doors that you never really know about...who knew Neopan 400 was going to be discontinued? And then revived. To most people, it's going to just seem like they kept making it right along...in stock at B&H, et al, right now.

But great film, and good to hear. At least Fuji has now brought back two films...Velvia 50 and Neopan 400 135. But what about 120 format Neopan 400?

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Originally Posted by Henning Serger

He said that if there is new interest and sufficient / increasing demand than Fujifilm is in principle willing to re-introduce films. At least there is no "if the production has stopped, the product will never, ever come back" policy at Fujifilm.
It's all about demand.

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This is the crucial piece. Film photographers, especially in North America, have become conditioned to the extinction model. Once gone, it's gone forever. Gone along with the entire infrastructure that made it. And all of the personnel that ran that infrastructure. And all of the raw materials required by that infrastructure. And forever is a long, long time.

It's good to hear others may be thinking more progressively regarding film's future. And aren't hiding from any modest increases in market demand.

Ken

I've never tried Neopan 400 and I don't shoot 135. If this comes back in 120, what's it like? Is it a fine tabular grain like Acros or TMY2 (probably my 2 favourite films) or is it more of a Tri-X/HP5 kind of thing?

And while Fuji is bringing stuff back, how about bringing a few more of the C41 emulsions back in 120 (160C!) and 4x5.

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Originally Posted by polyglot

I've never tried Neopan 400 and I don't shoot 135. If this comes back in 120, what's it like? Is it a fine tabular grain like Acros or TMY2 (probably my 2 favourite films) or is it more of a Tri-X/HP5 kind of thing?

And while Fuji is bringing stuff back, how about bringing a few more of the C41 emulsions back in 120 (160C!) and 4x5.

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It is NOT a "tabular" grain film like Tmax or Delta. It would be considered traditional but I found the look more in between the two, possibly leaning more toward a traditional film look. The film is super smooth, with a nice shoulder. I used it exclusively when it was available. Now I have to use two films to get by. I developed Neopan 400 in Xtol and Rodinal and it sang it both but in particular Xtol. Other die hard 120 Neopan 400 shooters will agree. It could be shot at box speed in Xtol or pushed one stop with fantastic results. Such an amazing film, I hope that it comes back. I'm down to 15 rolls left of my stash and I use it sparingly.