Not as bad as things looked, maybe. Although I find the communication between Fuji Japan and Fuji USA never is the same. So, here is hoping this USA announcement is correct,......this time.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Matthew Schmidt
Fujifilm
(914) 789-8529
mschmidt@fujifilm.com
FUJIFILM TO INCREASE PRICES FOR FILM AND ONE-TIME-USE CAMERAS
Valhalla, N.Y., December 20, 2013 –FUJIFILM North America Corporation will implement price increases for film and Waterproof One-Time-Use cameras in the U.S., effective April 1, 2014. Prices for consumer and professional photographic film, including black and white, color negative, color reversal films, as well as consumer Waterproof One-Time-Use cameras (OTUC) will increase by approximately 10%.
The price increases are a result of the continuing decline in demand for film products, the high costs of production, and the increased expenses associated with raw materials, including silver and petro-chemicals, and energy. Under such circumstances, and despite efforts to maintain production costs, Fujifilm is unable to absorb these costs entirely and must implement price increases at this time.
Ten percent isn't too bad, and the increase could certainly have been greater. My only gripe is that the number of emulsions available for us LFers continues to decline.
I still have a pretty good cache of Astia in both QL and sheets, and some Velvia 100 in QL. It's been stored frozen, but I know it won't last forever. I suppose I should stock up on Velvia 100F (not my favorite) and Provia 100F while they are still available in 4x5.
Changing to a new emulsion means becoming familiar with how the film reacts under various lighting conditions and also learning how to scan it for best results, which takes time, and possibly resulting in some unusable chromes.
I totally agree with your comments, Preston. I too see it exactly the same way. All the stuff left is not by any means my favorites. If I had the choice it would be: Velvia 50 - Kodachrome 64 - Kodachrome 25 - Ektachrome 100 - Ektachrome 200 - Astia - Provia - Velvia 100f - Velvia 100 in this descending order.
So, I guess I'll choose what's left...... Provia.......
To be quite honest I find myself dragging out my Mamiya RB67 more often these days with plenty of Velvia 50 in queue,.......so far.
Thanks for the info Paul, good to know how things develop () in the near future.
But I have to defend Provia 100F a bit. Despite it giving a blue cast when there's too much sky light, I cannot find much flaws. It has a "easier" dynamic range and a more believable saturation than Velvia. Since most of us scan, the latter aspects make the post processing also easier and satuartion can always be increased, if needed.
But that being said, I have used Provia 100F almost exclusively, and I have no comparison to other films, except for the 10 sheets of Velvia I exposed in my LF career so far..
I would appreciate if you could mentione some aspects of Velvia 50 that make you prefer it.
Thanks,
Didi, really good to hear from you. To be very honest about the Velvia 50 thing I feel Preston has summed it a bit in his comment. In his case it was always Astia, for me it was always Velvia 50, and it truly sounds like Provia was yours. It's what we are and were use to. That gets into all the characteristics of each of the films both in the field and the scanning and PS adjusting aspects.
With that stated I think we could all point out some of those characteristics very easily. In color; it was Astia's lean toward green / yellow, Velvia 50 red / magenta and Provia blue / cyan. So it was totally a personal preference for each. But, more importantly I think it was how each person worked through those traits and presented the images in an accepted and approved state in the end.
So, no right or wrong from any of it IMHO, but like Preston, I was not looking forward to the new learning curve toward what is the last standing transparency films left. In my case it gets a bit deeper as I still use a MF camera where V-50 is very available. This leads me to splitting the thought on having used V-50 for 20 years in MF & LF usage and or going 100% Provia overall as a total paradigm shift.
Needless to say, as we've all improved over the years on the PS adjustments across the board on all of the films it's less of an issue now. And for the most part the stats on Provia out ranks the others for sensible use overall anyway. However, when was the last time I was accused of making a sensible decision......
Hi Paul,
thanks for your quick reply! Ok, I got it ;-)
I have come to like Provia 100F, and in some conditions, I even like the blueish cast. Velvia picks up more details for sure, which is always something to appreciate, since high resolving power is one of the reasony why I made the transition to LF. For me a Provia with a tad more saturation and the detail of Velvia 50 would be perfect. I even would pay +20% for that
Merry Christmas!
Discussion
8 repliesFuji Update 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Matthew Schmidt
Fujifilm
(914) 789-8529
mschmidt@fujifilm.com
FUJIFILM TO INCREASE PRICES FOR FILM AND ONE-TIME-USE CAMERAS
Valhalla, N.Y., December 20, 2013 –FUJIFILM North America Corporation will implement price increases for film and Waterproof One-Time-Use cameras in the U.S., effective April 1, 2014. Prices for consumer and professional photographic film, including black and white, color negative, color reversal films, as well as consumer Waterproof One-Time-Use cameras (OTUC) will increase by approximately 10%.
The price increases are a result of the continuing decline in demand for film products, the high costs of production, and the increased expenses associated with raw materials, including silver and petro-chemicals, and energy. Under such circumstances, and despite efforts to maintain production costs, Fujifilm is unable to absorb these costs entirely and must implement price increases at this time.
Ten percent isn't too bad, and the increase could certainly have been greater. My only gripe is that the number of emulsions available for us LFers continues to decline.
I still have a pretty good cache of Astia in both QL and sheets, and some Velvia 100 in QL. It's been stored frozen, but I know it won't last forever. I suppose I should stock up on Velvia 100F (not my favorite) and Provia 100F while they are still available in 4x5.
Changing to a new emulsion means becoming familiar with how the film reacts under various lighting conditions and also learning how to scan it for best results, which takes time, and possibly resulting in some unusable chromes.
As I always say, "Research continues..."
--P
So, I guess I'll choose what's left...... Provia.......
To be quite honest I find myself dragging out my Mamiya RB67 more often these days with plenty of Velvia 50 in queue,.......so far.
But I have to defend Provia 100F a bit. Despite it giving a blue cast when there's too much sky light, I cannot find much flaws. It has a "easier" dynamic range and a more believable saturation than Velvia. Since most of us scan, the latter aspects make the post processing also easier and satuartion can always be increased, if needed.
But that being said, I have used Provia 100F almost exclusively, and I have no comparison to other films, except for the 10 sheets of Velvia I exposed in my LF career so far..
I would appreciate if you could mentione some aspects of Velvia 50 that make you prefer it.
Thanks,
Dietrich
With that stated I think we could all point out some of those characteristics very easily. In color; it was Astia's lean toward green / yellow, Velvia 50 red / magenta and Provia blue / cyan. So it was totally a personal preference for each. But, more importantly I think it was how each person worked through those traits and presented the images in an accepted and approved state in the end.
So, no right or wrong from any of it IMHO, but like Preston, I was not looking forward to the new learning curve toward what is the last standing transparency films left. In my case it gets a bit deeper as I still use a MF camera where V-50 is very available. This leads me to splitting the thought on having used V-50 for 20 years in MF & LF usage and or going 100% Provia overall as a total paradigm shift.
Needless to say, as we've all improved over the years on the PS adjustments across the board on all of the films it's less of an issue now. And for the most part the stats on Provia out ranks the others for sensible use overall anyway. However, when was the last time I was accused of making a sensible decision......
thanks for your quick reply! Ok, I got it ;-)
I have come to like Provia 100F, and in some conditions, I even like the blueish cast. Velvia picks up more details for sure, which is always something to appreciate, since high resolving power is one of the reasony why I made the transition to LF. For me a Provia with a tad more saturation and the detail of Velvia 50 would be perfect. I even would pay +20% for that
Merry Christmas!
Totally understood, Didi..........have a great Christmas too.....take care!