Fujifilm has axed its Pro 400H colour negative film, saying it can no longer find reliable supplies of certain raw materials to produce it.
The announcement was made on the product page for the film on Fujifilm’s US website, and was reported by DPReview earlier on Friday (15 January).
The discontinuation affects both the 35mm version of the film and the 120 format, which is sold in five-packs.
The Fujifilm statement reads: “Fujifilm Pro 400H film is a unique product that is coated with a fourth layer – requiring specialised raw materials and chemicals. As it has become increasingly difficult to procure the raw materials needed to produce Pro 400H, we regret to inform you that after careful consideration, Fujifilm has made the difficult business decision to discontinue PRO 400H.
“The discontinuation applies only to the following products:
135 Pro 400H EC NP 36EX 1
120 PRO 400 H EP EC 12EX NP 5
“Based on recent customer demand, we anticipate that we will be able to allocate Pro 400H 120 film through the end of 2021.The production and sale of Pro 400H 135 will cease immediately, January 14, 2021.
“Please note that this announced discontinuation applies only to Pro 400H color film. Fujifilm will continue to produce and sell its consumer color negative, color reversal and black-and-white film stocks to photographers.”
Pro 400H’s stablemate in Fujifilm’s professional film line-up, Pro 160 NS, was largely discontinued across the world in 2018, though its 120 version is still offered for sale in Japan.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
It’s the worst news of the year so far 😢
What a pity to see this film disappear which so appealed to wedding and portrait photographers.
Absolutely gutted to hear about this – especially since it puts the monopoly on colour negative film further into Kodak’s pocket. The silver lining is that it will motivate people even more to support and grow the film community!
This is disappointing news. I’m glad I saw your post. I checked a few of the major us retailers, including Amazon, and they are out of stock. I found and bought five rolls from a New York City retailer.