Fujifilm Japan has announced dramatic price increases for its stable of films and disposable cameras.
The new price rise will see the cost of Fujifilm’s remaining slide films increase by as much as 52%.
The price rises, which were first reported by Fuji Rumors last week, have been blamed on the cost of producing and transporting the films.
According to a press release from Fujifilm Japan, the prices rises, which came into effect on 1 April, are as follows:
- Colour negative films – 21 to 22%
- Colour slide films – 31 50 52%
- Disposable film cameras – £44%
On Friday (4 April), DPReview published a piece which included updated prices at Bic Camera, one of Japan’s biggest photographic chains, showing that the price rises had already taken place.
A Fujifilm press release said: “As the prices of materials, raw materials, and transportation costs for photographic film continue to rise, we have been working to absorb costs by improving production efficiency and cutting expenses, but as it is difficult to absorb the costs through corporate efforts alone, we will be revising the prices of some of our photographic film products.”
There is no information yet whether these prices will be applied to outside Japan, but in the past price rises rolled out in Japan have usually also affected supplies outside the country.
For US film shooters, the Fujifilm price rise could be only part of the problem. New tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump’s administration in the past few weeks include one adding 26% to goods made in Japan, meaning some films could be up to 78% more expensive if the price rises take effect.
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.
