Fuji Pro 400H – The Last Rolls of Film
I’ve mentioned it before on this blog that the varieties of film available today pale in comparison to what was on the market twenty or thirty years ago. While we are seeing the emergence of a few new varieties from boutique manufacturers, the rolls we have left to us from the big two (Fujifilm & Kodak) are important and remain mainstays for film shooters. Therefore, it was all the sadder when I saw the news earlier this year that Fuji announced that their much-loved Pro400H will be going out of production. This is not because of a lack of demand but due to difficulties in procuring the raw ingredients required for this film’s special fourth layer.
This was the only professional grade colour film Fuji sold outside of Asia (the other being Pro 160 which can only be bought into the West through imports), and the only colour negative film they sold in medium format (120) which will make its loss more keenly felt. It’s greener and more magenta tones offering something quite different to what else was on the market and many people swear that it is much better for shooting portraits of people with darker skin tones than compared to Kodak’s ever popular Portra series.
As you can imagine when this news was first announced there was a bit of a buying frenzy with people snapping up as much as they could. This was especially pronounced for the 35mm rolls as they went out of production and out of sale with immediate effect at the time of the announcement. Luckily even though I was late to the party, I managed to snap up five rolls at normal prices before the last few rolls rocketed up in price to about double what they were before. The expiry date isn’t until 08/22 and I haven’t decided what I want to do with them yet. I’d like to do something special with them, but nothing has come to mind yet. In an ideal world I’d take them with me on a trip to Japan, but I can’t see that happening anytime soon.
In the meantime, I’ve been shooting it on my Bronica SQ-A as Fuji had enough left and still being made in 120 to be able to sell it throughout 2021. The final batch has now been created with an expiry date of 06/23 so there will still be plenty of time to shoot what is left on the market. Funnily enough despite is going out of production it is currently still very cheap to buy in this format, especially when compared to the prices of Portra 400 which was gone up a lot in the UK over the last six months. Looking at the ebay stores as well, the remaining stock seems to be shifting fairly slowly. Perhaps everyone who wanted to stock up has already done so and now it is back to business as usual, a good sign that this film will remain cheap and easy to buy for a good few months yet.
I intend to shoot as much of it as I can whilst it is still available (especially while it is much cheaper than Portra 400!), and it will feature in an upcoming blog all about my new 110mm F4.5 macro lens for the Bronica SQ-A. It is difficult for me to say how much I like this stock as I haven’t shot that much of it and others to compare it against. I do like the results it gives, with great levels of detail for a film of moderate speed. Whilst, as I said before, the colour palette is more magenta and greener than Portra I still feel it renders colour in an accurate true to life way.
There are some who remain hopeful that we could see a new version of this film stock produced in the near future. Fuji had originally discontinued its Acros black & white film for the very same reason – difficulties with procuring raw materials. It then re-emerged at Acros II shortly after with characteristics that were almost identical. However, these are made in partnership with long standing black & white film manufacturers Harman (responsible for the Ilford line of films). Unfortunately, there’s no one suitable to fill this role for colour negative film. Though I guess there’s no harm in being optimistic. Hopefully Fuji can find a way to bring this or a similar professional grade film back to the market, especially as the interest in analogue continues to increase.
What’s your experience using Fuji Pro400H? Is this a film stock you will miss? Let me know in the comments down below.
If you enjoyed this blog then please consider leaving a tip below.