Fuji have announced a new Acros 100 for release this autumn

Now *that* is good news. The cynic in me wonders if it'll be "Acros I" with +£5 on the price tag.
 
Woohoo!!!
 
Excellent news, so long as they have not messed about with it too much, it was my favourite black and white film
 
Now *that* is good news. The cynic in me wonders if it'll be "Acros I" with +£5 on the price tag.

I think we can be pretty sure there'll be some £ on the old price. I thought this quote from TOP was interesting: "...the film in the box cost less to produce than the packaging around it! The profit margin from film sales was ungodly high...". However, given the huge fixed costs (not necessarily counted in the "cost to produce" above) of the massive infrastructure they built up, coupled with the dramatic fall in the amount of film being sold (down >95%?), the fixed costs will be much higher per film. If they've had to re-do the production lines for the lower quantities, that'll be new investment to be repaid rather than just maintenance on old sunk costs. So yes, it will cost more. :(
 
This has to be really good news if the price is reasonable, but the new Ektachrome price was a shocker when it finally appeared. Fingers crossed! :love:
 
Shipping costs from Mobberley to Japan might be a factor possibly ? Not that anyone has said anything.
I think we can be pretty sure there'll be some £ on the old price. I thought this quote from TOP was interesting: "...the film in the box cost less to produce than the packaging around it! The profit margin from film sales was ungodly high...". However, given the huge fixed costs (not necessarily counted in the "cost to produce" above) of the massive infrastructure they built up, coupled with the dramatic fall in the amount of film being sold (down >95%?), the fixed costs will be much higher per film. If they've had to re-do the production lines for the lower quantities, that'll be new investment to be repaid rather than just maintenance on old sunk costs. So yes, it will cost more. :(
 
Brilliant news, perhaps I won’t shoot as much as I used to but for important stuff I’ll happily sell a kidney
 
Good news, however, I won't be buying it in 120 format (if available) for a while, as I still have 5 x five-pack boxes of Mk1 Acros in my freezer that I squirrelled away when they announced it had been discontinued. :)
 
Good news, however, I won't be buying it in 120 format (if available) for a while, as I still have 5 x five-pack boxes of Mk1 Acros in my freezer that I squirrelled away when they announced it had been discontinued. :)
Not sure I've got as many as that, but I'm certainly in double figures and I'm still using the 2011 stuff that's been in the fridge. :cool:
 
Good news indeed, though it would have been even better if 5x4 were on the immediate agenda.
 
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!!!
 
I wait in anticipation for the sheet film format(s) being released...
Especially the Quickload sheets.
Not sure that this will ever happen, especially the Quickloads. I still have some in the fridge left from 2005 and they still turn out just fine. There have been some on the auction site from Japan recently, but not exactly cheap and there'll be duty and VAT on top of that. :( I had them with me at Onich, but never got a suitable day to shoot them.
 
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I think I still have a single sheet left...
 
Well, if it doesn’t happen, I have 14 boxes of 5x4 left in the freezer, which I’ll shoot very sparingly. Hell, I’ve still got a box of adox chs 25! In any case, it really grinds my gears when ‘NEW RELEAS’ is plastered all over the web, and it’s not catering for a good size part of the film user base. If anything, there’s non-negligible risk in alienating potential users into not buying other film lines from the same brand that are available in the size they use.
 
There's a post on Photorio / APUG this morning from Japanese seller B.S.Kumar as follows
Acros II is being released for sale in Japan on 22nd November, 2019. It will be available in 120 and 35mm formats, single rolls only at this time. Quantities will be limited initially.

The price is 1,080 JPY per roll for both sizes. EMS shipping will be extra, and will depend on the quantity you order. Payment is in Japanese Yen, payable via Paypal invoice or bank transfer through TransferWise.

This apparently converts to a bargain £7.72 per film, but I guess it'll be a lot more by the time it gets here.
 
but I guess it'll be a lot more by the time it gets here.

I suspect you might be right. I really like Acros I but I'd have to think twice if the new version was over a tenner a roll (120).
 
Irrespective of the cost, it’s good to see that film companies realise that celluloid is still a buoyant market, albeit now sharing that with digital, not on its deathbed.
 
It'll be a while before I need any in 120, I still have 5 packs of the last of the original stuff in my freezer!
 
It'll be a while before I need any in 120, I still have 5 packs of the last of the original stuff in my freezer!

I bet we're not the only ones, I hope fuji take that into account if the initial sales are sluggish.
 
Undoubtedly great news for film photography - essentially an endorsement of the medium by one of the big players.

However - genuine question, not being flippant - can someone explain the lure of this film? It seems to enjoy great popularity online. I understand it has extremely low reciprocity failure figures, so it's probably great for pinhole photography and long exposures. Other than that? A quick check of Acros scans on Flick's 'Acros' groups does not reveal anything technically distinctive or striking to my eyes. Not sure I'd be able to tell these are Acros, rather than e.g. FP4+ or Fomapan 100 shots, in a blind test tbh.
 
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I can only speak for myself, but I find Acros (120) great when you want absolutely "clean-as-a-whistle" images. I've done a fair bit of testing on supposedly "sharp and clean" low ISO films (Pan F, FP4, Foma, Delta 100, Retro 80s, TMAX100) and to my eyes, with my developer (Rodinal), and my camera (RB67), Acros 100 is gorgeous. I get results that are on a par with my X-T2 & 50-140 which is an extremely competent combo. I'd even consider saying I get better results - especially straight out of the camera. I have 1 roll of it left, and I was going to swap to Delta 100 if they hadn't released v2. Still might if the price is too high because I think I'd probably struggle to tell the difference unless I was printing to a large size, which I don't often do.

If you're just Instagramming or Flickering your images you may not notice the difference, but up close on my 4k monitor, or printed large, they look fab.

As always, there are a lot of variables in Film photography, so your mileage may very well vary.

Edit to add, for 35mm I wouldn't bother because I can't tell the difference between it and other low ISO films because the output is so small.
 
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I can only speak for myself, but I find Acros (120) great when you want absolutely "clean-as-a-whistle" images. I've done a fair bit of testing on supposedly "sharp and clean" low ISO films (Pan F, FP4, Foma, Delta 100, Retro 80s, TMAX100) and to my eyes, with my developer (Rodinal), and my camera (RB67), Acros 100 is gorgeous.

Understood - thanks. I use Rodinal for most of my processing so I get where you're coming from. Will definitely try some of the new Acros in my Autocord when it's out, especially if the price is reasonable.
 
Undoubtedly great news for film photography - essentially an endorsement of the medium by one of the big players.

However - genuine question, not being flippant - can someone explain the lure of this film? It seems to enjoy great popularity online. I understand it has extremely low reciprocity failure figures, so it's probably great for pinhole photography and long exposures. Other than that? A quick check of Acros scans on Flick's 'Acros' groups does not reveal anything technically distinctive or striking to my eyes. Not sure I'd be able to tell these are Acros, rather than e.g. FP4+ or Fomapan 100 shots, in a blind test tbh.
I've only really used it for landscape shots and similar, and find the lack of grain in big sky areas to be a definite advantage to the overall photo. I haven't used it for portraits and suchlike, so can't comment on that. The lack of reciprocity problems is a considerable factor, and that can be on big stopper ND shots, not just pinhole.
 
find the lack of grain in big sky areas to be a definite advantage to the overall photo.

That is an interesting point, thanks. What are your thoughts on Ilford's chromogenic film, XP2+? I often use it in 120 for 'bright day' photography. I have noticed it behaves unlike conventional BW film in that the dye clouds create grainy texture mostly in the shadows, rather than (as is the case with silver crystals in traditional BW film) midtones and highlights. I found this results in extremely clean skies and highlight detail (at least in medium format). Wondering if Acros could be considered as some sort of non-C41-based XP2+ in this sense. Will have to try it out!
 
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That is an interesting point, thanks. What are your thoughts on Ilford's chromogenic film, XP2+? I often use it in 120 for 'bright day' photography. I have noticed it behaves unlike conventional BW film in that the dye clouds create grainy texture mostly in the shadows, rather than (as is the case with silver crystals in traditional BW film) midtones and highlights. I found this results in extremely clean skies and highlight detail (at least in medium format). Wondering if Acros could be considered as some sort of non-C41-based XP2+ in this sense. Will have to try it out!
I've had a variety of results with XP2+, although I think you're right about shadow grain compared to pale area grain. There's a school of thought that XP2+ gives better results exposed at iso 200, but again that might be subject dependent. The photo below shows the grain appearing as the clouds get darker, and I've other shots which I feel suffer from this as well. It's all down to taste at the end of the day, and long may we have choices to make!

R2-05070-0035-tp.jpg
 
I really like that effect, @Peter B !

The reciprocity characteristics are also useful with night time photography, which I've done a few times. And I guess with LF it's not hard to get into reciprocity conditions on most films. Acros was unique in this respect, and I'm hoping the new one will be, too.

That said, I rarely shoot it (mostly Tri-X) and have at least half a dozen rolls in reserve!
 
I've had a variety of results with XP2+, although I think you're right about shadow grain compared to pale area grain. There's a school of thought that XP2+ gives better results exposed at iso 200, but again that might be subject dependent. The photo below shows the grain appearing as the clouds get darker, and I've other shots which I feel suffer from this as well. It's all down to taste at the end of the day, and long may we have choices to make!

View attachment 260302

I've not had grain issues like that with XP2, even before I started shooting it at 200 ISO in sunny conditions. In fact, fine grain for a 400 ASA film was one of the original marketing and selling points. Here are some of examples taken on 120. Click on the photo to view in Flickr at large size.

Ensign Selfix 1620 (4.5 x 6 format).



Ensign Selfix 820 (6 x 9 format).



Yashica 635 (6 x 6 format).

 
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The shot I posted was a 35mm one, so that might account for the difference?
 
Ah... I wondered what you'd done to it! I've not shot XP2 in 35mm for years, so don't have any examples to check.

I've shot it in 35mm and developed it in Kodak HC110 for "better" results than the Filmdev C41 result above, and almost certainly the same batch of film. Ah, well :rolleyes:
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/show-us-yer-film-shots-then.53681/post-8327419
 
Seen some information on Reddit that Acros II is being made in the UK. Good news for Ilford I'd say as well as us.
 
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