Acros 100: Another Film Bites The Dust?

Last Updated on 04/01/2018 by Mark Beckenbach

Reports coming out of Japan indicate that Fujifilm may be getting ready to ax another film stock

For as much as we all like to talk about the film renaissance currently going on in the world, the sad truth is that the benefits of this resurgence of interest in film have not translated over to the film companies – at least not in a big enough way (with a few exceptions) to prevent these beloved and popular film stocks from being discontinued.

Fujifilm has been behind several popular film stocks seeing an end to their production run. If these latest reports out of Japan are true, it is looking as if yet another photographer favorite, Acros 100, could be seeing its end of production later this year.

According to the reporting over on Casual Photophile, some leaked documents that went out to Japanese Dealers indicates that in addition to the previously announced discontinuation of their black and white paper products, Fujifilm will also be axing their production of Acros 100; both in the 35mm and 120mm formats. In other words, Acros 100 has received its EOL (end of life) papers, and it appears that the end of production will be coming as soon as October of this year.

It does need to be noted, this is a leak and this is coming out of Fujifilm Japan; this is not an official announcement and it has not been confirmed by either Fujifilm Japan or Fujifilm USA. It is possible, as has been done in the past, that this discontinuation will only be relevant to Japan and the Asian market. However, given that this is being classified as an end of production, rather than just a ‘no longer available in this market’ designation it would seem more likely that this is, in fact, going to apply to Fujifilm USA (and the rest of the world as well for that matter).

For those unfamiliar, [amazon_textlink asin=’B0000DHKYG’ text=’Acros 100′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f4f9386f-3458-11e8-93c0-2921c24c2307′] is (as the name suggests) the film that Fujifilm’s Acros Film Simulation is based on. It features a rather low contrast, fine grain look that has been incredibly popular amongst black and white film enthusiasts. Its exit from the market will, for sure, be felt in that community for some time – at least until other black and white emulsions are able to be discovered.

In our review of Acros 100, we wondered if the Acros 100 film was giving us anything that the digital emulation could not; we enjoyed using Acros 100, but in the end, we wondered about the future of this film with it being so effectively mimicked in Fujifilm’s digital cameras. Well, now it would seem, should this leak/report hold up, that our pondering was not far off, and that Fujifilm also wondered – and ultimately decided to ax the popular black and white film.

It is a real shame, we never like to see film emulsions see an EOL announcement; Especially during this time with so much increased interest in film, it is a shame to see well-liked emulsions going extinct. Stay tuned and we will update this when and if any official announcement is made by either Fujifilm Japan or Fujifilm USA. In the meantime, if you are a fan of Acros 100 and want to up your stock of this silm before this news becomes official and price gouging begins, you can find it over on [amazon_textlink asin=’B00009XVOF’ text=’Amazon still’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’88823177-3458-11e8-adca-49efc0030b72′].