Fujifilm Price Hikes

[cgw]

Ouch!

Fujifilm Hikes Japanese Film Prices by 21% to 52%

Some film is more than 50% more expensive now.

petapixel.com

 

[Jeff15]

Mr Trump maybe ... ?

 

[smoke665]

According to the article the price increase is only on products sold in Japan, however import tariffs might push US prices close to the same. It will be interesting to see how the ever increasing cost of film photography will have a dampening effect on sector.

 

[nerwin]

I guess that's the end for me. I like shooting film but if it keeps going up, I can't sustain it anymore. I'll have to go back to digital.

 

[smoke665]

I guess that's the end for me. I like shooting film but if it keeps going up, I can't sustain it anymore. I'll have to go back to digital.

Maybe not if you stock up now. Quick sample price check at B&H, Ilford HP5 100, 24 exposure is currently $7.99, Kodak gold 200, 36 exposure $8.49, Fuji 400, 36 exposure $8.39, multi-pack prices per roll are lower yet.

 

[webestang64]

Mr Trump maybe ... ?

Ding Ding Ding What do we have for him Johnny?

 

[cgw]

For N.America, the watershed was the disappearance of cheap C-41 processing, notably places like Costco that pulled their labs in Canada nearly 15 years ago. No more Fujifilm Superia multipacs at knockdown prices on grocery store hooks. From there on, labs thinned and film prices rose. Kodak settled into hiking film prices almost quarterly. Must seem rancorous but I never saw any evidence of a film "revival" in rising demand for film and lab services over the last decade. Magical thinking.
Fujifilm is a chemical company. Cameras and film materials aren't what pays investors' dividends.
Film is a residual, shrinking market that Fujifilm still supplies at ever higher prices as demand wanes.
Through it all, I'm still shooting the stuff.

 

[smoke665]

Through it all, I'm still shooting the stuff.

Me to, but it's getting harder to enjoy my "necessities", like photography, fishing, RVing, toys, alcohol, wine etc.

 

[cgw]

Me to, but it's getting harder to enjoy my "necessities", like photography, fishing, RVing, toys, alcohol, wine etc.

My take, mate, is some things are pardonable sins, appetites, enthusiasms. My late, sainted MIL summed it up nicely, "Such is the nature of the beast, dear."

 

[cgw]

Frankly, though, my real worry is that my longstanding beer/film fridge will live out its life as a beer-only fridge.

 

[smoke665]

@cgw Admittedly I'm somewhat confused by Fuji's decision to only raise prices in Japan. Seems like raising prices 21-22% on film to as much as 52% on reversal films would kill their market share, unless they anticipate brand loyalty will kick in. Or, Japan has a pretty confusing schedule of taxes and tariffs on imported goods, so maybe they're positioning themselves at the same price as other film (fob Japan).

 

[cgw]

@cgw Admittedly I'm somewhat confused by Fuji's decision to only raise prices in Japan. Seems like raising prices 21-22% on film to as much as 52% on reversal films would kill their market share, unless they anticipate brand loyalty will kick in. Or, Japan has a pretty confusing schedule of taxes and tariffs on imported goods, so maybe they're positioning themselves at the same price as other film (fob Japan).

The key word is "market." Fuji, like Kodak, has been hiking prices steadily for the past 5-8 years. My purely subjective take--informed by friends there--is that demand for film in Japan has settled well into niche territory, much as it has in N. America. Instant film is the exception. Economies of scale likely go out the window when the coating alleys cut production. "Peak film" was around 1999. Downhill from there.