Fujifilm appears to have stopped producing its Neopan 100 Acros black-and-white film. I’ve lost count of how many stocks Fujifilm has now discontinued. It’s the Fujifilmpocalypse!
The company has teased the film community with the possibility that it might resurrect some of its black-and-white films, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
What I like most about Acros is how images come back with lovely grays across the tonal spectrum, no matter the light. Many ISO 100 films I’ve used tend to go high contrast in direct sunlight, blowing out highlights, which makes me nuts. Not so Acros. It’s also extremely fine grained, so much so that if I told you I shot digital and converted to black and white you might believe me.
I’ve fed Acros into cameras ranging from a simple box with a meniscus lens to my Nikon F2 with good Nikkor glass attached. I’ve metered precisely and wildly misguessed exposure. Acros handles it all with aplomb. Here, look:
Argus A-Four, 2010.
Argus A2B, 2011.
Ansco Shur Shot, 2012.
Voigtlander Bessa (w/ 110 mm f/4.5 Voigtar), 2012.
Agfa Clack, 2012.
Ansco B-2 Speedex, 2012.
Yashica-D, 2013.
Yashica-D, 2016.
Nikon F2AS, 135mm f/3.5 AI Nikkor, 2017.
I just shot my last roll of Acros in 35mm, in my old Argus A-Four. The film broke as I started to rewind. In a dark bag I wound the film into a black film canister, and then sent it to Dwayne’s with instructions to open the can in the darkroom. I have one more roll of Acros, in 120, chilling in the fridge that I’ll probably put through my Yashica-D when its turn comes in Operation Thin the Herd.
But then that’s probably it. And it’s a shame, because this is very good film.
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