February update to January tea: Fujifilm Superia Premium 400 is back in stock (Japan only), and Flic Film Aurora 800 is…
A lot of new developments have happened for film photography this month, some of which nearly cancel the things I said earlier. For one, Fujifilm’s only colour-negative film is back in stock — if you live in the right country — and the silver prices have crashed. #editorial
February update to January tea: Fujifilm Superia Premium 400 is back in stock (Japan only), and Flic Film Aurora 800 is discontinued. A lot of new developments have happened for film photography this month, some of which nearly cancel the things I said earlier. For one, Fujifilm’s only colour-negative film is back in stock — if you live in the right country — and the silver prices have crashed. Norbi Whitney tagged me today in a Threads post by @kentamizune that confirmed the return of Fujifilm Superia Premium 400 film to shelves in Japan. The post said:“Fujicolor Premium 400 is back in stock. Fuji Film is unpredictable with its product distribution. I think I’ll buy one. ” (machine translated). Outside Japan, many film photographers believe that Fujifilm no longer manufactures colour-negative film. While their slide film is still available, the Fujifilm 400 and 200 boxes contain emulsions made in the USA (which must be Kodak), and the results indeed look very much like those shot on Ultramax with a slight difference. Here’s my review of Fujifilm 400:analog. cafe/r/fujifilm-400…And this comparison pegs Fujifilm 200 against Kodak Gold:analog. cafe/r/fujifilm-200…(to show very little difference)Aside from still not being able to buy Japan-made colour-negative film outside of the manufacturer’s home country, the above is good news. But there’s more:Silver prices have finally crashed. After months of scary growth, they’re back to the December 2025 prices. However, it is not yet time to celebrate, as that is still nearly double its price a year ago. Silver is a key component in film. The manufacturers have historically adapted to such fluctuations by changing their formulas (for example, T-grain films were designed to use less). However, today’s factories may have much more trouble making such changes than earlier. Many modern factories use formulas developed in the 90s with little or no change, and the new films struggle to match the quality of materials made in the heyday of film photography. Let’s see where this takes us come summer 2026. #editorial🔥P. S. : I have just learned that Flic Film Aurora 800, an affordable ISO 800 colour-negative film, has been discontinued. The company has confirmed the news with me this morning.