Where have all the 50 ASA print films gone? ... and why?

Hi there. The subject line sort of says it all really, I have never

used a really slow print film, but having read a lot about the

benefits of the slower print films I thought that I might give one a

try, particularly the Konica Impresa 50.

 

However after much searching I cannot find anyone selling any 50 ASA

print films from any manufacturer anywhere. Where have they all

disappears to?

You don't specify whether you want black and white or color, but BH Photo carries Ilford

Pan F Plus 50 black and white.

Impressa has been discontinued...

There is Ilford Pan F+ (rated at 50 but it's actualy slightly slower), and EFKE makes 25 and 50 (available from J and C). These are black and white so if you are looking for color, you could be out of luck.

 

EFKE films link: http://www.efkefilm.com/

J and C link: http://www.jandcphotography.com/

 

- Randy

There is still Velvia 50 (though it may be discontinued any day now) and its short term cousin Fortia 50. Efke makes a 25 and 50 ISO B&W film. Pan F B&W. There's also Kodachrome in a 64 ISO film. Is Ektachrome 64 still around? And the tungsten 64 ISO films.

Scott - Do you have any reason to believe that V50 will be soon discontinued other than speculation? It's discontinuation would surprise me.

Perhaps they don't exist now because the 100 print films have caught up, especially if you use the good stuff (such as Reala). The marginal quality gain from slower films is probably not enough to create a market for them.

 

I still miss Kodak Ektar 25 though - a really slow print film (25 ASA as the name suggests!) - got some amazing results from that.

Maybe they disappeared because nobody much was buying them?

It's interesting to note that in the amateur market film speed is marketed as a measure of quality: the higher the ASA, the more boxes are ticked off on the back of the package, the higher the price, and the more superlatives in front of the name. Most non-photographer types consider lower speed to mean lower quality (at least, most that I know), and for their purposes that's probably true. After all, how much grain is really going to show up on a 4x6 from walmart?

<I>Perhaps they don't exist now because the 100 print films have caught up</i><P>Name one besides Reala.<P>Lack of demand for slow speed print films is them main reason for their demise. Also consider that existing slide films like Astia or Velvia will provide better scan/print quality than the typical landscape subject matter that is shot on low speed print films anyways.<P>

There have been millions upon millions of people using colour film in point & shoots with zoom lenses, small max apertures and the inevitable long exposure times mostly without being told by the camera exactly what they were doing. The use of slow film with a 210mm lens which won't open up beyond f11 being used in a difficult to steady P&S produces horrid pictures. No wonder then that a film industry dependent in some measure on unknowledgable consumers actually liking the prints they were getting back tended to work quite hard to get the quality of their higher speed films up. Once you're achieving that and you get people believing that they can/should use 400 speed film as their standard, why does anyone need 50? Effect is that everyone moves up a couple of stops in speed leaving the 50 ISO films without customers and consequently without manufacturers.

Thanks for the replies. I was looking for a slow fine grained print film. I guess I'll stick with reala or something similar. Its just a shame that the choice isn't there any more. From what I've read there were problems with the slower films but when used in the right light conditions they were very good. Reala (or maybe UC100) it is then.

 

Just another little point - has anyone noticed that the films offered by manufacturers in the UK often do not include the 100 ASA versions any more. I was looking at the uk version of the kodak website and comparing it to the US version, the slower emulsions have all but dissapeared off the UK website. It isn't really that dark and dreary over here all of the time :(

They've all gone to the nether-world, where products go once they've been convicted and executed for the crime of Failure To Pull Their Weight For The Shareholders. There's no way to know whether that nether-world is sulfurous or sybaritic, but the ISO 50 films have good company there with Ektar 125, Panatomic-X, and the oft-lamented (but insufficiently purchased) Kodachrome 25 and Ektar 25. They're putting the finishing touches on the new expansion wing that will be the new home of the remaining moribund Kodachromes. R.I.P.

I was wondering of Velvia 50 would be discontinued because I hear they may/ will be introducing Velvia 100 (non F). Last time I talked to a Fuji rep, he said with the new 100F it will be discontinued. Its hard to say but I'm speculating the market, if the new non F is introduced, won't be able to hold three Velvia films and the 50 will be killed off.

I always found Impresa's performance abysmal. My two cents, we're not missing much with it being discontiued.

I used a couple of rolls of Ektar 25 when it came out. I found that it was really irritating to be out at twilight and have that stuff in the camera- you appreciate the speed of 100 speed film, which is what i normally used at that time. It was contrastier than the normal color film, which is probably a good thing in general, but gave me some unexpected deep dark shadows. And I mostly made 4x6 prints where whatever gains I got from the sharper film were immaterial. Since they dropped the stuff, I imagine about a jillion other customers thought the same way.

Royal Supra 200, Elite Color 200, and High Definition 200 available in the European market should be very similar in performance to the iso 100 UC available in the US. Exposed at iso 100 of course. I will soon be able to test 100UC but I've been quite happy with RS200, which is noticeably better than Elite Color 400 (which is similar to 400UC) in terms of grain.

 

I would say choose one of the slower-speed emulsions available on the market today and use it a lot! Reala is fine-grained but I prefer the colours on the Kodak stuff. It's a shame that the slow-speed color negs are gone, although I must admit I didn't buy them a lot. In fact, I used iso 400 neg more often because for people photography the speed is useful. For other subjects I used iso 100 slides. Now that I scan my film, I've been shocked to find the poor scannability of the iso 400 negative films with my LS-4000 and I now try to always keep RS200/EC200 in my bag/fridge. It would certainly be nice to have iso 50 or at least genuine 100 stuff in greater variety for those of us who scan our films.

 

Fortunately one can buy mail-order from B&H; it's difficult to find the best films locally these days.

Konica Impresa 50 has been discontinued but I would to find some place that has a couple of rolls left. I had the pleasure of shooting two rolls (my plan was to test it out) on a Christmas vaction when I came back it was discontinued. The shots were excellent its lattitude or lack of and its slow speed forced me to more meticoulous I think and contributed to the range of colors and hues I was able to capture. In short its the pest negative film I have ever used! I miss it!

 

Does anyone know where some one or company may have some rolls stored away I would gladly pay top dollar for some 35 mm rolls!