C200 and C400 are back as Fujifilm restarts color film production in China

Good news for film photography fans: Fujifilm, the last major color film producer besides Kodak, has announced the restart of production for two popular films: C200 and C400. This news comes after growing concerns that Fujifilm might be phasing out still film production, with their focus shifting towards Instax instant film.

According to reports on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, Fujifilm made the announcement at its event on June 21 with the theme “Inheriting the Classics, Reigniting the Passion.” The announcement reads (as translated by Google”:

“On 21 June Fujifilm held a color film launch conference in Nanning, Guangxi with the theme of ‘Inheriting the Classics, Reigniting the Passion’. At the conference, Fujifilm happily announced the resumption of production of two color negative films, Fujifilm C200 and C400, to meet the growing demand for film photography.”

According to the announcement, the films will be produced at a facility in Nanning, Guangxi province, by Yes!Star, a company with experience in manufacturing medical films for Fujifilm. While details are scarce, social media posts hint at production using traditional clear plastic canisters associated with Fujifilm film. However, a question mark hangs over the film stock itself.

It’s unclear whether the new C200 and C400 will use Fujifilm’s own emulsions or rely on Eastman Kodak’s Gold 200 and UltraMax 400, which have been rebranded as Fujifilm films in recent years. Images circulating on Chinese social media show packaging identical to the Kodak-made Fujicolor films.

This announcement coincides with a broader trend of film resurgence in China. As Kosmo Foto notes, earlier this year, Shanghai reintroduced black and white films, and Lucky Film, once China’s leading color film producer, announced plans to resume production by the end of 2024.

The return of C200 and C400, coupled with these other developments, suggests a potential revival of film photography in China, with Fujifilm seemingly taking a central role.

[via Kosmo Foto]