Fujifilm statement on silver halide photography

[Oren Grad]

home.fujifilm.com/news/n060119_2.html

January 19, 2006

Since our foundation in 1934, we have been developing our business in photosensitive materials on a global scale, thanks to the support and patronage of general consumers, retailers, photograph wholesalers, and various others. The unexpectedly rapid shift toward digitalization has greatly reduced demand for films and photographic products. The entire photography industry, including our company, has been put in a difficult market situation. In order to respond these difficult market changes, we are currently proceeding with comprehensive structural reforms.

Despite the current challenges, we believe that photography is indispensable to humankind because of its ability to express such precious things as joy, sadness, love and the full spectrum of emotions. Our mission is to preserve and nurture the culture of photography to meet the needs of our longtime customers. Silver halide photography, which is fundamental to photography, has advantages over digital in such areas as power of expression, long term storage capability, reasonable prices, easy handling and a highly established and convenient photo development and print infrastructure.

We intend to continue our silver halide photography business and to further cultivate the culture of photography, and in so doing, continue to support our customers and retailers and all those who enjoy photography.

Media Contact:

Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.</br>
Corporate Communications Division, Public Relations Division</br>
Tel: 81-3-3406-2490

Fujifilm website:

Japanese :http://fujifilm.jp/</br>
English :http://home.fujifilm.com/</br>

[tim atherton]

cool - lets hope they live up to their word (I only have 600 sheets of Astia 8x10 left in the freezer...)

I guess no one at Fuji even remembers they actually make LF lenses?

[Ken Lee]

Thanks Oren - A breath of fresh air and sanity.

[bglick]

Oren, great find!

I find it ironic, that last week Kodak announces "film is dead" then today, Knoica aunnounces the end of film, then also today, Fuji makes this statement. Although this is totally contrary to inside Fuji information I have heard, I will pray it's true. I don't get the record emotion part, (as if digital can not?) but, I will sure buy into these parts..... long term storage capability, reasonable prices, easy handling.

I still beleive, the best hope we have to keep LF film alive, is one of the big two quit now, let the remaining survivor pick up their film sales, and hopefully it will push a 2 - 3 window into a 6 - 7 year window. But, that's doubtful.... Anyway, thanks for the fresh air Oren.....

[Aaron van de Sande]

I think Fuji has had more to do with Kodak's demise than digital. The fuji frontier has stolen the minilab market from kodak... a real important thing because of the huge intial sale and the continuing revenue of consumables. Keep in mind that the fuji frontier uses traditional silver halide paper for output.

[Ralph Barker]

Kudos to the managment at Fujifilm.

Imagine - understanding who your customers are, and doing what you reasonably can to cater to their needs. What a radical concept. ;-)

[Hiro]

I like it very much. The statement embraces the emotion, culture, and tradition as integral parts of photography, and identifies preservation of the integrity as a mission of the company. And there is no usual "Unfortunately, however..." It's a tall order, but I found the statement grave yet refreshing.

Arigato, Oren-san. I’m not "worried" about vital signs of films (Que será será) and it remains to be seen whether (and how long) Fuji continues to be true to its words, but I'll drink to it tonight.

[David Luttmann]

Unfortunately, I think we've all seen companies make statements, only to go the opposite direction in a matter of months or a year. I hope this is true as for me, Fuji IS color film!

[bglick]

Good point Dave, anytime a message comes from "public relations division", you know it was spurred by a recent phone call from some other dept., like marketing....but, it's better then a kick in the teeth!

[robc]

Its good to hear that fuji think this way. I hope they remain true to their word. However, I think that market forces are the controlling factor. How many more pros will convert now that camera backs such as the new hasselblad back are available (www.hasselblad.se). Another generation of digital backs on from here and we'll see how much committment fuji really have. How long is a generation in digital terms? 3 to 5 years I reckon then we'll see who is in for the long term.