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Updated: Fujifilm provided PopPhoto.com with the following statement regarding the impending price hike:

“The significant rise in the costs of raw materials and cost to manufacture has increased, as such FUJIFILM North America Corporation has made the business decision to update pricing on certain photo-related products. We recently instituted a FUJIFILM Professional Film price update for our retailers of approximately 25% on April 1, 2022 and will be instituting an update in retailer cost of 10% for our QuickSnap One-Time Use Camera line on July 1, 2022. It’s important to note that this is dealer/retailer pricing and may not be fully reflected in pricing the consumer sees at retail. We are also evaluating, on a case-by-case basis, potential price updates for our color photographic paper, processing chemicals, and pro lab products and services.We are committed to the imaging community; a place where everyone can celebrate the joy of photography. We appreciate our dealer/retailer network and our loyal customers for their unwavering support.”

Film—if you can even find it in stock—is already pretty pricey, and things are about to get worse. Fujifilm plans to increase film prices by up to 60% in the coming months. Let’s dig in.

About the note

This story started with a real-life game of “telephone“: Print Koubou, a camera shop, film retailer, and photo lab in Japan shared a note it recently received from Fujifilm about price increases on Twitter. Japanese camera site, DCLife, spotted the Tweet and wrote about it—the story was then picked up by PetaPixel. And now Fujifilm Japan has officially confirmed the contents of the note.

What the note says

A translated news release on Fujifilm’s website says:

“Fujifilm Imaging Systems Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, President: Koji Matsumoto) responded to the recent rise in raw material prices, transportation costs, etc., as well as the decline in demand for photographic-related products. We have made every effort to absorb costs by improving production efficiency and reducing costs, but since it is difficult to absorb costs only by corporate efforts, we will revise the prices as follows.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience but thank you for your patience.

We look forward to your continued patronage of Fujifilm products.“

The news release then goes on to list the expected price increases and timeframes:

  • Photo film will increase by 20 to 60% starting in April.
  • Color photo paper will increase by 10 to 20% starting in May.
  • Color photochemistry will increase by about 10% starting in May.

And a range of other Fujifilm photo products will also see a price hike to the tune of 8% to 94%.

Why is this happening?

In the release, Fujifilm points to the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in transportation costs (likely caused by the supply chain crisis), and a decrease in demand for film products (which presumably has reduced the economies of scale) for the need to increase prices.  

Will this happen worldwide? 

Although the news release technically only applies to the Japanese market, it seems likely that there will be price increases worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain crisis are also affecting things in North America. So don’t be surprised if, over the coming weeks, we run a story confirming the price increases in the US market. 

What does this all mean for Fujifilm film prices?

Fujifilm lists seven 35mm film stocks, of which five are currently available in the USA (both Fujicolor Pro 400H and Fujichrome Veliva 100 have been discontinued). 

If these price hikes end up being worldwide, the price for a single roll of 35mm film would go from:

Those are some serious increases, and that’s without taking into account photo labs pushing their prices up to account for the additional costs of chemistry and paper. 

What can I do about it?

I don’t know about you, but I’d suggest stocking up on film right now. I’m going to be putting in an order with my local camera shop as soon as I file this article!

You could also check out our article on how to save money shooting film. 

Harry Guinness
Harry Guinness

Harry Guinness is an Irish freelance writer and photographer. He splits his year between Ireland and the French Alps. Harry's work has been published in The New York Times, Popular Science, OneZero, Human Parts, Lifehacker, and dozens of other places.

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