I was sent a couple rolls of Fuji’s newer 400 film from a friend in the community named Lance. He asked me if I could shoot the new Fujifilm 400 to see what I thought of the rumors of this film just being Ultramax in disguise. I agreed to do it because Fuji Superia Xtra 400 is one of my favorite films and I’ve been pretty devastated since it was discontinued.
This comparison has been done in the past by several others like 35mmC, and they’ve done much more precise testing. I am not really one to do those types of test. So I just wanted to put a little disclaimer that this is not scientific. I’m just showing you my different results with Fuji Superia Xtra 400, Ultramax 400, and the modern Fujifilm 400 film to let you decide if you want to shoot any of these films yourself, or if you prefer one look over the other.
What I Know
From what I’ve gathered from research, the curves on the data sheets for all 3 films are not identical. Therefore, Fuji 400 may just be some other film. Their tests did show however, that under controlled settings, the two films looked identicle.
I have heard that the reason for the change in this film is because Japan started producing their film here in the U.S. at Kodak Facilities during the pandemic. I’ve seen comments here and there that they might start producing the film themselves again, and a glimmer of hope of getting Superia back has flickered here and there. Let me know if you have seen anything more concrete of these rumors.
Comparisons
The following photos are some older and new for the purpose of showing that I have worked with Ultramax and Superia for some years now. These results represent well what I have experienced with these films.
In my experience with Kodak Ultramax, it has always had a yellow look. When under-exposed, like in the Angel pic below, you can see shadows tend to lean towards green. That was something that I didn’t really like and made me shy form using the film.
Kodak Ultramax 400
2019
Ultramax 400
Now, you can see that also in the pic below, shot on the newer Fuji 400, the shadows lean green like Ultramax.
Next, here is a comparison side by side of the modern Fuji 400 next to Fuji Superia Xtra 400. Between these two you can see that the Fujifilm 400 (left) is warmer, and again the shadows lean towards the green spectrum. Whereas the Superia is cooler with more magenta in the shadows.
A Roll of Fujifilm 400
After these comparisons, my feelings for Ultramax and my love for Fuji’s Superia still stand. So what about the new rendition of Fuji 400? Here are some photos from one of the rolls Lance sent me. I actually really liked the results I got with it.
The above picture is actually one of my favorite photos to date. I took this walking downtown and I saw the perfect light shining into this storefront window, I knew I had to take a shot. The greens and yellows really suited this instance. I just love the pop of orange and saturation in the greens.
Final Thoughts on the New Fujifilm 400 Film
While I am not happy with the loss of Fuji Superia Xtra, I’m not entirely hating this new Fuji 400 they’ve given us. I’m not a fan of the results I’ve gotten with Ultramax, but I am a fan of the results I got with these rolls of Fuji 400. However, Fuji Superia and the new Fuji 400 don’t look alike at all to me, but there is a definite comparison for Ultramax to the new version.
I will definitely continue to hope that Superia comes back as we knew it, but in the meantime I don’t mind shooting with this new version. What do you think of it? Did you like the Superia better? Do you prefer Kodak Ultramax? Let me know in the comments. Big thank you to Lance for sending me the film to test out.
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Buy a Roll of Fuji 400 to try out. OR Buy a roll of Kodak Ultramax.
All these photos were taken with a Leica M6 and a Nikon F.
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Triste nouvelle que la disparition de mon négatif préféré chez Fuji. En effet depuis qques temps j’avais des difficultés à en trouver… Pour la Pro 400H que j’utilise en moyen format ça devient difficile aussi…
Je n’aime pas Kodak et ses dominantes jaune. L’avenir va être dur si Fuji se retire du marché…
I agree. It’s very sad. Fuji Superia xtra was my favorite color film
Honestly all of the new Fuji 400 photos that you showed here are great!! Like I’m totally jealous that none of mine ever turn out this good.
I think it depends on the light that you shoot in. Golden hour looks great, harsh midday light does interesting things, like make the sky super blue. I do have to say that it’s nice to still be able to get a 400 speed film for relatively cheap. If you’re lucky you can get the 3 packs at Walmart for like $25.
Thanks so much Lance! Yes it definitely depends on the lighting with this film.
That’s what everyone has said that it’s cheap at cvs and Walmart. I need to look
Great comparison review. Thanks for that. I too am disappointed that Fuji is no longer manufacturing Superia Xtra as it was my favorite ISO 400 color negative film to shoot. The problem is Fuji wants out of the film manufacturing business which has been obvious for quite a few years now (think ACROS vs ACROS ll). That being said, I actually like the current USA made Fujicolor 400. (nothing quite like using that 40% off coupon the CVS constantly prints out on my pharmacy receipts to buy more three packs of Fujicolor 400-Haha!).
Thank you! Ohhh that’s a good idea. I’m going to have to check my CVS lol