Colour negative · 2006 onward
Fujifilm Eterna 250
Warm, smooth Eterna tones at tungsten 250.
Fuji Eterna 250 on a tungsten interior, printed on its default Eterna-CP 3513DI. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 250
- Tungsten
- Introduced
- c. 2006
- Discontinued
- Process
- ECN-2
About the film
Fujicolor Eterna 250 is a tungsten-balanced colour camera negative rated EI 250, coded Type 8553 in 35 mm and 8653 in 16 mm; Fujifilm's own pages call it simply Eterna 250.
It dates from c. 2006. Fujifilm's 2006 research report places it after Eterna 500, launched in October 2004, as the tungsten 250-speed film that Fuji Photo Film brought to market alongside Eterna 400 and 250D. Fujifilm described it as giving warm colour and smooth gradation for natural face tones, with wide latitude. It was made by Fuji Photo Film, now FUJIFILM Corporation. In October 2012 Film and Digital Times reported that Fujifilm expected to stop making all motion-picture film except black-and-white archival separation film by the end of March 2013. Fujifilm's archived list of discontinued films includes Eterna 250 and dates the end of its production to 31 March 2013, with stock sold until it ran out.
Sources for this history
- 映画用カラーネガフィルム ETERNA シリーズの開発 (FUJIFILM RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT No. 51, 2006), FUJIFILM Corporation
- Fuji Eterna 250T 8553 / 8653, Timeline of Historical Film Colors, University of Zurich
- Discontinued Films, FUJIFILM Corporation
- Fujifilm, Film and Digital Times
The look
Fujifilm Eterna 250 is a tungsten-balanced colour negative rated EI 250, or EI 160 in daylight with an 85 filter. Fujifilm described warm colour, smooth gradation for natural faces and wide latitude. It prints on Fujifilm Eterna-CP 3513DI by default.






Best for
- Tungsten interiors with natural faces
- Evening scenes under practical light
- Cutting with other Eterna stocks
Compare camera films
Science & sources


A tungsten-balanced colour negative with an exposure index of 250. Fujifilm publishes one granularity value and one sharpness curve, so its per-layer grain and sharpness are modelled, and its dye shapes are borrowed from Kodak Vision3 200T. It prints on Fujifilm Eterna-CP 3513DI by default.
Response curves and the evidence behind the model
Compare manufacturer data with Ashigrain’s response on the same axes. These curves show how the model is calibrated to its sources; they do not establish a match to photographed film.
Characteristic response
RMS granularity
Density variation (σD) measured through a 48 µm aperture. Where the datasheet gives a single grain value, the response away from that point is an approximation.
| Channel | Density | Datasheet-based σD | Model σD |
|---|---|---|---|
| R | 0.3 | 0.004973 | 0.004926 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.005777 | 0.005676 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.012676 | 0.012544 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.003825 | 0.003788 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.004829 | 0.004745 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.010024 | 0.00992 |
| R | 1 | 0.003673 | 0.003638 |
| G | 1 | 0.004642 | 0.004561 |
| B | 1 | 0.010902 | 0.010789 |
| R | 1.5 | 0.003084 | 0.003055 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.003986 | 0.003917 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.009925 | 0.009822 |
Model limits
These images show the film model in use. Spectral response, lighting and viewing conditions include approximations. Halation, bloom, grain size, weave and flicker are not fully measured for each film. The look of real film also depends on development and print timing.
- Custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage are assumptions used by the model, not measurements of this film.
- Colour-print timing and scan balance under arbitrary lighting are modelled. Scanner colour balance has no standard physical unit.
- The source specifies a 3200 K tungsten design light, not its spectrum. The design-light spectrum is an approximation.
- The source publishes only one RMS granularity value, 3.5 × 10⁻³. The granularity response away from that level is modelled, not a digitised grain curve.
- The source publishes one square-wave contrast transfer function at visual diffuse density 1.1, not separate red, green and blue sine-wave MTF measurements.
- Only a midscale neutral and a minimum-density spectrum are printed, not separate cyan, magenta and yellow dye spectra. The individual dye shapes are borrowed from Kodak Vision3 200T (5213), a proxy rather than this film's dyes.
- The prescribed Kodak 85 filter uses separately measured transmission data. Grain size, push/pull behaviour and interlayer effects are approximations.
- The sheet prints reciprocity corrections at a few exposure times; the correction between them is interpolated.
- Characteristic response outside the published exposure range is an extrapolation, not measured film data.
- The source does not identify an antihalation layer. Rem-jet is assumed; halation strength, radius, layer weights and bloom are not measured.
- The printer lamp and filter spectra and the Status A grey aim used in this preview are approximated; the source does not publish the required spectral or laboratory aim data.
Reciprocity: modelled from 1/1000 s to 1 s, following the datasheet's corrections for long and short exposures. Exposure time stops at the ends of that range.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Characteristic curves: FUJICOLOR ETERNA 250 (Type 8553 / 8653) curve data sheet (ETERNA250_curve.pdf), ETERNA250_curve.pdf, 2005 (no Ref. No.), p. 1
- Diffuse RMS granularity: FUJICOLOR ETERNA 250 (Type 8553 / 8653) curve data sheet (ETERNA250_curve.pdf), ETERNA250_curve.pdf, 2005 (no Ref. No.), p. 1
- Exposure index: FUJICOLOR ETERNA 250 35mm Type 8553 / 16mm Type 8653 data sheet, Ref. No. KB-0506ER (SK·07·05·F1120·F9711), p. 2
- Process: FUJICOLOR ETERNA 250 35mm Type 8553 / 16mm Type 8653 data sheet, Ref. No. KB-0506ER (SK·07·05·F1120·F9711), p. 2