AshigrainColour reversal · Experimental
Fujifilm FP-100C
The last peel-apart instant colour film.
Peel-apart instant colour. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 100
- Daylight
- Introduced
- c. 1992
- Discontinued 2016
- Process
- instant peel-apart, 90 s at 25 C (77 F)
- Prints on
- Reversal, viewed directly
About the film
When Fujifilm announced on 29 February 2016 that it would stop selling FP-100C once its stock ran out, peel-apart instant photography lost its last film.
It had kept old Polaroid pack-film cameras working after Polaroid stopped making film, and its end also ended the working life of those Type 100 cameras. Fujifilm blamed sales that had fallen sharply year after year, leaving it unable to keep producing the film. Each exposure used two sheets: a light-sensitive sheet carrying the emulsion and dye layers, and an image-receiving sheet on resin-coated paper, peeled apart after development. Rated ISO 100 for daylight or flash, it developed in 90 seconds at 25 °C and was sold in the 3¼ × 4¼-inch pack size, with a silk-surface version and a 4 × 5-inch film. By 2016 only the pack size was still on sale, the 4 × 5 version having been dropped. Fujifilm's bulletin gives a resolving power of 15 lines/mm, so the prints are soft. The paper negative left after peeling could be reclaimed by clearing its black backing with household bleach and then printed.
Sources for this history
- FUJIFILM FP-100C Professional Instant Color Film data sheet (AF3-129E), FUJIFILM Corporation
- インスタントカラーフィルム「FP-100C」販売終了のお知らせ, 富士フイルム株式会社
- End of an era: Fujifilm to discontinue FP-100C instant film, DPReview
- Peel apart instant film returns in the form of ONE INSTANT, DPReview
- Fujifilm finally finished sales of instant camera film "FP-100C", GIGAZINE
- Photo93: the annual of the British Journal of Photography, Bouverie Publishing (British Journal of Photography)
The look
Fujifilm FP-100C is a peel-apart instant colour print rated ISO 100 for daylight or flash, seen by reflected light. Its image is soft, with a resolving power of 15 lines/mm, and bright in colour. It is shown directly, with no print stage.
A soft instant print in daylight.
Bright, soft-edged instant colour.
Best for
- Instant portraits in daylight or flash
- Snapshots in Polaroid pack cameras
- Soft, bright travel prints
Among the films
Science & sources
A peel-apart instant colour print, viewed by reflected light under D50. Its sharpness is built from the printed resolving power, because the bulletin publishes no MTF.
Response curves and the evidence behind the model
Compare manufacturer data with the Ashigrain model on the same axes. This shows the calibration to source curves; comparison with photographed film is a separate question.
Characteristic response
RMS granularity
Density variation (σD). 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 | 0.009086 | 0.009452 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.006272 | 0.006538 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.011084 | 0.011493 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.016679 | 0.01735 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.012096 | 0.012609 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.025356 | 0.026292 |
| R | 1 | 0.026409 | 0.027471 |
| G | 1 | 0.022309 | 0.023256 |
| B | 1 | 0.043539 | 0.045146 |
| R | 1.5 | 0.030736 | 0.031973 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.030939 | 0.032252 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.057201 | 0.059311 |
| R | 2 | 0.02849 | 0.029637 |
| G | 2 | 0.033538 | 0.034961 |
Model limits
These images show the film model in use. Spectral response, lighting and viewing conditions include approximations, while halation, bloom, grain size, weave and flicker are not fully measured for each film. A real film capture also depends on development and print timing.
- This is an instant print viewed by reflected light. The model views it under D50; the viewing light, viewing geometry, paper scattering and surface glare are not measured and are approximated.
- The reflection dye curves are printed without a scale. Each is normalised to its peak, and the dye scales are fitted to a neutral.
- No MTF is printed. The MTF is built from the printed resolving power, 15 lines/mm, as a curve falling to 10 % there; the 10 % level is an assumption.
- The spectral sensitivity is printed only near each layer's peak.
- No granularity is printed. Grain is proxied from Kodak Ektachrome 100D (5294), so the granularity values shown are that film's.
- Custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage are modeled assumptions, not measurements of this film.
- Individual dye amounts, layer interactions and push/pull behaviour are approximated where the datasheet provides no calibration. Grain size is assumed; published RMS granularity does not specify dye-cloud size.
- Push and pull have no published curves for this film and use a generic model.
- Characteristic response outside the published exposure range is an extrapolation, not measured film data.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Exposure index: FUJIFILM FP-100C Professional Instant Color Film data sheet (AF3-129E), AF3-129E (code read from the page images); PDF created 2003-04-15 (Mac OS X Quartz scan), p. 1
- Process: FUJIFILM FP-100C Professional Instant Color Film data sheet (AF3-129E), AF3-129E (code read from the page images); PDF created 2003-04-15 (Mac OS X Quartz scan), p. 2
- Characteristic curves: FUJIFILM FP-100C Professional Instant Color Film data sheet (AF3-129E), AF3-129E (code read from the page images); PDF created 2003-04-15 (Mac OS X Quartz scan), p. 5