AshigrainColour negative · Natural
Fujifilm Pro 400H
Fourth-layer colour negative for weddings in mixed light.
Soft, airy daylight colour: pastels stay delicate, greens stay fresh and skin stays light. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 400
- Daylight
- Introduced
- 2004
- Discontinued 2021
- Process
- C-41
- Prints on
- Scan
About the film
Pro 400H began as Fujicolor NPH 400: Fujifilm renamed it PRO400H in 2004, when it relaunched its Fujicolor Pro range alongside Pro 160S, Pro 160C and Pro 800Z. Fujifilm pitched the range at scanning and digital printing as well as the darkroom, with neutral grey balance and finer grain.
Its signature was a fourth, cyan-sensitive colour layer added to the usual red, green and blue layers, meant to keep colours true to the eye under mixed or varied light. Fujifilm aimed it at weddings, portraits, fashion and commercial work, and Rangefinder called it a film that wedding and portrait photographers relied on. The wedding photographer Jose Villa credits Pro 400H, rated at ISO 200 on a Contax 645, for photographs in his 2011 book Fine Art Wedding Photography, and still calls that pairing his favourite. In January 2021 Fujifilm stopped making and selling the 35 mm film at once and allocated the remaining 120 through the end of the year. It blamed the fourth layer itself, which needed specialised raw materials and chemicals that had become hard to obtain, and Rangefinder added that the pandemic made sourcing harder.
Sources for this history
- FUJICOLOR PRO 400H PROFESSIONAL [NPH], FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
- Important Information Regarding Discontinuation of PRO 400H Film, FUJIFILM North America Corporation
- Fujifilm Pro 400H Color Negative Film Discontinued, Rangefinder
- The next generation in professional color negative film (PB-410E), FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
- Fine Art Wedding Photography (Jose Villa with Jeff Kent, 2011), Amphoto Books
- 100 Layer Cake Interview with Jose Villa, 100 Layer Cake
The look
Fujifilm Pro 400H is a daylight colour negative rated EI 400, shown as a scan. Fujifilm gave it a fourth, cyan-sensitive layer to keep colour natural under mixed light, and its gentle, open rendering made it a staple of wedding and portrait work.
Light, airy whites and gentle contrast for a bright interior.
Many shades of green, kept natural and soft rather than punchy.
Best for
- Weddings and portraits in open shade
- Window-lit interiors with mixed light
- Gardens and foliage on overcast days
Among the films
Science & sources
A daylight-balanced still-photo colour negative rated at EI 400, shown as a scan. Its datasheet documents a fourth, cyan-sensitive layer; the model keeps three layers and does not model the fourth.
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) 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 | 0.002191 | 0.002266 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.002191 | 0.002269 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.002191 | 0.002261 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.003098 | 0.003204 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.003098 | 0.003208 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.003098 | 0.003198 |
| R | 1 | 0.004 | 0.004136 |
| G | 1 | 0.004 | 0.004142 |
| B | 1 | 0.004 | 0.004128 |
| R | 1.5 | 0.004899 | 0.005066 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.004899 | 0.005073 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.004899 | 0.005056 |
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.
- The model assumes custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage. These inputs are not measurements of the film.
- The model calculates colour-print timing and scan balance for arbitrary lighting. Scanner colour balance is expressed without a standard physical unit.
- The spectral transmission of the conversion filter the source prescribes (80A for daylight films under tungsten, 85 for tungsten films in daylight) is modelled, not supplied by the source.
- The sheet documents a fourth, cyan-sensitive layer but gives no data on how strongly it acts on the red record. The model keeps three dye layers; the fourth layer is not modelled.
- 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 250D (5207), a proxy rather than this film's dyes.
- The source prints one visual MTF curve, not separate red, green and blue curves. The model applies it to all three layers.
- The source publishes one RMS granularity value, 4 × 10⁻³. The granularity response away from that level is modelled, not a digitised grain curve.
- The characteristic response beyond log H −3.58 to 0.66 is extrapolated.
- Where calibration data is missing, the model approximates dye amounts, interactions between layers and push/pull behaviour. Grain size is an assumption: published RMS granularity does not determine dye-cloud size.
- No antihalation layer is named; an undercoat is assumed. Halation strength, radius, layer weights and bloom are not measured.
- The default output is a scan. Scan balance has no standard unit and is modelled.
- Printed on Kodak 2383, printer-light timing on this film can differ slightly from the full spectral calculation.
- This preview approximates the printer lamp and filter spectra and the Status A grey target. The source does not provide the spectral data or laboratory target needed to calibrate them.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Exposure index: FUJICOLOR PRO 400H PROFESSIONAL [NPH] Data Sheet, AF3-176E (EIGI-05.1-FG(HB)), p. 1
- Process: FUJICOLOR PRO 400H PROFESSIONAL [NPH] Data Sheet, AF3-176E (EIGI-05.1-FG(HB)), p. 3
- Diffuse RMS granularity: FUJICOLOR PRO 400H PROFESSIONAL [NPH] Data Sheet, AF3-176E (EIGI-05.1-FG(HB)), p. 7
- Characteristic curves: FUJICOLOR PRO 400H PROFESSIONAL [NPH] Data Sheet, AF3-176E (EIGI-05.1-FG(HB)), p. 8