Video summary
The video explores Fuji Industrial 100, a unique and somewhat enigmatic film stock that was originally marketed in bulk packs rather than individual rolls, primarily intended for corporate and commercial applications like recording industrial scenes such as textiles or refineries. The narrator recounts their initial attraction to the film solely because of its striking packaging, which features a white background with green lettering translating to "industrial color film for recording." Despite the vague marketing and the fact that it was often sold in large quantities unless sourced from underground black market labs, the speaker decided to test the product by shooting two rolls during a trip to San Francisco. This journey coincided with an annual photo walk organized by The Darkroom, allowing the reviewer to capture images in various lighting conditions while documenting their experience with this discontinued stock.
Upon analyzing the footage and spectral graphs, the narrator notes that Fuji Industrial 100 shares similarities with standard Fuji Color 100 but offers a distinct color profile that leans heavily into pastel greens and blues, creating a dominant cool tone in many shots. However, the film distinguishes itself through its handling of reds, which are described as being super saturated and often shifting toward magenta, providing a punchy contrast against the cooler background colors. While some viewers might mistake it for a rebadged version of a more common film, the reviewer argues that it delivers a specific aesthetic suitable for industrial subjects, though the results can vary significantly depending on the lighting and the viewer's state of mind, humorously noting that the work is best viewed with a beer in hand.
As the availability of Fuji Industrial dwindled following its discontinuation by Fuji in 2020, the video highlights the challenges photographers face in acquiring this nearly extinct film stock, with expiration dates becoming a growing concern for those hunting bulk packs on eBay. The narrator suggests that if you cannot find this specific film, Kodak Color 100 serves as a solid alternative based on its ratings and similar speed. Throughout the review, there is a recurring theme of Fuji's tendency to discontinue popular products after getting consumers hooked, leaving enthusiasts to chase rare finds while dealing with potential degradation over time. The video concludes by emphasizing that despite its quirks and scarcity, Fuji Industrial 100 remains a good film for what it claims to be: a specialized tool for recording industrial scenes with a unique color palette.
The episode also serves as a promotional segment for The Darkroom, an online resource that provides extensive information on film photography, including a comprehensive film index where users can compare saturation, latitude, and grain across different stocks. The sponsor offers free educational courses ranging from basics like using disposable cameras to advanced techniques such as pushing and pulling film, along with a glossary for terminology. This resource is particularly valuable for photographers looking for alternatives to discontinued Fuji films or those seeking detailed data that manufacturers no longer provide. By directing viewers to the Darkroom's website and app, the video encourages the community to stay informed about film stocks while offering professional development services for developing their own rolls, ensuring that every piece of work is treated with the utmost care.
Read the full video transcript
Today's episode is sponsored by The
Darkroom. Fuji Industrial is kind of a
weird name for a film stock, right? But
being a titan of industry myself, I
figured I must [music] try it. At least
that's what I said several years ago
when I took the plunge and ordered eight
rolls from Japan. In a classic case of
don't judge a book by its cover, I did
quite the opposite and only wanted to
try this film because I thought the box
looked super cool. Sporting a white
backsplash with green lettering all
across it that translates to industrial
color film for recording, [music]
which is a bit of a vague statement.
That's like saying a Toyota Corolla
transportation product for rolling
forward. [music] Also according to
Google Translate, there will be 13,524
shots on this roll, so [music] I think
that's a bit hopeful. I've shot a few
boxes of Industrial already with varying
levels of success depending on how
intoxicated you are when you view them.
After all, my work is best viewed with a
beer in your hand anyway. It's quite a
colorful film even when there's no color
to glean from the setting. It's 100 ISO
and a color negative. It says CN-16
[music]
on the box, but don't be scared. That's
just Fuji's version of C-41. And
finally, Fuji Industrial was always sold
in bulk unless of course you knew the
right shady underground black market
labs that would sell it individually.
So, for this review, I figured where
better to shoot my final two [music]
rolls of Fuji Industrial than the
industrial city itself. I was heading to
the fog belt anyway for the annual
Darkroom photo walk that was looking to
be absolutely humongous. So, I figured I
might as well sling a color film for
recording. [music]
All right.
Content. Just got to San Francisco. No
time for a room tour. We have important
things to be doing like loading up Fuji
Industrial 100 in my beautiful [music]
Nikon F2 Titan. Good old
Fuji Industrial 100. Good for
industrial stuff. When you want those
manufacturing tones, textiles,
aggregates, refineries. I don't know why
it's called industrial. Future Jason,
do your homework. A bit of extensive
online digging around suggests that Fuji
introduced industrial around 2010, right
around the time when certain companies
were discontinuing the most important
film stocks they ever manufactured and
simultaneously hurting my feelings.
So, the reason these were sold
in large volumes was because they were
intended for corporate and commercial
use instead of individual use. It's the
same reason they sell packs of
cigarettes instead of, you know,
singles, despite how much I beg for just
one at 3:00 a.m. What does commercial
and corporate use exactly mean? [music]
Couldn't tell you. Sounds like something
an employed person would know about.
Many people consider this film stock to
be identical to Fuji color 100, perhaps
just rebadged in an attempt to throw the
consumer market off the scent.
Kind of like how it's probably likely
very definitely that Kodak Color 200 is
actually just Color Plus,
allegedly.
Kind of tracks, though. If Fuji Color
100 is your favorite film stock, why buy
the higher priced individual rolls if
it's the same film stock and buy
industrial in bulk?
Whatever. Conspiracy theories that are
probably true aside, my scared
introverted ass finally left that hotel
room as several of us hopped into a car
that evening.
It was good to be back in San Francisco.
I'd actually be moving there in a couple
months from when I shot this. [music]
This whole thing was like my homecoming
in a lot of ways, not like the dance
that I didn't have [music] a date for,
but like a happy reunion.
>> I had my prom over there, yeah.
>> Right there.
>> Yeah, right there at City Hall.
>> [music]
>> We eventually arrived on the west side
of the city to shoot sunset, but wound
up on the ass end of the light.
Oh, well. At least the light on the
bridge was as golden as it is gate.
>> [music]
>> Don't worry, we We need to pretend these
photos are good, but once again, we do
see the usual strength in a Fuji film
stock. Greens and blues are quite
pastel, very gorgeous in their [music]
rendering. This is why people love Fuji
film stocks.
However, I personally wouldn't say
industrial is very saturated overall.
Looking at the spectral graph that I
found randomly, cuz there [music] is no
actual data sheet for this due to
the ongoing global conspiracy to make my
life miserable, this film is consistent
with more sensitive blues and greens.
After dinner, the crew and I decided to
take our first ever Waymo, which
apparently is short for Way more
dangerous than a human driver.
>> That guy just dipped.
>> Tesla, wait, what dude? They want to get
hit.
>> This is so strange.
>> Okay, all right. All right, we're good.
>> Made it.
>> Get me out of this.
>> [music]
>> So, here's one for you. Uh, if you don't
want your super rare titanium Nikon F2
to get stolen, here's what you do. You
put your Nikon in a Canon bag.
With a new lease on life, I headed down
the lobby that morning to meet up with
the darkroom crew cuz everyone was
finally in town to clown around and
clown down we would as we all
reluctantly gave Waymo a second chance
to finish the job and kill us once and
for all.
Luckily, we made it with no issues and I
instantly began camera strap modding the
gang to establish dominance before I got
down to shooting. But first, I didn't
need to reload my camera instead of
doing it in the car on the way there, I
decided to do it in public because you
can actually do that here. People in the
Bay are used to seeing the sidewalk
crouch.
>> [music]
>> What I specifically wanted to highlight
with this film stock is the reds.
Red kind of being in quotation marks.
They're super saturated on this stock
and almost go kind of magenta in a lot
of cases.
It is definitely not the most sensitive
color on the spectral chart.
>> What I should explain to Chad.
>> But when you can get it in a shot, it
looks punchy and
I don't know, inflamed. [music]
Compared to other 100 ISO film stocks,
Industrial definitely delivers a
distinct look.
I guess I would generalize that Kodak
film stocks lean a bit warmer overall,
but Industrial selectively punches warm
colors up quite a bit to create an
interesting color contrast [music]
in frame when blue and green are so
dominant.
>> [music]
>> So, I guess at the end of the day, if
you're lucky enough to have this film
stock in your camera, shoot something
red and thank me later with a $2 tip on
FeetFinder.
But with Fuji Industrial 100 becoming
harder and harder to acquire by the day,
you may be tempted to look for an
alternate film stock that has similar
speed and quality. That's where today's
sponsor, The Darkroom, comes into the
picture. The Darkroom continuously posts
new information about the vast world of
film photography, and one of the
resources they provide that I've
personally used countless times is the
film index, a compendium of information
regarding every film stock you can
possibly imagine, including scores on
saturation, and latitude, and grain.
This is the page for Fuji 100 where you
can read reviews and view other
photographers sample images from the
stock. If you're looking for a similar
stock to Industrial 100, you can sort by
ISO here at the top and then browse the
options. Kodak Color 100 might be a
solid alternative based on its ratings.
Beyond the film index, The Darkroom also
just put out a free online course
explaining everything you need to know
about film photography. It's so detailed
it might just put this channel out of
business. It's called The Darkroom Film
School, and there are three levels
depending on your extent of experience,
starting with the basics like disposable
cameras all the way to what you should
do about flying with film. And then of
course the advanced stuff like pushing
and pulling film. It's quite a swath of
information, and it's totally free on
The Darkroom's website. And if you get
stuck on terminology, there's even a
glossary to look up definitions and
further dissect the film photography
process at your own speed. I'm
retroactively upset that all this info
wasn't available to me when I was
learning this stuff about a decade ago.
And of course when it's time to get your
film developed, look no further than The
Darkroom to get the job done
professionally. Every roll will be
handled as if it's the most important
work of your own photographic career
yet, and that's what I love about the
team over there. If you have an order of
film ready to go, head over to the
darkroom.com to get started or simply
download The Darkroom app today.
Anyway, the event that evening went off
without a hitch cuz we didn't need to
tow anything, but there was something
like 350 [music]
people who showed up to the photo walk.
I'm quite certain that was the largest
turnout I've ever been a part of. It was
probably technically a stampede. What's
to become of Fuji Industrial 100 though?
Well, it was discontinued by Fuji in
2020, which may be the craziest thing
that happened that year. Though to be
honest, it's not really uncommon for
Fuji to slash their stuff. They love
getting you hooked on their product and
then pulling the rug out from underneath
you. They get some sort of sick freaky
pleasure from it. You can still get this
stock on eBay in bulk packs, though them
expiration dates are quickly sneaking up
on us just like gingivitis. But it's a
100 ISO film. If it was stored okay,
it's probably good to shoot at box speed
like I did for all the work in this
video. Anyway, that's enough howling
into the void about a nearly extinct
film stock. My final take on Industrial
is simply this. It's a good film for all
that it claims to be. A color film for
recording.
Whatever the that means.