Fujicolor Pro 400H Professional is now a discontinued film stock that is still widely available and still more affordable than its rival Kodak Portra 400. It is a professional daylight color negative film which has been redeveloped and enhanced to its current iteration.
The fourth color- sensitive layer in addition to the conventional three RGB-sensitive layers. Ironically the rising cost of this fourth layer is why Fuji discontinued this film in 2021. With its higher ISO speed rating of 400, PRO 400H provides reliable reproduction of neutral grays with sharply improved consistency over a wide exposure range from under- to over- exposures.
Fujifilm is synonymous with excellence and reliability and this film stock produces brilliant skin tones with smooth highlights to the shadows. You can almost feel the details found in fabrics as well as other textures.
If you’re looking for highly saturated colors and fine grain then this is a colour negative film that you should definitely checkout! This film is ideal for a variety of different settings from portrait and wedding photography to commercial and fashion work.
Prior to the digital era, color negative film was the go to film stock. It’s ease of use and easily processing with C41 chemistry made it the staple for any beginner or professional photographer. Current available Colour negative films can range in ISO rating from as slow as the bonkers FPP ISO 1.6 through to as fast as CineStill 800t or Portra 800.
Fujicolor Pro was a line of professional color negative films from the Japanese company Fujifilm introduced in 2004 for weddings, portraits, fashion and commercial photography.
It originally comprised four emulsions: Pro 160S, Pro 160C, Pro 400H and Pro 800Z. Pro 160C, Pro 400H and Pro800 Z have all been discontinued. Its main competitor was Kodak Portra.These films offer greater exposure latitude, i.e. if you’re not good at getting the exposure spot on it you need not worry as sometimes even being up to 4 stops off and you should be ok!
As it is a fine grain, sharp film for daylight or electronic flash. It's well worth shooting portraits as well as general landscape or candid images. If you enjoy developing at home/ in your own lab, you can use the universally available C41 chemistry or its equivalent Fujifilm Process CN-16C.
This film made for daylight / natural light as well as electronic flash shooting, it is much wider exposure latitude gives you greater flexibility. What I really love about this film stock is its ability to render skin tones so well as well as giving very accurate color saturation in fabric and objects.
If you’re a fan of using flash there is likely to be an effect on color balance, due to a number of factors. With film there isn't the luxury of seeing an instant image so metering become especially important.
Shooting shutter speeds slower than 1/60 second? Once again colour balance may be impacted so you’ll need to take a meter reading again. The other thing to consider will be what type of shutter your camera has. Leaf shutter cameras will hold well but its always best to err on the side of precaution and stick it on a tripod and use a shutter release cable.
This film is surprisingly widely available on Medium Format and to a lesser extent on 35mm. Initially when Fuji had announced its discontinuation the price did go up quite a bit. However, it seems to have made its way back to its original price point of £50 for a box of 5 rolls. Compared with Portra 400 which is coming in at £72 a box it’s quite a saving for a comparably professional film.
As stocks over time will decrease, will you need to store your film in a fridge? it depends. Temperature and humidity control is the most important key to minimizing the change that occurs in film.
Overall this film is great for anyone looking to jump from 35mm to Medium Format as it has a much more forgiving exposure latitude. Shoot with it while it is still available and cheaper than the alternative Kodak Portra 400.
Love shooting film? I would love to hear your thoughts on Fuji Pro400H, have you shot with it? What kind of results did you get with it? Let me know in the comments below! Right, I’m off to my next shoot, catch you on the next video on the right here! See you soon!