Fujifilm instant photography
Polaroid instant photography was available in Japan, it was not as popular in Japan as expected. Japanese people were not entirely happy with the results of color instant photos. They felt the images were inferior quality and generally prefer images with less of a red orange tone. Fujifilm wanted to change that.
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Fotorama
Fujifilm introduced their own line of instant photographic products in 1981 starting with the Fotorama line of cameras. The name Fotorama came from photograph and panorama, as the film was a wide format compared to the square Polaroid SX70/600 films. These Integral films developed similar to Kodak's with the back layer first. This presented a major problem for Fujifilm because of the ongoing litigation between Kodak and Polaroid. Polaroid also has a separate suit with Fujifilm and their instant film patents in Japan. When Kodak lost, Fujifilm was able to work with Polaroid to allow their cameras and films to remain in the market, provided that they have a technology sharing agreement. Polaroid was interested in branching out to magnetic media in the boom of the video tape era and had acquired a company called MagMedia Ltd. Fujifilm has a long history in magnetic media dating to the mid 1950's. This led to Polaroid having access to Fujifilm's extensive electronic, video tape and floppy disc magnetic products.
System 800 and InstantACE
By the mid 1980s Fujifilm introduced the higher ISO System 800 series, followed by the ACE series in the mid 1990s. Instant ACE is nearly identical to System 800, the only difference is the design of the plastic cartridge in the ACE do not contain the spring mechanism, the spring is in the camera. Most of these products were available only in the Japanese market, that is until the Instax series.
Instax series
In 1999 the Instax series of cameras was released. Fujifilm originally wanted to release the Instax series worldwide including North America and Europe simultaneously, but decided to work with Polaroid on the mio camera based on the Instax mini 10 for the US market. Another product was Fujifilm's Digital Instax Pivi film for their battery powered portable printer was made available for those who wanted to print from their mobile phone via IR and later models with USB and Bluetooth.
Instant pack film
Fujifilm makes pack film for their passport camera systems, and had been available outside Japan since the mid-1980s. No legal issues arose with Fuji's peel apart instant films as Polaroid's patents had expired. It was generally not too well known elsewhere due to the dominance of Polaroid in most countries. In 2000; Fuji decided to change the way they manufacture pack film, by making the entire pack out of plastic instead of a metal plastic combination. Fujifilm announced at PMA 2003 that pack film would be made available to the North American market.
Polaroid aftermath
With the discontinuation of Polaroid instant film in 2008, Fuji started to export more of their instant film product to overseas markets. They started with having more variety of pack film available. In November 2008 the Instax Wide format was available in the US with the Instax 200 camera. Instax mini series of cameras and films became available in the US during the second half of 2009, with the mini 7s, also an updated Instax 210 replaced the Instax 200. Fujifilm's FP-100b45 was announced in Sept of 2009 for the US market. FP-3000b45 arrived in the North American market in Jan 2011, after Fujifilm Japan stopped manufacturing FP-100b.
Instant cameras
Instax series
Instax Mini series
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ACE series
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800 series
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F series
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Professional Series
Passport
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Instant films
Packfilm
3¼ × 4¼" (85 × 108mm)
- FP-100C, ISO 100, color glossy finish
- FP-100C Silk, ISO 100, color
- FP-100B, ISO 100, black and white (Discontinued)
- FP-400B, ISO 400, black and white (Discontinued)
- FP-3000B, ISO 3000, black and white
4x5" (102 × 131mm) For use in the Fujifilm PA-45 or Polaroid Type 550 series film holders
- FP-100C45, ISO 100, color glossy finish
- FP-100B45 Super, ISO 100, black and white (Discontinued)
- FP-500B45 Super, ISO 500, black and white (Discontinued)
- FP-3000B45 Super, ISO 3000, black and white
Integral film
Instax series ISO 800 films.
- Instax Wide (99x62mm)
- Instax Mini (46x62mm)
- Instax Digital Pivi (46x61mm)
ACE series ISO 800 (91x69mm) film. (discontinued June 2010)
800 series ISO 800 films (discontinued June 2010)
- FI-800GT (91x69mm)
- FI-800G (91x69mm)
- FI-800 (91x69mm)
F Series ISO 160. Discontinued in the mid-1990s.
- FI-10 (91x69mm)
- FI-10LT (91x69mm)
misc film Discontinued
- FI-160 ISO 160 (89x114mm) for use with MS-45 4x5 instant back