FujifilmNatura 1600

Fujifilm Natura 1600 is a discontinued ISO 1600 color negative film for 135 cameras, processed in C-41. Fujifilm made it for the Japanese market, and reviews describe it as the same emulsion as Fujicolor Superia 1600, the name it carried in the US [2]. It is remembered as a night and low-light film, and it has the fourth, cyan-sensitive layer of the Fujicolor family [1].

Look and color

• Vibrant, but not extreme. Fujifilm’s bulletin for the sister film promises “vibrant and dynamic reds, blues, and yellows”, violets and greens “with enhanced fidelity”, a well-balanced gray from highlights to shadows, and accurate color under fluorescent light [1]. Reviews are close to that: Analog.cafe reports “impressive colour realism” with minimal casting, and an Emulsive blind test found “lovely bright reds, oranges and yellows” and accurate greens [3] [8].
• Saturation. Analog.cafe places it between Portra and Ektar [3]. A UK retailer describes Natura as having “soft, pastel colours” against Superia’s saturated ones, which is a third opinion on a film that others treat as the same [7].
• Skin tones are natural: Richard Haw says skin is “not magenta like most films tend to” be, and Casual Photophile lists “great natural skin tones” [4] [2].
• The green cast: the sources disagree. Casual Photophile sees “an unmistakable green cast” that shows in the shadows [2]. Analog.cafe finds “minimal colour casting”, with only a light blue cast on inverted negatives that depends on the scan [3]. Exposure probably decides which reviewer is right.

Tonality

• The datasheet sells latitude. The bulletin claims “wide exposure latitude”, with good depth and fidelity even when underexposed in bright surroundings [1]. Its characteristic curves show three nearly parallel layers with no visible shoulder within the plotted range. The slope reads at roughly 0.7 to 0.8 (our reading of the graph) [1].
• The reviews are less generous. Casual Photophile calls it “very unforgiving” when underexposed, with noisy shadows and lower contrast, and says overexposure brings no gain [2]. Analog.cafe puts the usable range at about 6 to 8 stops, with the best results at 6 or fewer, and advises keeping it for scenes of modest contrast [3].
• Underexposure hurts most: highlights turn muddy and sharpness falls [4] [2]. Richard Haw meters about 1/3 stop over, and up to a full stop in bright scenes [4].
• Blacks. In the Emulsive blind test, Natura’s blacks “weren’t as deep” as the reviewer liked, while Portra 800 delivered deep blacks [8].
• Long exposures: no correction from 1/4000 to 2 s; +2/3 stop at 4 s, +1 1/2 at 16 s and +2 at 64 s [1].

Grain and sharpness

Fujifilm gives a diffuse RMS granularity of 7, measured with a 48 µm aperture at density 1.0 above D-min, and claims “highly uniform fine grain, regardless of the film’s ultrahigh speed” [1]. It credits the Nano-structured Σ grain, with crystals about 60% thinner than those of the previous Superia 1600 [1]. Fujifilm’s scale is not Kodak’s Print Grain Index, so compare it only with other Fujifilm bulletins.

• Analog.cafe reports an RMS of 4 for Natura 1600, which contradicts the bulletin’s 7. We could not confirm the lower figure in any Fujifilm document [3].
• Uneven grain. Analog.cafe sees “remarkably fine grain” in the lighter tones and chunkier clumps in the shadows [3]. Casual Photophile says it looks “more like the grain we’re used to seeing in a 400 speed film” [2]. Richard Haw calls it “the best in its class” for ISO 1600, but “don’t expect it to look like a 400” [4].
• In the blind comparison, the grain was “distracting to say the least” in dim light and “quite apparent” in bright light, and the image looked “puffy” next to Portra 800 [8]. Huy Le, who shot it at night, accepts that some viewers will find the grain excessive [9].
• Sharpness. The bulletin lists a resolving power of 50 lines/mm at 1.6:1 chart contrast and 125 lines/mm at 1000:1, and publishes an MTF curve [1].

Spectral sensitivity

The datasheet plots four sensitivity curves: blue, green, red and a dashed fourth layer sensitive to cyan, peaking near 520 nm between the blue and green peaks [1]. Analog.cafe says this fourth layer reduces color casts under mixed light, as in Fujicolor Pro 400H, and Fujifilm claims accurate color under fluorescent lamps [3] [1]. The Grain Archive style does not simulate the fourth layer, which depends on the light of the scene.

Names, status and history

• Two names. Casual Photophile writes that the film was “branded as Natura 1600 in the Japanese market and as Superia 1600 stateside” [2]. Fuji X Weekly notes that it found no definitive evidence on whether Natura 1600 is unmodified Superia 1600 or a slightly modified variant [6]. The Grain Archive treats them as one film, because the only bulletin we have is the Superia 1600 one.
• Natura the camera. Richard Haw says the film was first developed for the Natura camera and outlived it [4].
• Dates. Fuji X Weekly gives its production as 2003 to 2017, for the Japanese market [6]. Wikipedia reports that Superia 1600 was phased out internationally in 2016 and that Fujifilm announced the full discontinuation of Natura 1600 in October 2017, with stock lasting in Europe through parallel imports until about mid-2018 [5]. Analog.cafe also dates the end to around 2017 [3].
• Press version. Wikipedia also lists a professional Superia Press 1600 that used the same emulsions and was refrigerated from manufacture [5].
• Now. A UK retailer lists it as discontinued and out of stock [7]. Analog.cafe reports rolls being sold on eBay at premium prices [3].

Also sold as

• Fujicolor Superia Press 1600 (reported) [5]