FujifilmNeopan 400

Fujifilm Neopan 400 Professional is a discontinued panchromatic black-and-white negative film with an ISO speed of 400 [1]. It was introduced in 1978 and sold in Japan as Neopan 400 Presto [2]. Fujifilm aimed it at low light, action freezing and news photography, and its datasheet promises fine grain and high sharpness [1].

Look and color

The film converts colors to gray by its own sensitivity, which the 1999 datasheet plots as a spectrogram to daylight [1]:

• Blue is not held back. The curve is almost flat from 400 to 460 nm, so blue renders about as light as green and red. In our test renders with weights integrated from this curve, a sky measures L* 60.7, against 55.3 in the base rendering, and 58.6 with the Acros 100 II curve, where the blue is held back [10].
• Silvery and modern, per reviews. Canon Classics describes a “shimmery, silvery look” that is unlike vintage stocks such as Tri-X, and finds the tonality “somewhat similar” to Acros [5].
• Filters. For darker skies, the datasheet lists daylight filter factors of 2 for yellow, 4 for orange and 8 for red [1].

Tonality

• Curve. The datasheet publishes characteristic curves for D-76, SPD and T-Max at 20 °C. For D-76 at 7½ min (the time given for EI 400), the mean gradient is 0.54; it rises to 0.65 at 8¾ min and 0.83 at 12 min [1]. From the graph, base plus fog sits near a density of 0.2, the toe is gradual and the midtone slope regular, with no clear shoulder in the plotted range (our reading) [1].
• Reviews on contrast agree roughly. 35mmc describes “extreme highlights and shadows” and the “clearest white tones” [3]. Jim Grey, using Rodinal 1+50, says the contrast needed “a little boosting in post, but not much” [4].
• Shadows: reviews disagree. Canon Classics reports “massive shadow detail” [5]; Jim Grey finds the blacks rich but shadows that “tended to block up a little” [4]. Developer and exposure probably explain part of the gap.
• Push processing. Fujifilm says development efficiency was improved to increase push capability. It gives an exposure guide at EI 1600 and development times up to that speed in most developers [1].

Grain and sharpness

• The datasheet says “fine grain, high sharpness, and fine texture” but gives no RMS, no grain index and no resolving power [1]. Its grain cannot be ranked against the Kodak figures on paper.
• Reviews: grain “clear, but without being intrusive” [3]; “well controlled”, visible at full scan size but hard to see at blog dimensions [4]. These are opinions, not measurements.
• The datasheet also notes resistance to static marks and smooth transport in the camera [1].

Spectral sensitivity

On the daylight spectrogram, sensitivity is nearly level from 400 to 460 nm, dips by about 0.17 log near 505 nm, reaches a second broad maximum near 585 nm, then falls steeply at about 650 nm [1]. In practice, blue skies and skin tones sit closer together in gray than on Acros 100 II, whose curve holds the blue back. The curve is not equal-energy: it is measured against daylight at 5400 K.

Names, status and history

• 1978. Wikipedia gives 1978 as the introduction year of Neopan 400 Professional, sold in 35 mm, 120 and 4x5 sheets [2]. The datasheet lists only 135 (24 and 36 exposures, 100 ft) and 120 [1].
• Presto. It was marketed as Presto in Japan [2]. Neopan 1600 (Super Presto) is a separate film [2].
• Discontinued: 2013 or 2014, sources differ. Wikipedia says 2013 [2]. A March 2014 press report says Fujifilm Japan announced it was discontinuing Neopan 400 Presto 135 “because of decreased demand” and gives no date [6].
• Neopan 400CN is another film. 35mmc’s review covers both; the CN is a C-41 black-and-white film, unlike this one [3].
• Datasheet. AF3-706E dates from 1999. We could only find a third-party mirror [1].

Also sold as

• Neopan 400 Presto (Japan) (confirmed) [2]