Fujifilm Neopan Acros (I & II) Film Review

Fujifilm Neopan Acros is a fine-grained ISO 100 film, originally sensitized with orthopancromatic and updated to panchromatic light response for Acros II.

This film has a wide dynamic range and can render variable contrast, depending on exposure. Fujifilm also boasts consistent results across various development chemicals.

For astrophotographers, Acros features excellent reciprocity characteristics, whereas for the rest of the community, this film has proven to be so influential that the Fujifilm execs decided to re-release it after discontinuing within a year (it was off the shelves briefly in 2018-2019). This is the only film Fujifilm has brought back in the past twenty years.

In this review, I’ll share samples from both Acros I and II, shot under various conditions, and processed in various developers (which should demonstrate their consistency, as suggested by the manufacturer).

In this review: A brief history of the Fujifilm Neopan monochrome films. Reciprocity characteristics. Grain structure, resolution, and sharpness. Consistent results regardless of lab or chemicals. Orthopanchromatic sensitivity. Dynamic range and contrast. Scanning. How much does Fujifilm Neopan Acros cost, and where to buy it. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

A brief history of the Fujifilm Neopan monochrome films.

Fujifilm Neopan 100 SS kicked off this popular line of black-and-white films all the way back in 1952. It featured orthopanchromatic sensitivity to colours in contrast to the more common orthochromatic films of the day. Neopan had an unusually high, for the time, ISO 100 speed, which empowered its users to practice the previously unimaginable: night photography. The production of this film lasted 59 years until 2011. An impressive lifespan for any product.

Later, Fujifilm introduced Neopan 400 Professional (Presto) and Neopan 1600 Professional (Super Presto) films, both of which had the same development times and thus could be processed at the same time. They were loved by many for their tonality and contrast, but alas, they were discontinued in 2009 and 2013, respectively.

The last film in the Neopan family to bite the dust, leaving Acros as the only remaining emulsion, was 400CN. Developed in partnership with Ilford, this monochrome film could be developed in C-41 chemistry. Though it was taken off the shelves in 2020, the Ilford version, XP2 Super 400 (based on similar technology), is still in production.

Alas, the only remaining member of the Neopan family is Acros 100, the descendant of the Neopan 100 SS introduced under its current name on November 20, 2000.

The Acros II sold today is the reformulated version of the original (2000) Acros that launched on November 22nd, 2019. The original Acros was discontinued in October 2018. Acros II is packaged in the UK, presumably by Harman/Ilford, but manufactured in Japan.

The datasheets suggest that there’s little technical difference between the two Acros versions (including the reciprocity failure characteristics). The print/scan results from both films are also very similar, with a slight contrast increase (as suggested by Fujifilm and the samples in this article) in the II. The II also uses an updated set of raw materials (presumably to comply with the environmental regulations and availability) — as well as a transition to the panchromatic sensitivity range.

Reciprocity characteristics.

Fujifilm Neopan Acros II’s ability to tolerate long exposures places it above and beyond most competitors.

Whereas most emulsions would require additional stops of exposure at shutter speeds slower than one second, Acros needs no adjustments at shutter speeds up to 120 seconds and only ½ stop of additional exposure for up to 1000 seconds of an open shutter (16min 40sec).

Because of that, Neopan Acros is a perfect film for astrophotography and other applications calling for long exposures.

Grain structure, resolution, and sharpness.

Film grain is non-uniform in size. Granules will often appear larger in the shadows and smaller in the highlights, which is why the RMS system used by the manufacturers to estimate the granularity is considered imperfect.

Fujifilm Neopan Acros II’s RMS is 7, which is theoretically finer than that of Fujifilm Provia 100F and Kodak Ektachrome E100 — the two famous fine-grained colour positive films. Additionally, the company claims that it’s the “finest grain quality ISO 100 black-and-white film” on their website. Neopan Acros II uses the Super Fine-Σ Grain Technology — the same that the company used with its famous Natura 1600 colour-negative film.

In print and when scanned, the film indeed looks exceptionally smooth and detailed, though the results may vary slightly depending on the development methods, how the film was scanned, and whether it’s the medium format or the 135 (in this review, I’m showing you 35mm film scans).

Consistent results regardless of lab or chemicals.

Another feature that Fujifilm lists on the datasheet is this film’s ability to perform consistently regardless of the development methods and the chemicals.

I’ve been shooting this film on and off for the past seven years, with some of the results posted here developed and scanned in Thailand (where I started this website), and others in Canadian labs and at home. Over the past several years, I’ve standardized my workflow to known developers, a Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000ED, and film Q (which inverts negatives without altering the film’s characteristics).

The improved technique and resolution seem to make my new Acros scans look a little smoother, though there are no significant, uncorrectable differences between the results that I can notice, regardless of where, who, and how it was developed.

Orthopanchromatic sensitivity.

Perhaps the most significant difference between the original Acros and Acros II is the film’s orthopanchromatic sensitivity range.

Black-and-white films usually come with either orthochromatic or panchromatic sensitivity ranges. Orhochromatic films, like Ilford Ortho Plus, Agfa Ortho 25 (discontinued) and Film Ferrania Orto 50, are less sensitive to red light, which means that the greens may appear a little brighter and reds a little dimmer. The original Acros was in between, being a little less sensitive to red than the typical panchromatic film (and it was also a bit more sensitive to blue light). This may’ve contributed to a little unusual skin colours, i.e., slightly darker than expected in some cases.

Acros II has had its sensitivity range extended to panchromatic, in addition to the greater contrast, which made it look a little more “normal.”

The graph above illustrates the sensitivity ranges of those two films, within the context of orthochromatic Ilford Ortho Plus and the panchromatic Kodak Tri-X.

Dynamic range and contrast.

Neopan Acros II features a wide dynamic range of approximately 9 stops (converted from 2.15 lux-seconds illustrated in the datasheet characteristic curves graph).

This is very helpful for getting good exposures in complex light and high-contrast scenes. The film may even forgive a stop or more of incorrect exposure; however, you’ll notice that this emulsion will change how it renders contrast based on available light — more so than most other black-and-white films I’ve observed.

That is, overexposing Across II will yield images with less contrast, whereas underexposing will render stronger contrast. If you are good at nailing your exposures, this could be a very helpful property that can cut down or completely cut out your editing times. However, this film may also produce inconsistent contrast across your roll if your exposures vary.

Scanning.

Slight overexposures are usually fairly easy to fix within good black-and-white film scans. That could be tougher with stocks rated ISO 100 and lower, but being a wide dynamic range film, Acros II allows easy edits (although the grain may increase slightly as you push it in either direction).

Typical scanning (with or without adjustments) is pretty easy with this film. It dries flat, and the negative densities are very friendly for modern scanners.

If you’re careful with this film, it can produce outstanding, high-resolving results. It retains plenty of detail in shadows and highlights for editing, but it can also look great without any modifications, provided you’ve adjusted your exposures accordingly.

Some scanning software may push the contrast of this film based on its defaults, which I found to be the problem with my old scans. However, I’ve since switched to film Q to get unaltered contrast levels from my negatives for greater flexibility and a more consistent look.

How much does Fujifilm Neopan Acros cost, and where to buy it.

After the reformulated version of Acros (II) was introduced, its price rose significantly (by about $2 per roll). However, it has also seen consequent gradual price decreases and a noticeable dip in cost in early 2025 — only to end up on the pricier side in mid-2025 at $14.44 per roll, on average.

By the time you read this, the price may’ve changed again, but you can learn what the current average across multiple stores is with the Film Price Trends app (it also offers a free semi-annual newsletter with price updates to 30+ stocks across multiple stores and currencies).

❤ By the way: Please consider making your Fujifilm Neopan Acros II film purchase using this link so that this website may get a small percentage of that sale — at no extra charge for you — thanks!