FujifilmPro 160NS

Fujifilm Pro 160NS is an ISO 160 color negative film for C-41 processing, designed for portraits, with a fourth, cyan-sensitive color layer [1]. It is the name Pro 160S took in 2010, reportedly with no change to the emulsion, and Fujifilm ended it in 2021 [2] [5]. The only datasheet we found is the one for Pro 160S, so the figures below come from that bulletin.

Look and color

• Skin first. Fujifilm’s bulletin promises “superb skin tone” rendition and a neutral gray balance, credited to the fourth color layer and a new coupler technology [1].
• The reviews disagree on saturation. Legendary Presets, a preset vendor’s blog, describes pastel tones, faithful color and a subtle green cast [6]. An Emulsive photographer found the saturation “really vibrant, even as powerful as Kodak Ektar 100”, especially at dusk, next to “delicate nuances” in bright light [7]. Saturation seems to depend on the light and the subject.
• Greens. Another Emulsive writer, on the Pro 160S, calls them “vibrant, fresh and lively” on a gray winter day [8]. Legendary Presets mentions muted greens, which contradicts this, and we did not keep that point [6].
• Customer reviews on a retailer’s page speak of natural, vibrant color and sharpness. We did not count the ratings [9].
• Reviews of this film are few, and several come from sellers or preset makers rather than from long-term users.

Tonality

• Curve. On the datasheet’s characteristic curves, the three layers run almost parallel: a toe near log H −2.5, then a straight line with no visible shoulder to the edge of the graph at log H +0.4. The slope reads at about 0.5 (our reading of the graph) [1].
• Contrast is described as soft and forgiving for portraits on Wikipedia and as moderate by Legendary Presets, two loose descriptions [5] [6].
• Fujifilm advertises “rich gradations from the highlights to the shadows” and a wide latitude suited to scanners, without a figure [1]. Reviewers praise the smooth highlights [7].
• Long exposures: no correction from 1/4000 to 2 s, and +1/3 stop at 4 s [1].

Grain and sharpness

Fujifilm rates grain as diffuse RMS granularity, measured with a 48 µm aperture at a density of 1.0 above minimum. This scale cannot be compared with Kodak’s Print Grain Index [1].

• The bulletin claims finer grain, higher sharpness and smoother tones than the earlier NPS at the same speed, from a “Super Nano-Structured Σ Grain” technology [1].
• Resolving power is 63 lines/mm at 1.6:1 test-object contrast and 125 lines/mm at 1000:1 [1].
• An Emulsive reviewer finds the grain “extremely fine, in contrast to its sister, Fuji Pro 400H” [7].

Spectral sensitivity

The blue-sensitive layer has a plateau from about 415 to 450 nm and peaks near 471 nm, the green-sensitive layer peaks near 555 nm and the red-sensitive layer near 623 nm. A fourth, cyan-sensitive layer peaks near 518 nm, between the blue and green bands, and Wikipedia says it improves color under fluorescent light [1] [5]. The Grain Archive color style is tuned from the datasheet and the reviews above; it is not computed from these curves.

Names, status and history

• Pro 160S to Pro 160NS. Wikipedia dates the Pro 160S to 2004, as the successor of NPS 160, and says it was renamed Pro 160NS in 2010 with no change to the emulsion. We found no Fujifilm statement on this [5].
• Fewer markets. After the rename, Wikipedia lists 120, 220 and sheet film, sold in Europe, Asia and Australia. Kosmo Foto reports that sheets ended in 2016 and that 120 became Japan-only in 2018 [2] [5].
• Discontinued in 2021. On October 15, 2021, Fujifilm announced the end of Fujicolor Pro 160NS 120 in five-roll packs, because some raw materials had become hard to procure [2] [4]. PetaPixel called it the end of the Pro line [3]. Shipping was expected to end in March 2022 [4]. Fujifilm named no replacement [4].
• Formats: sources differ. The bulletin lists 135, 120, 220 and sheets for the 160S [1]. Wikipedia says the 135 was dropped with the 2010 rename [5]. Legendary Presets says the film is available in 35 mm, which we could not confirm [6].
• Still findable. A retailer’s page lists it as sold out [9], and photographers still post scans on Flickr [10].