Film photography’s obituary has been written a hundred times, yet here we are in 2026 still loading rolls of black and white into our cameras — and Fujifilm’s Neopan 100 Acros II remains the quiet benchmark for anyone chasing pristine, fine-grain monochrome.
The story is a familiar one for anyone who lived through the great film culling of the 2010s. The Neopan family was a beloved lineup, but Neopan 400 and 1600 quietly disappeared, leaving the original Acros as the sole survivor. Then it, too, was discontinued — before Fujifilm reversed course and brought back a reformulated version. The Neopan 100 Acros II launched in Japan on November 22, 2019, reaching the US market in early 2020, and it’s still in production and on sale today.
So what makes it worth the shelf space? Acros II is an orthopanchromatic black and white negative film rated at a nominal ISO 100, and it’s engineered around an extremely tight grain structure with a genuinely wide tonal range. This is not a film you shoot for grit and grunge — it’s the one you reach for when you want smooth gradients, clean shadows and detail that holds together even under enlargement.
The technical backbone comes from two Fujifilm technologies. Super Fine-Σ Grain Technology is responsible for the tight grain and high acutance, delivering that razor-sharp yet velvety tonal rendering the Acros name is known for. Alongside it, P.I.D.C. Technology (Precision Iodine Distribution Control) works behind the scenes to keep processing results consistent — a genuinely underrated feature for anyone who develops at home and wants repeatable, predictable negatives.
A few practical notes for the working photographer:
- Its low ISO 100 speed makes it a natural fit for bright daylight, studio work and long exposures on a tripod.
- The fine grain rewards good glass and careful metering — this is a film that shows off what your lens can do.
- The orthopanchromatic sensitivity gives it a distinctive tonal signature, particularly in how it handles reds and skin tones.
Availability is the part that matters most, and it’s good news. Acros II is sold in both 35mm and 120 formats, so it slots into everything from a compact rangefinder to a medium-format workhorse. Pricing sits at roughly US$12 per roll for the 120 version.
In an era where so many emulsions have vanished for good, the fact that Acros II not only came back but has stuck around for over half a decade says something. It remains, as far as we’re concerned, the reference point for fine-grain black and white — a film that survived the cull, earned its second life, and continues to justify a permanent spot in the camera bag.
