Ode to my favorite departed film
We've lost a lot of great films, but none I miss more than Fuji Natura 1600
October 20, 2025
I've had a ziplock full of one certain film in my fridge for almost 10 years now. Until this week I've never dared to use it, because I know I'll never get to enjoy it again. That film is Fuji Natura 1600.
I first ran into Fuji Natura at Yodobashi Camera in the late 2000s. It was an expensive film but a color film at ISO 1600? After my first roll I was in love. Amazingly sharp grain, fantastic "Fuji" colors and pop in bright light, becoming stylish grainy and delightful at dusk. At the time I was using my trusty Sigma 50 1.4 and I could shoot pretty late into the evenings. Amazing and some of my favorite photos in my lifetime of being a photographer.
The decade that followed I'd be in Japan a couple times a year and I'd always be sure to bring some back. But in 2017 Fujifilm killed Natura and I knew the last rolls I had in the fridge would likely be the last I'd ever shoot, so I sat on them.
On a personal note, I've been trying to coming to terms with the lack of permanence in well, everything. Everything good and bad comes to an end. Why have a bunch of awesome film that you'll never shoot? So I took a roll out and brought it along on our trip to Sandbanks Provincial Park here in Ontario.
All metered on camera, Leica MP, between 800 and 1600. And well it was just as lovely as I remember it. I've vowed to shoot one roll a year until I'm all done. Nothing lasts forever, and maybe Natura will help me take that to heart.
But hey Fujifilm, if you ever do want to join the renaissance of film photography, could you bring Natura (and 160NS) back? Pretty please?