In the spring of 2026, two pieces of news rocked the film market. One was a new release, the other a wind-down. On the surface they are opposites, but look at the facts and they turn out to be two faces of the same trend the market is caught in.
Kodak VERITA 200D: a new color born on film sets
Kodak has added VERITA 200D, a color negative motion picture film, to its official lineup. It is ISO 200 and daylight balanced, in three formats: 65mm, 35mm and 16mm. Compared with the existing VISION3, Kodak says it has a narrower dynamic range but more concentrated color, warm skin tones and deep blacks. The launch messaging often mentions that it was developed for shooting the new season of the HBO series 〈Euphoria〉.
This is not something you can pick up a roll at a time from your local camera shop. Kodak classifies it as a specialty motion picture stock supplied to film and commercial productions, and takes orders only through its sales representatives. That means it is not officially distributed in the 36-exposure 35mm cassettes photographers usually use.
There is nothing contradictory about launching it this way. For the past few years, Kodak has more or less tolerated a back route in which large motion picture rolls pass through third parties and get cut down and repackaged as small rolls for photographers. Over time, VERITA 200D may well reach photographers' hands by the same route.
In Korea: Suseok Film's supply and the first use case
On domestic supply, Suseok Film said on its Instagram that it plans to bring in 16mm rolls first, with 35mm rolls to follow shortly. Film and commercial productions come first, so it will likely take a little longer before photographers can find it a roll at a time.
What is interesting is that the first use case is already out. The music video for singer Hwasa's new single 〈So Cute〉 (released April 9, 2026) was reportedly shot on VERITA 200D. That is almost the same month Kodak officially announced the stock. A new film went straight onto a set right after its announcement, which also signals how quickly Korean crews take up new film stocks. The character of VERITA 200D, with its trimmed dynamic range and concentrated color, was a good match for the warm tone of the Hwasa video, which was shot with young children.
Kodak VERITA 200D introduction video. Source: Kodak's official product page. © Eastman Kodak Company.
Fujifilm's announcement: the end of a service, not a film
Around the same time, Fujifilm announced that it would wind down black-and-white film processing and its black-and-white printing products. The cutoff is orders received by July 21, 2026. The announcement was short, and as its English wording got compressed into a single line in translation, it spread quickly on social media as "Fujifilm is discontinuing black-and-white film."
The facts are different. What is ending is the black-and-white processing service run directly by Fujifilm Imaging Systems, along with the black-and-white printing products attached to it. It means a channel is closing for small photo shops without much darkroom equipment of their own, which used to send orders to Fuji for processing. It does not mean the supply of black-and-white paper and chemistry sold on the open market is being cut off.
Neopan 100 ACROS II, Fuji's only black-and-white film, is not included in the announcement. That said, ACROS II came back in 2019, after Fuji's traditional black-and-white film production stopped once in 2018, with help from a different coating partner: Harman, the parent company of Britain's Ilford. Fuji's black-and-white line had already moved long ago from "made by the company itself" to "contract-manufactured, with only the Fuji name on it."
What the two announcements mean
Kodak's new release and Fuji's wind-down read as opposites on the surface. But both arrive at the same conclusion: film is no longer a mass-market industry.
Kodak has settled into a division of labor, putting the new stock first inside the operating structure of film production and leaving the general photography market to the back routes. Fuji is shutting down the low-margin black-and-white processing infrastructure it ran itself, and narrowing its film business to a model where outside partners manufacture the film in their own factories and Fuji lends its name. This spring simply showed, all at once, the direction both companies have been heading all along.
The "Fuji is killing black-and-white" panic on social media showed one thing: how sensitive photographers have become to losing a single film stock, a single pack of paper, a single processing service. That sensitivity is also the last muscle holding up the market.
Summary
- VERITA 200D is Kodak's new color negative motion picture film. ISO 200, in 65, 35 and 16mm.
- Kodak supplies it only through sales representatives. It is not officially distributed in 36-exposure cassettes for still photography.
- In Korea, Suseok Film will bring in 16mm first, with 35mm to follow soon. Hwasa's 〈So Cute〉 music video is the first use case.
- Fujifilm has not discontinued black-and-white film itself. It is only ending the black-and-white processing and printing service it ran directly, as of July 21.
- ACROS II stays. Fuji's black-and-white line, however, is already contract-manufactured.
Sources: Kodak VERITA 200D 5206/7206 official page, Suseok Film on Instagram. Timing and pricing of supply in Korea, and Fujifilm Korea's official position, need separate confirmation. The box images in this article are official Kodak and Fujifilm material.