One of the Japan only film stocks that Fuji used to have was Venus 800. It was pretty much the same as Superia 800 used to be, but not quite. Exactly what the difference is, seems to be difficult to figure out, especially since the datasheet for Venus 800 is nowhere to be found any longer. But according to Jim Gray who just a couple of weeks ago thought about the same issue, I guess the Venus datasheet was still available back then, the curves do not line up so the stocks are different in the end.
I have bought a couple of rolls of Venus 800 during my trips to Japan, and honestly this is one of my least favourite film stocks I have ever shot. It is too bad that it got axed, since there is a need for higher speed films too, but probably they are more expensive to produce, which means they are at a higher price point, which then means sales are going to be really really low. Kids these days don’t care about high quality, they want just cheap shots that look very 80s and disposable camera.
My main gripe with Venus 800 is that everything just looks so brown. The palette is very earthy, which does suit some situations, and it is very natural and not too contrasty, so in difficult lightning conditions you will get something you can work with pretty much every time. So that’s great. But for my tastes, I’m just disappointed every time with the look.
If I had to shoot something in color and need something faster than 400, I would currently go for the Lomography 800 which actually is not bad at all. Shoot it at 400 and you get nice punchy images. It is probably based on some old Kodak emulsion (VR1000 is my guess).
Anyhow, I don’t have too much else to say about this emulsion, but here are some sample images I have shot and developed. Let me know if you have any questions. If you find any rolls of this stuff out there, give it a shot while you still can, don’t let it sit in the fridge, fast films do not hold up well past their expiration date..
