Due to unforeseen and foreseen family circumstances, there will be a slowdown of turnaround effective immediately until the middle of May. Existing orders are unaffected. Thank you for your understanding.
UPDATE May 3rd: all paid pending orders have been sent out yesterday. I am on the way to business as usual, but need just a little more time. Also we have a week of public national holidays in Japan where many shops and post offices are closed, so please bear with me a little while longer.
The stocks of Fortia transparency film released as a limited edition last July have finally run out, but fear not: there is a follower. Fortia SP is an improved version of Fortia, and this time even available in 120 roll film format. However, a limited edition run it shall remain, as again only 40.000 packs of 35mm and 30.000 packs of 120 will be made.
Konica IR 750 film is no longer with us. On a recent order we had to inform the customer that one of the best-selling films, the Konica infra-red emulsion, is no longer available. While production was phased out back in 2004, stocks were still available up until February this year, but have finally depleted for good.
Meanwhile on popular demand we added an extensive set of Fuji instant peel-apart type film in pack format. Check out this impressive range of instant film with a wide choice in speeds and finish.
Lastly, Fuji released a black version of the Fuji Natura S camera.
For the first time since launch, we have added a camera to the online catalog, the much-discussed and requested Fuji Natura S. The camera is on sale only in Japan since October 2004. With a 24mm wide angle lens and a maximum aperture of 1.9, this makes an inexpensive available-light shooter. Being able to choose your colour seems to be standard these days, Apple started it with the iMacs several years back, so this camera comes in the colours Aqua, Rose and Lavender. Take your pick!
Meanwhile, the shipping & returns policy has received a little update. No major changes, just a little more precise information.
The process of making credit card payments using PayPal is quite easy, but still troublesome for some customers. Customers who have trouble with credit card payments, please refer to this guide to complete your transaction successfully.
As a reminder, a transaction is only completed when you see the final confirmation screen. Incomplete transactions are unpaid purchases and cannot be fulfilled.
We wish everybody a happy new year. Our special prayers are with those who survived and those who perished in the South Asian earthquake disaster this week.
Canadian Dollars is now available as a currency for browsing the web shop. Please select it from the menu on the bottom right.
Approaching the year end, things are rather quiet in Japan. We spend our time tidying and cleaning up the home, office and of course photographic equipment. Shops and post offices will close for a few days soon, so please expect a slower-than-usual turnaround of your orders.
We wish everybody a happy Christmas and a peaceful new year 2005!
Due to earlier unexpected popular demand, the immensely useful drying hanger for sheet film had to be taken out of the catalogue for a couple of weeks. Now it is back, although again in limited supplies and waiting periods may occur. If you want one of those under the Xmas tree, now is the time to put in the order.
In other news, a customer in Norway reported a delivery time of just over two days using trackable EMS service from Japan. This is almost equalling the speed of on-board courier service!