NewsBy FilmFocus
Fujifilm to Release "Utsurundesu Black and White" From September, Using a C-41-Compatible Film
This is an AI translation of an article originally published in Japanese. If anything reads oddly, the Japanese original is the authoritative version.
Source: fujifilm.com
Fujifilm will release the "Utsurundesu Black and White" (known outside Japan as QuickSnap) from September onward as a model marking the 40th anniversary of the Utsurundesu. The official product page clearly states that the loaded film "is compatible with color processing, so no dedicated black-and-white development is required."
The first 40th-anniversary model, the "Utsurundesu Active," which is waterproof to a depth of 10m, went on sale on August 7. The Black and White is the second model in the series.
What "no dedicated black-and-white development" means
The part worth noting is the development process. Conventional black-and-white film has to be processed in dedicated chemistry such as D-76, a separate process from the C-41 commonly used for color negatives. It's not unusual for labs to charge extra for black-and-white, or to send it out and take several more days.
By contrast, black-and-white films that can be processed in C-41 (chromogenic films) have been around for a long time, and products such as ILFORD XP2 SUPER are still on sale today. The "Utsurundesu Black and White" appears to use a similar film that can run through the same line as color negatives.
ILFORD XP2 is an earlier example of a black-and-white film that can be developed in C-41. Source: ilfordphoto.com
This choice makes even more sense in light of "Utsurundesu+," the smartphone app Fujifilm launched in Japan in 2025. According to an ITmedia article, Utsurundesu+ is a service where you send a shot Utsurundesu from a convenience store and receive the developed image data about a week later. In a system built around centralized processing, handling everything together on the same C-41 line as color should be far less of an operational burden than setting up a separate process just for black-and-white. The film choice for the new model may not be about the product alone, but part of a design that includes the development and scanning service.
Targeting men in their late teens
Answering ITmedia's questions, Fujifilm said the main target for the Black and White is "men in their late teens." The idea came from user research showing that some people deliberately convert their photos to black-and-white before posting them on social media. Fujifilm explained that "without being swayed by color, the subject, light and shadow, and texture stand out more," and that "you can express everyday life like an artistic work without special shooting skills or complicated settings."
Source: fujifilm.com
The waterproof "Active," meanwhile, is mainly aimed at women in their late twenties. Fujifilm describes it as "redefining the value of a waterproof model," targeting situations where people hold back from using their smartphones out of concern about water, sand or impacts.
Sales up about 1.5 times year on year
Demand for the Utsurundesu stopped declining around 2015 and has been growing since around 2021. On the reasons for the revival, Fujifilm said that "the time spent waiting for development and the grainy image quality are being received as a fresh kind of value," positioning it as a product with a different role from smartphones.
This is about the single-use camera category, but as film users, it's welcome to see Fujifilm talking so actively about the experiential value of analog photography, and even promoting the wait for development itself as part of the product's appeal. If a roll shot on an Utsurundesu leads to the experience of development and scanning, and from there to an interest in 35mm film and cameras, it could have a very positive effect on the film photography ecosystem as a whole. It will be worth watching how far the impact of these 40th-anniversary models spreads beyond the Utsurundesu itself.