Lucky Film 200 is the long rumored return to color film from China Lucky Film (a major Chinese player that produced color emulsion in the 2000’s). A new teaser website appeared last week and it looked like things were on track for delivery in 2025. But what’s the whole story? Hit the jump for more!
Lucky Film 200 Is Coming. If We’re Lucky!
Any time there’s a new film rumor the film photography community sits up and pays attention. And when that rumor involves a new color film stock that will sell for under $10 a roll then you’ve really got something!
Lucky Film is the commercial brand of China Lucky Film Group Corporation, a giant of Asia’s photosensitive materials industry. The company produced color a line of emulsion films in the 2000’s but discontinued production in 2012 and became another casualty of the digital photography revolution.
Thanks to the growing popularity of film photography, Lucky has decided to restart its color negative film production line. And it appears the first film with be a low cost ISO 200 color negative film for 35mm cameras.
Sounds Good. So What’s The Problem?
Kosmo Photo posted the Lucky Film 200 news when he saw the teaser site launched at luckyfilm.net. The new site was launched by the U.S. marketing and distribution team and while it’s slim on any real information it clearly states the new film is on the way with delivery in 2025.
But Kosmo Photo posted a bit of a retraction the following day. According to the site he “heard reports that the new website is not an official agent of China Lucky Film and that the announcement of Lucky Color 200 is not officially endorsed by the film’s manufacturer.” Kosmo Photo reached out to Lucky Film for a comment but at the time of writing this post there was no update.
A day later the team behind luckyfilm.net posted on their instagram:
This is where things get interesting.
It appears that China Lucky Film has deals with various parties around the globe for marketing and distrubution of their product. And some of those parties didn’t like seeing the announcement from the U.S. team and took it upon themselves to “insinuate” that the luckyfilm.net announcement was false.
I received an anonymous tip from a person with direct knowledge of the U.S. team’s effort. And they informed me that a rogue employee of an overseas distributor of China Lucky Film products has been misrepresnting himself as a direct representative of the company and making statements which are not based in reality.
My contact assured me that the U.S. team behind luckyfilm.net “has been authorized to use the trademark on the Lucky brand in the United States, allowing us to legally use the name and logo, and protecting us as the exclusive dealer to U.S. retailers.”
And in addition my contact flat out said the new film is on the way. But he couldn’t give me any more specifics at this time.
Where Things Stand Now
This got people excited about the prospect of a new color film. But the on again off again status of the original announcement left some people perplexed. Isaac Abner covered the on again off again story of Lucky Film 200 on Overexposed (his YouTube channel).
Isaac heralds the @luckyfilmglobal Instagram post as 100% confirmation that the new film is on the way. He goes on to discuss why any new film announcement is big news for the film photography community. Anything that reduces Kodak’s strangle hold on our market is a step in the right direction.
I’m a bit more skeptical… And until I see samples of the new film I’m going to maintain a “wait and see” posture. Call me cautiously optimistic.
The Last Word
Unlike the Light Lens Lab film announcement from earlier this month, Lucky Film already has the process, patents and prowess to pull this one off. The literally just need to dust off the manufacturing equipment and source the raw materials to start making film again. A film like this has already been in production so it should be easy enough to just restart that process.
It’s a little concerning that the global marketing efforts are suffering from a bit of back stabbing. But that’s to be expected in the post social media world where opinions are expressed as fact.
However you look at it… These are interesting times for the film photography market and I’m eagerly waiting to see where the chips fall!
What’s your take on the Lucky Film 200 announcement? Do you agree with Overexposed and think this one is a done deal? Or is there too much corporate in-fighting to believe any of it? Post your ideas in the comments below and keep the conversation going!