Kodak Just Overtook Fujifilm as the Most-Used Film Brand, on Fuji’s Home Turf

Key Takeaways

• A new Japanese film survey has Kodak overtaking Fujifilm as the most-used film brand: 71% of respondents shot Kodak in the past year versus 68% for Fujifilm.
• That reverses 2024, when Fujifilm led 84% to 81%. The flip is largely credited to Fujifilm’s domestic film price increases pushing shooters toward Kodak.
• It is symbolically striking because Fujifilm is a Japanese company, so Kodak has now edged ahead on Fuji’s home turf.
• The bigger story: usage of nearly every film brand fell (Ilford 52% to 41%, Lomography 38% to 30%), as rising film costs make shooters more selective, even though the survey itself grew from 802 to 1,337 respondents.
• It lands as the Kodak brand has momentum elsewhere too: CEWE is acquiring the Kodak Moments retail-print business (a separate Kodak entity) in a roughly 200 million euro deal.

For the first time in the survey’s short history, Kodak has overtaken Fujifilm as the most-used film brand among photographers, and the twist is where it happened: Japan, Fujifilm’s own backyard. A new annual survey of Japanese film shooters found more of them reaching for Kodak than for the home-grown Fuji, a small but symbolically loud shift in the ongoing analog revival.

The numbers are close, and the reasons behind them say as much about the economics of film in 2026 as they do about brand loyalty. Here is what the survey found, why it flipped, and what it signals for anyone shooting film.

The Numbers: 71% Kodak, 68% Fujifilm

The data comes from the 2025 Survey on the Current State of Film Photography, run by FilmFocus and sponsored by the Naniwa Group, a major Japanese photography chain. It is the only recurring public survey of Japanese film photographers, now in its second year, and it gathered 1,337 valid responses (up sharply from 802 in 2024) between November 30 and December 31, 2025. Using identical methodology year over year, it found 71% of respondents had shot Kodak film in the previous 12 months, narrowly ahead of Fujifilm at 68%. In 2024, those positions were reversed, with Fujifilm at 84% and Kodak at 81%.

Some context matters here. This is a Japan-focused survey, so it is not a global tally, and worldwide Kodak’s lead in consumer color film has been clear for a while. What makes this result notable is that the flip finally reached Japan, Fujifilm’s home market and long its stronghold. In other words, the home crowd is now moving the same direction as the rest of the film world, which is arguably a bigger signal than a three-point margin on its own.

Why the Flip? Fujifilm’s Prices

The survey’s author, Kimiyasu Morikawa, ties the change directly to Fujifilm’s domestic price increases. Fuji has repeatedly raised the cost of its film in Japan, and as any film shooter knows, price is now the defining pressure of the hobby. When a roll of your usual stock jumps, the cheaper, widely-available Kodak option starts winning trips to the store. We have tracked exactly how steep that climb has been in our look at how film now costs around three times what it did in 2016.

The Bigger Story: Everyone Is Shooting Less Film

Focus only on the Kodak-versus-Fuji horse race and you miss the more important trend: usage of almost every major brand fell. Ilford dropped from 52% to 41%, Lomography from 38% to 30%, and even the two leaders slipped (Fuji from 84%, Kodak from 81%). Shooters are not abandoning film, the survey pool nearly doubled, but they are becoming far more selective about which films they buy, rationing rolls as costs rise. The analog revival is still very real; it is just getting more expensive to participate in.

Kodak’s Broader Moment: the CEWE Deal

The film survey is not the only good headline for the Kodak name this summer. In July, the German photo group CEWE agreed to acquire Kodak Moments, the global retail instant-photo and print business, with photo stations in some 16,000 stores and roughly 200 million euros in annual revenue. Worth being precise here: Kodak Moments (part of Kodak Alaris) is a separate entity from the Eastman Kodak operation that actually manufactures film. But between a film-brand crown in Japan and a major print-business acquisition, the Kodak brand is having a genuine moment across both ends of the analog world.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kodak now the most popular film brand?

In the latest Japanese FilmFocus survey, yes: 71% of respondents shot Kodak in the past year versus 68% for Fujifilm. It is a Japan-focused survey, so it reflects that market rather than a global count, but it is the most comprehensive recurring data available.

Why did Fujifilm fall behind Kodak?

The survey’s author attributes it mainly to Fujifilm’s repeated domestic film price increases in Japan, which pushed cost-conscious shooters toward the more affordable, widely-stocked Kodak films.

Does this mean film photography is declining?

No, quite the opposite on participation: the survey pool grew from 802 to 1,337 respondents. But usage of nearly every brand fell, which suggests film shooters are buying and shooting more selectively as film prices climb.

Is this the same Kodak that CEWE is buying?

Not exactly. CEWE is acquiring Kodak Moments, the retail instant-photo and print business under Kodak Alaris. The film is made by Eastman Kodak, a separate company. Both operate under the Kodak brand.

What does this mean for me as a film shooter?

Kodak stocks like Gold, UltraMax, and Portra remain the most-used and generally the most available. If you shoot Fujifilm, watch its pricing closely, and in either case, buying film in multi-packs and storing it properly is the practical response to rising costs.

The Bottom Line

Kodak overtaking Fujifilm on Fuji’s home turf is a small margin with a big symbolism, and the cause is not nostalgia but arithmetic: Fujifilm got pricier, so shooters shifted. The deeper takeaway is that film’s comeback is maturing into a cost-conscious hobby, with more people involved but each one buying more carefully. If you shoot film, the practical lesson is the same as it has been for a while now, watch prices, buy smart, and enjoy the fact that, for all the renewed interest in analog, the choices are still there.

Related Reading

Film Costs 3x What It Did in 2016 The price climb driving the whole story.

Film Is Booming Again: The Lomography Gear Worth Buying The analog revival, and what to buy into it.

Best Budget Digicams Under $200 The other side of the retro-imaging boom.

The World’s Oldest Photo Museum Now Charges a Fee More from the world of analog and photographic history.