Lucky Film is Coming - Brand New Film Hitting the Market Soon

Lucky Film brand is teasing the release of their film in North America very soon in 2025. With film in high demand and companies like Kodak and Harman (aka Ilford) expanding production and even releasing new products in Harman’s case (Harman Phoenix and Harman Red), there’s a building excitement in the film photography world. Let’s be honest, the choices we’ve had have been dwindling for quite a while as Fuji began to pull out of the film market. The hope of something new and possibly even something more affordable has created a buzz and film photographers are eager to try Lucky Film’s new products. Here’s everything we know…

Who is Lucky Film?

According to their website, Lucky Film Co., LTD was founded in 1998 as a subsidiary of China Lucky Group Corporation. But looking at Wikipedia, it seems that Lucky Film might have been founded as early as 1958. Lucky is the largest manufacturer of photosensitive materials in China, operating out of Boading Hebei Province. Back in 2003 Lucky and Kodak had even teamed up for a while until Kodak backed out of the deal as digital cameras became more popular in China. Lucky film is very popular in the Chinese rural market.

So this isn’t a new start-up. Lucky Film has been around a while and has a proven track record of manufacturing photographic film. While the English version of their website is not very well polished, there’s a lot of information there about their current offerings. Lucky Film is also producing photographic paper (silver halide paper), and photo developing chemistry.

What Kind of Film is Lucky Film Going to Release?

Lucky is teasing a new color negative 35mm film that will be coming to the mark “soon”. While their promotional website has a text in place to learn more about the journey, there isn’t a link and the words “coming soon” are listed below.

“…at a price today’s photographers can afford.” It looks like Lucky’s initial marketing approach is going to be aimed at affordability. Which is a good thing as rising film prices and inflation in general is making it really difficult for photographers to afford film, especially color film. With lower cost options like Kodak Gold coming in at around $8 per roll and higher-end options like Portra getting close to $20 per roll, Lucky will need to deliver a high-quality film at or below Kodak’s price point. I love Kodak and am loyal to the brand, but film prices are making it very difficult to afford to shoot as much as I used to. For me, and many of the film photographers I talk to, a lower cost option would be well received. Lucky seems to be positioning themselves in this gap in the hopes that film photographers will choose Lucky Film’s new 35mm film option over not shooting until they can afford more Kodak film.

Lucky Film Began Posting to Instagram

Lucky Film is using @luckyfilmglobal to post news and updates. The posts below are new but people are already paying attention to Lucky Film’s ig posts.

In these Instagram posts, Lucky Film says it will be “significantly more affordable” than its competitors. In my opinion, significantly more affordable makes it around $5 to $8 per roll (purely speculation on my part). No pricing has been released yet and no retailers or distributers have been announced on either Instagram or their website. It does appear that they are intending to use Instagram as a way to promote the brand and product release so if you’re wanting to stay up to date, following this account might be your best option.

Wait and See - Can Lucky Film Deliver?

Is it too early for me to get excited about this? Probably. Am I excited, well of course I am! Most of us film photographers have been feeling starved lately as prices continue to rise and in some cases quality has gone down with films from Kodak and Fuji. Other companies, like Light Lens Lab are also throwing their hat in the film manufacturing ring promising a wide variety of new photographic film products coming in the next years. With little competition and an intriguing appeal to affordability, Lucky Film is catching people’s attention. I’m ready to pick up a few rolls and get to shooting and then run it through our photo lab here at Shutter Junkies Photo and see how it performs. Fingers-crossed that Lucky Film’s new 35mm film offering might be just what so many of us analog photographers have been wanting!