Unique Photo carries Fuji Maxima in several roll sizes and finishes.
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B&H told me they cannot acquire Maxima. That might have to do with the special tweak of RA4 chem allegedly necessary to attain full DMax on Maxima, as well as the rumor that both that particular paper and its necessary developer are being sold direct to dedicated labs via Fuji's own traveling sales Reps (or Rep), and who knows what pandemic circumstances did to those? Ironically, Pako (a broad line Fuji lab distributor) lists all kinds of Fuji/Hunt RA4 chemicals, but apparently can't get Maxima either. There was also a really big Kodak paper distributor right around here, in the SF Bay Area, which had a Fuji account too, which couldn't get it either. But between the collapse of Kodak paper coinciding with the covid pandemic itself, it appears they went out of business.
So, other than Maxima, a big enough selection of other Fuji CA options has already come into the US to allow some interesting experimentation. If I had time for it, I could now order almost any roll size (clear up to 50 inch wide) of CA Super type II, for example, which is a nice thick paper. But I need to take a break from color printing, and begin some house painting, once our infamous early summer coastal cold winds die down somewhat. We call it, "natural air conditioning". Sure beats the terrible summer heat inland.
Joakes - again, let me clarify that B&H is not really a Fuji distributor, but does order certain products directly from them. In the past, they have stocked a representative selection of Fuji roll goods, as well as a cut sheet selection (back then clear up to 30X40 inch boxed cut-sheet even in old-style Fujiflex, Super-C, etc), applicable to their specific clientele. All that kind of cut sheet selection ended 15 or 20 yrs ago, and more recently, the pandemic nuked all kinds of availability and distribution variables, and now it's catch-up time. Probably the only reason they still list Fujiflex is due to my personal orders. If it hypothetically catches on, they might actually keep a roll or two in stock again. But it's better to have something relatively fresh via special order than something in stock which sells slowly and risks becoming outdated.
B&H told me they cannot acquire Maxima. That might have to do with the special tweak of RA4 chem allegedly necessary to attain full DMax on Maxima, as well as the rumor that both that particular paper and its necessary developer are being sold direct to dedicated labs via Fuji's own traveling sales Reps (or Rep), and who knows what pandemic circumstances did to those? Ironically, Pako (a broad line Fuji lab distributor) lists all kinds of Fuji/Hunt RA4 chemicals, but apparently can't get Maxima either. There was also a really big Kodak paper distributor right around here, in the SF Bay Area, which had a Fuji account too, which couldn't get it either. But between the collapse of Kodak paper coinciding with the covid pandemic itself, it appears they went out of business.
So, other than Maxima, a big enough selection of other Fuji CA options has already come into the US to allow some interesting experimentation. If I had time for it, I could now order almost any roll size (clear up to 50 inch wide) of CA Super type II, for example, which is a nice thick paper. But I need to take a break from color printing, and begin some house painting, once our infamous early summer coastal cold winds die down somewhat. We call it, "natural air conditioning". Sure beats the terrible summer heat inland.
But in Australia, wouldn't it be easier to acquire Fuji papers from Japan? - or is there some kind of difficult pricing/shipping issue involved?
Whenever ever mottling is mentioned, the first thing I think about is condensation
Good idea. Just take a photo of a box with your phone and post it. No need to ship the box. Let's nail this down once and for all. It is just too important to leave it hanging.
Unique Photo carries Fuji Maxima in several roll sizes and finishes.
Hard to say about these things. Since it's a thinner paper than most of the others, perhaps they accidentally coated a bad batch of paper without being aware of the issue. I dunno, since it never happened in my case. But after decades with no problems, Kodak suddenly got a bad batch of 120 film backing paper. I wasn't even aware of that problem either until I read the complaints, since I never bought nor used any of the affected film batches. But the long-term solution involving a completely new backing paper was conspicuous enough, proving there had been a real issue. Same kinds of things sometimes happened in equipment mfg, which I heavily dealt with, where after decades of reliable switches, suddenly an entire bad batch of switches showed up, and no one detected the issue until those affected machines were already distributed an in attempted use.
And if there is an inherent mottling issue, it would be helpful to formally complain to Fuji about it, so any affected batch numbers can be identified and removed from the market, just as was the case with flawed 120 film backing paper. But I can't help on my end, because nothing of that nature occurred to me.
As per Fujiflex, just be aware those rolls are a lot heavier than RC paper, so you'll want an especially solid roller axle and cutting table or whatever.
I've gotten some very bad information from Unique, and they list all kinds of things they don't actually have in stock. Never order directly from their web link; call first, so they can check inventory, if you can even reach a knowledgable person. That's not terribly unusual. Quite a few companies have website operations out of synch with the real inventory picture. But all kinds of things are still in flux right now, as distribution steadily recovers from the pandemic era. Still less would I trust anything fa..... states, whoever that actually is.
Fujiflex is unique. It's coated on thick polyester sheet, not on paper at all. True high gloss, like Cibachrome, but even better. Richer color and depth of blacks than ordinary papers, excellent gamut, and a marriage made in heaven with Ektar sheet film - the results are more like those taken with chrome film than a typical color neg look.
By rollers, I meant end roller. They are cone-shaped and plug into the end of the hollow cardboard core of the roll. Fujiflex is EMI (emulsion side is wound toward the inside). I wouldn't recommend narrow rollers below the material itself or you might get compression creases. A set of thick rollers the full length of the roll might work. And they'll only make contact with the base side. But as the roll gets used up, it's diameter will obviously decrease. Make sure that stand idea is well reinforced. But how do you plan to cut it exact length and squarely at the same time?
Yeah, keep the pressure from accumulating at any one point. It cuts easily enough with a box knife etc. I happen to use a four-foot wide Rotatrim mounted to a large laminated table with a positionable stainless steel length bar, plus an ss squaring edge; but that takes up quite a bit floor space. Cut it in total darkness, though I keep a tiny Jobo Minilux safelight in my pocket which can be momentarily used if some kind of disorientation or misalignment issue occurs.
It's a lot less static-prone than Cibachrome was, so attracts dust less easily. It's also way more resistant to kink marks or accidental scratching. But more like Cibachrome, it's difficult to retouch, so try to print as dustlessly as you can. The starting CMY balance on colorheads is likely to be close to other Fuji Crystal Archive products you have used, and the processing regimen of time/temp will be the same. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have; but as you already intuitively recognize, not every image is suitable for a deep, almost 3d shiny surface, capable of holding as much sheer detail as if a giant piece of sheet film.
I wouldn't trust anything like that without testing first. It only glows awhile anyway. And I have to be extra careful if unexposed film is handled in the same room. But what I have successfully done with that kind of tape is take a regular 1/4 inch paper punch and make little dots of it to individually apply to things like light switches or potentially risky counter corners etc. I've never experienced fogging to either film or paper when using it in that tiny of a manner.
I'm going to reply based on what Fuji engineers involved in producing current paper produced in The Netherlands told me.what is the longevity and life expectancy of Fuji RA-4 papers? Does it have low fade like Kodaks papers did?
It should be added that commercial rolls of paper are in fact quite precisely and predictably coated in such a manner these days that specific laser parameters can be given as reliable starting points. BUT these differ from one laser exposure system to another. Therefore four different settings are prescribed realtive to four different predominant models of big commercial laser printers. Small roll only products, apt to be used in high-volume snapshot style printers, have their own different settings, for those kind of machines. But none of this is written in stone, because some of the above machines are no longer in production, and at some point will be incapable of being serviced.
So in that respect, and given the huge investment expense in replacing comercial laser printers, optical enlargement is far more dependable in the long run. Replacing a quality light bulb costs about fifteen dollars; replacing a high-end laser printer can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. And those require expensive periodic servicing too.
But colorhead models also differ from one another, and even with respect to what the CC increments on their dials or readout monitors exactly mean. But for someone starting out, in most cases you can simply begin with the old generic advice of trying
30 cc Y, 30cc M, and 00 C, and simply go from there. These newer papers are very close to the older ones in that respect. Of course, you still have to fine tune all that not only with respect to your own colorhead, but you own chemistry time/temp factor, and even each specific color negative. But all this is pretty damn simple with a bit of experience. It will, however, be interesting to see how some of these new LED light sources correspond to that.
As far as miracles go, all it takes is one pair or a particular style of sports shoe to be worn by a famous athlete for million of pairs of the same to be purchased by teenage wannabees. I don't know of any cut-sheet color printing superstars a big corporation is going to take note of. But still the analogy itself applies. If some major artist did their own darkroom printing and started promoting it, the value to overall paper sales might be enough for at least a token discussion at some higher level. But in brass tacks terms, rigging up a decent roll paper cutter isn't all that difficult. I can handle up to 40-inch wide rolls in my own setting.
So don't hold your breath. Just do what you need to do with existing options.
Do you have any information that Fujiflex is disappearing from the market.
Fuji's internal system
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