Fujicolor Crystal Archive HD Paper

Does anyone have experience?I'd like to buy roll paper but all kinds of CA paper archive not available,except HD paper.I've never tried HD so any suggestion could be offered?Comparing with Kodak Royal paper,what is its positive and negative?If it's suitable for landscape or architecture printing or not?No sample I can get because nobody slicings it.So do Royal paper.

Yes, I've printed a lot on this paper. It's fine; not the best though. DPII and Maxima are noticeably better, but Maxima is often difficult to get. and only comes in rolls lager than 16". DPII is a common paper and also available in narrower rolls.

Crystal Archive Supreme HD Digital (as it's called in full) is comparable to the old Kodak Royal paper (no longer manufactured, at least not by Kodak/Carestream). The color balance is a little different, but thickness and image quality are comparable.

The Crystal Archive papers (plain, Supreme, Supreme HD Digital) have lower saturation and dmax than the higher end DPII and Maxima papers. If your prints have large areas of black and you view your prints in strong light, you will see that the black on this paper is slightly mottled and not quite black. This is due to the thickness of the emulsion and the surface irregularities of the paper base (made by Schoeller). The blacks on DPII and Maxima are deeper and saturation is noticeably higher.

For more muted/lower saturation prints, the cheaper Crystal Archive papers are a valid option. For higher saturation and more 'punch', use DPII or Maxima.

All Fuji papers work fine for color negative printing in the darkroom, although they are all optimized for digital exposure exclusively (even if 'digital' is not part of the product name). Ignore parts in the datasheet that mention "optical printing"; this is carry-over from old days.

koraks said:

Yes, I've printed a lot on this paper. It's fine; not the best though. DPII and Maxima are noticeably better, but Maxima is often difficult to get. and only comes in rolls lager than 16". DPII is a common paper and also available in narrower rolls.

Crystal Archive Supreme HD Digital (as it's called in full) is comparable to the old Kodak Royal paper (no longer manufactured, at least not by Kodak/Carestream). The color balance is a little different, but thickness and image quality are comparable.

The Crystal Archive papers (plain, Supreme, Supreme HD Digital) have lower saturation and dmax than the higher end DPII and Maxima papers. If your prints have large areas of black and you view your prints in strong light, you will see that the black on this paper is slightly mottled and not quite black. This is due to the thickness of the emulsion and the surface irregularities of the paper base (made by Schoeller). The blacks on DPII and Maxima are deeper and saturation is noticeably higher.

For more muted/lower saturation prints, the cheaper Crystal Archive papers are a valid option. For higher saturation and more 'punch', use DPII or Maxima.

All Fuji papers work fine for color negative printing in the darkroom, although they are all optimized for digital exposure exclusively (even if 'digital' is not part of the product name). Ignore parts in the datasheet that mention "optical printing"; this is carry-over from old days.

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Thanks for your answer.I'll buy and try it.However,no 'Supreme HD Digital' was printed on the case,I only saw 'Crystal Archive HD' and are they the same paper?Maybe Supreme HD Digital is only available in Europe?Supreme and HD are two different series on website of Fujifilm US.What about Fujifilm CN?Only one Crystal Archive paper is showed,which with no suffix,just Crystal Archive.So I can't get any information or data from Fujifilm CN.This situation confuses me a lot.

Nowadays,getting fresh and suitable paper is one of the mean challenges.Endura has died and new Premier is not what it was.And Fuji's products are always very rare.I also have some special choices,paper only sold in China like Fuji 80,Fuji 90 and 90II.I think I'll also buy some and test.These kinds of paper are all from Yes Star Company,what a strange name.But their emulsion is produced by Fujifilm,that makes me feel well.

Yes, it's confusing and I'm afraid Fuji themselves aren't helping, either.

This is the most recent EU-manufactured product list I have:

MsLing said:

Supreme and HD are two different series on website of Fujifilm US.

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Ignore the US website. It's a mess when it comes to paper names. Specifically the US branch seems to list papers that no longer exist and they have renamed papers that are manufactured and sold elsewhere under a different name. This greatly adds to the confusion.

The image above is from a sampler kit I got from the people who manufacture the paper. It's as close to the source as you can get. It's also fairly recent, although everything in this product range is subject to change.

MsLing said:

I can't get any information or data from Fujifilm CN.

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That's a pity; I fear that Fuji has so far virtually ignored the Chinese market. I hope/expect this will change in the future.
In the meantime, your best bet is to go to https://www.originalphotopaper.com/en/ and fill out the contact form, asking where you can obtain the paper(s) of your choice. They should forward your question to the local Chinese branch and hopefully they will respond.

MsLing said:

However,no 'Supreme HD Digital' was printed on the case,I only saw 'Crystal Archive HD' and are they the same paper?

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My apologies; refer to the image above for the correct name. This should match what you see on boxes of recent production paper. Older boxes may contain other names. Also, the back print on the paper may not exactly match the printing on the box/label. Another source you can refer to (at least for time being) is the list on the Original Photo Paper website: https://www.originalphotopaper.com/en/products/photographic-papers/
This also contains the datasheets of these papers.

The name I gave you is based on some paper I purchased about 2 years ago, which has the following back print:




The datasheet of "Supreme HD" paper matches this back print, so I think we can safely assume it's the same paper; they just changed the name under which it is being sold/retailed. This is from the datasheet:

As you can see, this matches the paper I've used. It works fine, within the limitations I indicated earlier.

MsLing said:

Only one Crystal Archive paper is showed,which with no suffix,just Crystal Archive.

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That is the entry-level Crystal Archive; see the product list in the first image above. It has the most mottling in the blacks, lowest dmax and lowest saturation. For some subjects such as high-key portraits it can be a quite good paper.

Note that archival stability is better as you go down in the list of papers (ignoring the Album papers). So plain Crystal Archive has the worst keeping properties of the lot (still far better than Lucky paper, however) while Maxima has the best archival stability.

The differences in the papers is the thickness of the image-forming layers, thickness of intermediate layers and the thickness of the top protective layer. This affects dmax, saturation/gamut and archival properties. Part of the explanation I published earlier here: https://tinker.koraks.nl/photograph...importance-of-interlayers-in-ra4-color-paper/

MsLing said:

Fuji 80,Fuji 90 and 90II

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I'm not familiar with these. These are either Japanese-production papers (although I think they only produce a small amount for the Japanese market, under a different name) or (more likely) the European papers sold under a different name for marketing purposes. Refer to the datasheet to see how they match with the internationally-known papers, or see if you can get some information from Fuji representatives on the true identity of these papers.

MsLing said:

But their emulsion is produced by Fujifilm

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Either the paper is made by Fujifilm in its entirety, or it isn't. I don't think Fujifilm sells emulsion to 3rd parties for coating elsewhere, nor do I believe they have the technical capability of doing so even if they wanted to. The company should be able to tell you what actual paper it is.
Note that there are several companies out there that purchase Fuji papers and sell under their own name. Sometimes Fuji even produces these under the brand name the customer requires. Up to recently, Tura in Europe was one example.

koraks said:

This is the most recent EU-manufactured product list I have

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Thanks,it helps a lot.

koraks said:

They should forward your question to the local Chinese branch and hopefully they will respond

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I'm going to send my question.

koraks said:

Either the paper is made by Fujifilm in its entirety, or it isn't. I don't think Fujifilm sells emulsion to 3rd parties for coating elsewhere, nor do I believe they have the technical capability of doing so even if they wanted to. The company should be able to tell you what actual paper it is.

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I asked them and they told me these products were surely made by Fujifilm US.They only re-pack it and sold.But they told me these are special products only available in China,and were made of special formula.No way I can confirm their information.So asking Fuji is necessary.

MsLing said:

I asked them and they told me these products were surely made by Fujifilm US.

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In this case, it's old production since the US plant shut down in September 2022. Do not purchase this paper if it really was made in the US, since it will not be usable for much longer anymore.

The European plant does not manufacture any papers specific for a particular continent/region. They're all the same. I don't know how the US did it, but I doubt they made anything that was specialized for the Chinese market. It is possible/likely they sold their regular paper under a different name to China.

koraks said:

In this case, it's old production since the US plant shut down in September 2022. Do not purchase this paper if it really was made in the US, since it will not be usable for much longer anymore.

The European plant does not manufacture any papers specific for a particular continent/region. They're all the same. I don't know how the US did it, but I doubt they made anything that was specialized for the Chinese market. It is possible/likely they sold their regular paper under a different name to China.

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Oops,that must be abnormal.A new product would not come out from a closed assembly line.

By the way,there's something wrong with me or Fuji's website.When I click the send button,the website showed 'There was an error trying to send your message. Please try again later.'I will try again later.

Disappointingly,I can't send the form.Some barriers prevent me from getting truth.Making a phone call may be the only way for me to connect with them.

There is a tremendous amount of that CA Supreme "Digital Premium" being used here on the US West Coast as a successful replacement for Kodak Radiance in automated printers. They don't seem to be having any problems with it at all, even with older optical printers. It's also being distributed out of Texas in high volume. But the roll widths are limited in size. It's basically a snapshot product designed for very short exposure times. "HD" probably stands for the High Definition version of it.

DREW WILEY said:

HD" probably stands for the High Definition version of it.

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I just asked Yestar the question and now keep waiting for answer.

To buy real CA paper,buying from the UK and costing an arm and a leg in customs is a possible way.Maybe I also have to pay a lot for shipping,as case of roll paper a ponderous commodity.

Fuji papers sold in China are Type 80 and Type 90II, and I think their quality is equivalent to Type CA and Type II. HD-X also has a small supply of larger formats.

China's Fuji paper agent Yestar sold Superme this year, but after inquiry, he had a very expensive price of RMB35/m² (~4.8USD/m²), and only provided 5R/6R sizes.
ENDURA, DPII and Maxima are not available in China. Buying professional paper from the United States and shipping it to China is currently the only way. Uniquephoto currently provides various sizes of ENDURA at a very cheap price, 10" x 288' only costs $45.71.

LomoSnap said:

Fuji papers sold in China are Type 80 and Type 90II, and I think their quality is equivalent to Type CA and Type II.

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Thanks for confirming the Type80/90II product types. The "Type II" designator does not directly match any paper currently in production, but I've heard that the Type II currently sold in the US is in fact DPII. It's quite possible that the "Type 90II" sold in China is "DPII" and would be the 'premium' paper available there. The Type 80 would then be any of the entry-level Crystal Archive papers.

LomoSnap said:

Uniquephoto currently provides various sizes of ENDURA

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Keep in mind this is expired paper. This probably explains why they're dumping it at a low price; they may have purchased it cheaply during the collapse of the Carestream/SinoPromise relationship.

LomoSnap said:

Fuji papers sold in China are Type 80 and Type 90II, and I think their quality is equivalent to Type CA and Type II. HD-X also has a small supply of larger formats.

China's Fuji paper agent Yestar sold Superme this year, but after inquiry, he had a very expensive price of RMB35/m² (~4.8USD/m²), and only provided 5R/6R sizes.
ENDURA, DPII and Maxima are not available in China. Buying professional paper from the United States and shipping it to China is currently the only way. Uniquephoto currently provides various sizes of ENDURA at a very cheap price, 10" x 288' only costs $45.71.

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Thank you!That's Great!I'm gonna to try 80 and 90II.Could you please tell me where I can get Supreme?

koraks said:

"Type 90II" sold in China is "DPII" and would be the 'premium' paper available there.

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90II is much cheaper than DPII so I cannot believe that it's DPII.90II is about USD 3/㎡Anyway,I will also buy and try.

MsLing said:

90II is much cheaper than DPII

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I agree that $3/m2 for DPII would be quite low for a retail/end user price point at low volume. That makes it an unlikely candidate. Well spotted.

koraks said:

Thanks for confirming the Type80/90II product types. The "Type II" designator does not directly match any paper currently in production, but I've heard that the Type II currently sold in the US is in fact DPII. It's quite possible that the "Type 90II" sold in China is "DPII" and would be the 'premium' paper available there. The Type 80 would then be any of the entry-level Crystal Archive papers.



Keep in mind this is expired paper. This probably explains why they're dumping it at a low price; they may have purchased it cheaply during the collapse of the Carestream/SinoPromise relationship.

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I think 90II is not DPII. I have used it and its saturation and contrast can only be said to be average (even lower than the level of KODAK Premier Digital).

MsLing said:

Thank you!That's Great!I'm gonna to try 80 and 90II.Could you please tell me where I can get Supreme?

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No problem. I sent you a private message, and then I pushed you the contact information of the seller.

LomoSnap said:

I think 90II is not DPII. I have used it and its saturation and contrast can only be said to be average (even lower than the level of KODAK Premier Digital).

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Thanks; that's further confirmation it really cannot be DPII.

In the meantime, @MsLing and I have sent some questions to Fuji for clarification about this. It's quite uncertain we'll receive a clear response, but at least we tried.

It would sure be nice and less confusing if they standardized their paper marketing designations internationally. I still don't know what "DPII" corresponds to here in the US, if anything. There are two new "digital" lines of premium Pro quality Fuji papers now readily available in a full range of sizes clear up to 50 inch roll width, both in matte and gloss surfaces. The one I'll probably end up trying is Super Type CN (Commercial, new style), an evident replacement for former Super C, which I had excellent results with. Then there's PDN, seemingly intended as a replacement for former Type P, with a little softer contrast targeted to the Portrait trade. The roll pricing for both is quite reasonable.

These two new product lines, along with Maxima and the II version of Fujiflex I'm currently using, all claim to have an enhanced resistance to pre-exposure yellowing.

Among their snapshot papers instead, they claim that "HD" paper has better fingerprint resistance and handling qualities than regular Supreme.

Hey!I'm back again.Today I did an enquiry of buying Crystal Archive Supreme.But to my surprise,the merchant refused selling me Supreme with a uncommon but rational reason,that he thought that one box,two rolls must be too much for me.


Life is filled with unsatisfactory,haha(￣.￣)

Searching for another one who sells Supreme is my next step,or I could only use Types 90II in lots of my printings.

MsLing said:

he thought that one box,two rolls must be too much for me.

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Oh, haha, well, kind of them, I guess!? What did they say when you responded "I'm fine with 2 rolls, how soon can you ship them?"

Well,just refused.No matter what I said,he didn't sell 2 rolls to me.

Wow, that's odd. Well, I hope you find a seller who wants to actually...sell.

I hope so.