Hello. I am planning to buy color metallic paper for manual enlarging. There are two metallic papers available - Kodak Endura Metallic and Fujifilm CA DPII Pearl. Which i should buy (More vivid colors, deeper blacks, higher gloss…)? Thank you.
Metallic paper RA4
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Endura metallic is no longer manufactured?
Uhm, which is it...CA, DPII or Pearl? They're 3 different products!
CA is Fuji's regular paper. It comes also in gloss finish, which is likely not what you want/mean. https://www.originalphotopaper.com/en/product/photographic-paper/ca/
DPII is slightly heavier/thicker than CA and otherwise AFAIK quite similar. When mounted, I'd be willing to bet a nice bottle of wine that virtually nobody can distinguish prints on CA and DPII from each other...
Pearl is a paper with "embedded pearl-like particles which create a distinctive iridescent appearance with a thick base and high stiffness": https://www.originalphotopaper.com/en/product/photographic-paper/pearl/ Its official name is "Fujicolor Crystal Archive Digital Pearl Paper".
Be cautious when ordering; I'd recommend contacting (online) stores that list papers with a conflation of different product types before ordering. Before you know it, you end up with something like DPII paper in lustre finish (which is referred to as 'pearl' finish by some!)
Yeah, same here. Or rather - if you end up buying a box of 2 rolls e.g. in 30cm/12" width (it generally comes in 2-roll boxes at this width), I'd be happy to split the costs and get one roll.
I'm pretty certain that Endura Metallic doesn't come in double roll packaging. And I've bought single (non-Metalic) Endura rolls from AG Photographic before, so even if it comes in 2 roll boxes they are apparently willing to split them.
Also, Fuji's more expensive paper (like Maxima...) comes in single roll packaging.
Also, Fuji's more expensive paper (like Maxima...) comes in single roll packaging.
They label it as Fuji Crystal Archive DPII Pearl
I e-mailed local retailer about Kodak Metallic availability, because on on-line store they just have Fuji pearl in stock.
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That has little to do with the price level but with roll size. Fuji's cheap papers in larger rolls also come in single roll boxes. It's the roll width that's the determinant. Pretty sure the same applies to Kodak. I don't think Kodak metallic comes as small as 30cm/12".
Yes, you are most probably right about roll width being the decider whether it comes in two or one roll boxes.
Though, Endura Metallic does exist in 12" width and you can order it at AG Photographic as a single roll (but that might not be a norm at other resellers). Fuji Archive Pearl is two roll order minimum at the same store for 12".
Though, Endura Metallic does exist in 12" width and you can order it at AG Photographic as a single roll (but that might not be a norm at other resellers). Fuji Archive Pearl is two roll order minimum at the same store for 12".
Yeah, one could try it. Most Endura papers have been out of stock at this shop for...oh, well over 18 months by now. I check from time to time as they are a potential source, but so far I haven't risked it. It seems they mostly have 30" Endura (non-metallic) Lustre in stock. Probably the same one or two rolls they've had lying around for 2 years now as this is pretty much the only Kodak paper they 'always' seem to have on stock.
And what about this paper with glossy surface? Is it worth the extra money? I dont know any lab which uses this paper.
Online shop says "in stock" for Metallic 12", with every other Kodak paper, except 30" Endura Premier, "out of stock". I don't want to bother them with questions about true availability since I definitely don't want to buy the entire roll. But if there were more people interested and not afraid of dealing with splitting the roll...
So far I've only printed on lustre Maxima, but I'm expecting delivery of Maxima in glossy finish any day now
Maxima is even a bit higher contrast than Endura. Very deep blacks and snow white whites. Endura's whites always come with a slight tint for me (if I don't use acetic stop bath it's even a bit more pronounced). Unnoticeable unless directly compared to Fuji papers, but it's there.
MattKing
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If you have ever been tasked with picking up and loading one of the bigger rolls of colour photographic paper into a machine printer, you will know why they don't put two of them in a single box!
I read complaints about Fujiflex having an extremely reflective surface to the point it is really difficult to display it correctly without a matte laminate.
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I can't even order Maxima here. I do have another big roll of real-deal Fujiflex Supergloss on order, but it might take awhile till it arrives. I planned for that delay. But yes, Fujiflex just like Cibachrome is difficult to mount and display in large sizes, so I only mount and frame these prints on demand. It's expensive to do correctly, but I'm well equipped to do that. It's a "wow" medium for certain images, but not suitable for all. Way more expensive than any of the other options. But it's coated on polyester base, and not an RC paper, so holds detail better than any other present color medium, and has better DMax and gamut scope than other chromogenic products. Probably more permanent too than any other chromogenic medium. And nobody is going to confuse this with any kind of inkjet print. These stand out. "Metallic" papers are unrelated.
From the technical data, it appears that Maxima is the same emulsion, but on RC paper instead. But I have no way of testing for that yet. I suspect Fuji is insulating certain labs here, and selling the Maxima product to them only, in order to sell them their recommended specialty tweak of RA4 too, and in large volumes, different from that used in other RA papers, even Fuji. Then there's that "digital-printing only" BS, including with Fujiflex, which is a complete ruse. Optical enlarging, at least in my case, works even better. But maybe they just don't want the headache of low-volume users. Dunno. Fuji can be rather inscrutable at times.
But a Matte laminate atop Fujiflex, Halfaman, makes about as much sense as ordering an ice cream cone and asking them to boil it for you. Ruins the whole concept. If someone wants a matte print, just use matte RC paper to begin with at 1/50th the price!
From the technical data, it appears that Maxima is the same emulsion, but on RC paper instead. But I have no way of testing for that yet. I suspect Fuji is insulating certain labs here, and selling the Maxima product to them only, in order to sell them their recommended specialty tweak of RA4 too, and in large volumes, different from that used in other RA papers, even Fuji. Then there's that "digital-printing only" BS, including with Fujiflex, which is a complete ruse. Optical enlarging, at least in my case, works even better. But maybe they just don't want the headache of low-volume users. Dunno. Fuji can be rather inscrutable at times.
But a Matte laminate atop Fujiflex, Halfaman, makes about as much sense as ordering an ice cream cone and asking them to boil it for you. Ruins the whole concept. If someone wants a matte print, just use matte RC paper to begin with at 1/50th the price!
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That has been my conclusion for a while, yes. Well, not that optical enlarging works even better because I never did the side-by-side comparison and only witnessed that optical enlargement works just fine with these 'digital' papers. But it's very clear to me that low-volume users are either a pain in the neck to Fuji, or (more likely) just a phenomenon they ignore. Which is a pity, really. It would be absolutely grand to have access to papers like Maxima.
Just what I read in a professional forum, one person from a gallery was struggling with Fujiflex prints when preparing some sort of enhibition and the matte laminate was the recomendation.
So careful mounting, placing and lighting would be the receipe? I struggle myself with standard DPII glossy in my own house with some viewing angles or distances, I would probaly change them in the future to matte even they loose some "pop". On the other side, my girl tells me that I am a crazy jerk and everything is fine with the prints...
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Your guy Hans can get you Maxima, no problem
The Shop, where I just bought DPII from, has Maxima. It is in their longer delivery bracket, i.e. 4-6 work days instead of 1-3. But a lot of Products are. Usually that means they don't stock it and rather order on demand. Problematic products, like consumer colour films and some colour paper rolls, have a note regarding availability.
The reason I didn't consider it, apart from price, is that Maxima isn't available in 30.5cm (12") rolls. I make hobby pictures, not huge prints. On the Fuji website it says 50cm and up. That shop is offering 40cm as the smallest roll. I guess you'd want the 127cm roll for nearly €300 (excl. tax).
That is the first time I hear of a tweak. In their documents Fuji says: 'Combining this paper with Fujifilm chemicals results in many advantages including, greater processing stability, reduced contamination hazards, greater ease in solution preparation and higher print quality'. But that sounds like 'we recommend original Acme products for best results'.
Regarding the 'digital' printing. I'm wondering if it means that they will simply not consider parameters important for optical printing in the design. Apparently the paper works now, but say they need to adjust the emulsion in order to substitute a discontinued component and suddenly there a reciprocity problem, which won't affect exposure times used in a Lambda. They probably wouldn't even notice because they are not testing for this. Well, they may well test it and become aware, but not care.[/QUOTE]
There won't be many commercial users, who still do optical enlargement. Not worth the effort beyond still supporting them with the basic crystal archive. Otherwise it's consumers, and Fuji will only do B2B. Dealing with consumers has legal impact, because of consumer rights. Let alone the nightmare of support on the consumer level.
Not that I wouldn't appreciate it! For example Tetenal selling their whole portfolio to everyone in their webshop and providing all technical information for download along with it.
He does? It's not listed on his new website. And last time I emailed with him he seemed a little less forthcomingYour guy Hans can get you Maxima, no problem
Yes. I'm expecting my roll any day now. It took him a while to get the availability and price info and he did "forget" about me in the process, but after a gentle reminder everything played out quite fast, less than 3 weeks from my order to dispatch.
I have the same problem with Maxima. I would love to try Maxima but I mostly use 20cm roll and it is not possible for me to cut paper wider than 30,5cm. Fujiflex is extremely expensive and also came in big rolls only. I would propably order Fuji Pearl as I love Fuji papers colors and their superb white base (Whiter than Endura)
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