photographic printing papers in 2015

[allenying]

hi,
as far as i can tell the last discussion about papers for darkroom printing color was in 2012.

i'm looking to get back to darkroom printing, and was trying to find out what's available now...

when i called fuji, they explained their type ii paper is for optical exposure, and their super c and pd papers are for digital exposure.

it's nearly impossible to get information from kodak about their color photographic papers,
but i guess endura premier is for both optical and digital digital, and only available in roll form.
is anyone buying cut sheets of it on ebay or elsewhere?
adorama seems to still use it for their digital printing service.

i was hoping to print on kodak since i'm using kodak color negative films, but maybe that's not really relevant anymore?

i'm curious if anyone has any preferences between the fuji vs kodak paper's current lines, since it seems like there were different lines available in 2012 and before.

did people really have problems with printing kodak film on fuji paper?
is it pointless to have a preference these days?

thanks!

 

[mklw1954]

I've made some great prints using Fuji Crystal Archive Type II paper with Kodak film negatives. I've printed from 120 Ektar 100 and Portra 160 negatives.

I would avoid old stocks of Kodak color paper, or any old paper for that matter. I got some Kodak Endura and Portra paper with a couple of enlarger deals and it was impossible to get good, consistent results so I threw it all out. I also tried fresh Photo Warehouse color paper and it was nowhere near as good as Fuji.

 

[allenying]

cool,
it's such a shame how much things have changed due to digital photography, i don't know how anyone wonders why some people don't like digital.
i tend to prefer to stick with kodak and american companies or manufacturing, but i guess we don't have the luxury of being picky anymore.

if anyone has used kodak's current endura premiere, i'd be curiuos to hear bout it.

thanks,

 

[MattKing]

cool,
it's such a shame how much things have changed due to digital photography, i don't know how anyone wonders why some people don't like digital.
i tend to prefer to stick with kodak and american companies or manufacturing, but i guess we don't have the luxury of being picky anymore.

if anyone has used kodak's current endura premiere, i'd be curiuos to hear bout it.

thanks,

Kodak colour paper production is now completely in the hands of Kodak Alaris, who are owned by the pension plan for the UK Kodak employees and pensioners.

Production occurs at Kodak Harrow in the UK, and possibly at factories formerly owned by Eastman Kodak in Colorado and, possibly, China.

 

[RPC]

I have printed Kodak and other film types on Fuji CA II paper with excellent results. I used Kodak papers for many years and actually prefer the Fuji.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I can't think of any Kodak color neg film that wouldn't print superbly on Fuji paper, which can still be obtained cut sheet up to 20x24. I print
Porta and Ektar films everything from 35mm to 8x10 originals onto Fuji CAII papers up to 40 inches wide. Like everything else in the darkroom, the results depend on experience and proper use of equipment, and keeping your chem fresh and at the proper temperature. Otherwise, printing color negs is fairly easy once you've calibrated your paper batch. Take care of your lungs and maintain good ventilation.
The notion that doing color printing in the darkroom is somehow backwards is one of those myths perpetrated by the consumer electronics
industry. You can not only do it cost-effectively, but end up with wonderful prints that hold subtle tonality and detail better than digital prints.

 

[allenying]

awesome, sounds great, i'm looking forward to it!

 

[mnemosyne]

I don't know where you are located, I can only speak for Europe, the situation in the country where you reside might differ. Kodak Endura Premier is available in sheets up to 12"x16" in Europe through phototec.de in F (glossy) and N (matt) surface. Phototec cut down the rolls for their customers. It is a very good paper and I can only recommend to give it a try. Of course you pay a premium for the cut sheets, the price per square feet/metre is 2 or 3 times of what you would pay when you cut your own sheets from rolls ... The nice thing about RA4 paper is that it is quite affordable, a good deal cheaper than b&w paper, and the chemistry is reasonably priced too if you go for the bigger kits, and even S/H tabletop roller transport processors are affordable nowadays, so RA4 color printing it is actually not expensive at all. And I second what Drew has said, make sure you have proper ventilation in your darkroom when using RA4!