It doesn't. That is to say, its contrast and color balance are similar to the other Crystal Archive papers. It essentially gives the same colors as CAII but with good blacks, so technically contrast is a little higher.
Yeah, I know, they list a couple of variants as available, at least they did last time I checked. It's probably old stock because I've been seeing the exact same stocking situation on their website for 3 years now.
I don’t mind CA colours for some images but the blacks and thickness are a major issue for me as you have noted.
DPII I understand has similar thickness to endura
Paper simply doesn’t have the range of the negative
Now that I've had some time to experiment on my own with alleged RA4 contrast reduction using sodium sulfite as per the linked Greg Davis video, let me briefly share the result. Right now, I'm printing on Fujiflex, which has the most contrast and color saturation of any of their lineup. 25ml of 1% sodium sulfite per liter of RA4 developer didn't do a damn thing. At double that amount, 50ml, it just barely lightened deep tones, but did mess up the highlights with serious magenta crossover. I don't think this is a realistic option for me.
I'll get to the peroxide contrast increase question later. But I'm skeptical about that too.
That's interesting; I would have expected it to be slightly thinner, just like Supreme. Then again, perhaps Maxima is also in the same ballpark as Endura? @DREW WILEY knows as he's got his roll of Maxima so perhaps he can comment on this.
Then Supreme might work for you. It solves these issues, at least it does for me.
Have you tried Fuji maxima?
Maxima sounds good according this https://www.rwongphoto.com/gallery/the-art-of-making-prints/
I would have expected it to be slightly thinner, just like Supreme
No, but here's a very useful example posted kindly by @brbo : https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/matte-colour-paper.191738/post-2563287
Yeah, for somewhat more subtle looks, Supreme is great. And of course good lighting control when making the photo...
as long as the blacks are decent
They are; they're not quite as deep as on Endura, but you can pretty much only tell this by evaluating transmissive density. I.e., it only shows under conditions that aren't really relevant for a print anyway.
Btw, my experience is that even Endura's blacks break down if viewed under extremely bright light. If you want real blacks, RA4 just doesn't touch actual B&W.
That looks nice, nut there's no way I can tell anything about the dmax of the paper through a digital representation.
I haven't been able to obtain any Maxima yet to test.
I haven't been able to obtain any Maxima yet to test. Fuji states that a special developer of theirs is needed for the richest DMax on Maxima. From the tech sheet it seems to be an emulsion very similar to Fujiflex, but on ordinary RC paper instead. Fujiflex itself has superb DMax in regular RA4 as well as expanded hue gamut. Truly a deluxe product. But it's true high gloss isn't suitable for every image, is higher contrast than regular papers, and it only comes on big expensive rolls. I'll be printing on Fujiflex most of this summer. Darkroom contrast control is best done via supplemental unsharp masking. But this extra masking step has not been routinely necessary.
Right now I'm printing contact internegatives made from older 8X10 and 4X5 chromes. That is a lot of work up front, including masking. But the result is wonderful.
I've also recently made a number of direct enlargements from Ektar, mostly 6x9 format, but overall, everything from 35mm to 8x10 film size. None of this resembles a stereotypical color neg look. The hues are exceptionally clean and well differentiated, and the contrast is snappy. But to achieve that, there is a lot more to the learning curve than just buying an appropriate paper. Still, I'd encourage people to experiment with RA4 printing, especially now that the issue of covid shortages in paper selection seem to be starting to improve.
Kodak has nothing comparable to Fujiflex. Keep in mind that it's coated on heavy polyester sheet, not on any kind of paper. So it's going to be a lot more expensive than RC paper. The smallest size it comes is a 30 inch wide roll. The only thing comparable in look (though not in procedure) is past Cibachrome. This is true high gloss - nobody is going to mistake it for any kind of "gloss" RC paper or inkjet medium. It is capable of holding just as much detail as a piece of film. It's made in Japan.
I don't know what DPii is being marketed as in the US; perhaps it's the same as "CN" Crystal Archive.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?