Which ra4 chemicals?

[sillo]

Here in NL, the Fuji catalog currently lists single bottles of starter as well AFAIK. It used to be packs of 6, but apparently they've let that go now and even the local distributor is breaking up those cartons to distribute single bottles.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this makes it over to NA, my current bottle is looking a little low

 

[BMbikerider]

Well there again I am part way through a kit of fuji CPRA developer and we too can buy the starter in 1 ltr bottles. However I am assured by one of the largest and respected commercial processors the FUJI CPRA starter is compatible with Champion RA4. Has anyone else heard of this. The public side of this processing company also sell the Champion starter which they have on their website and that is nominally sold as two bottles, but they will split the pair if that is what you want. Google agphotographic to see what they have

 

[Thornarello]

Champion is available in UK in individual 1 litre containers which make 10 litres of working developer and the same for blix. the only anomaly is the starter you have to buy 2 x 1 litre containers and that will last me, possibly for the rest of my life.

Ah, thanks for this information. I had only made a brief search and found the 6x1 litre packs. Now I've searched a little deeper and found the individual ones. Great, a bit more affordable.
The general consensus seems to be when stored well, these chemicals last a long time.
Like paper and film, is there any advantage to keeping them in the fridge?

 

[BMbikerider]

Ah, thanks for this information. I had only made a brief search and found the 6x1 litre packs. Now I've searched a little deeper and found the individual ones. Great, a bit more affordable.
The general consensus seems to be when stored well, these chemicals last a long time.
Like paper and film, is there any advantage to keeping them in the fridge?

I don't generally keep them in a fridge, but the 1 litre bottles that make up to 10 litres I will be splitting them into 6 parts. 1 part will be decanted off into a 500cc screw top brown bottle and the remaining 500cc will be split into 5 x 100cc screw top bottles. That way access to oxygen when standing unused will be very much limited. Each 100cc will make up to 1 litre of working solution which again can be split down into smaller convenient sizes.
I always now boil the water first which will drive off a lot of the absorbed oxygen, let it cool and then mix the concentrate to the required quantity..

 

[analogoasis]

Hi,
Is anyone here knows how long the Bellini RA4 kit last once oppened ? Sadly is has been stored in the original plastic Bellinis bottles and not in glass ones. It has been opened in october 2023. The storage of the lab is quite cold but I'm sure if I want to try them.
I will try to see of there's been a color shift in the developper but any idea ? I tried to check online but nothing on the manual neither on their website.

 

[koraks]

Welcome to Photrio @analogoasis
Sadly, there's no way to predict how well an opened RA4 developer will last. It depends on how it's been used, storage conditions, storage materials etc.

Just run a test strip through the developer and see if the results match with a print made with fresh developer. The blix should keep fairly well; I don't expect it to have gone bad if it was only opened in October last year.

 

[analogoasis]

Welcome to Photrio @analogoasis
Sadly, there's no way to predict how well an opened RA4 developer will last. It depends on how it's been used, storage conditions, storage materials etc.

Just run a test strip through the developer and see if the results match with a print made with fresh developer. The blix should keep fairly well; I don't expect it to have gone bad if it was only opened in October last year.

Thank you for your quick answer. I will try a mix with strips !
The right way to store RA4 is in glass and dark bootles right ?

 

[koraks]

The right way to store RA4 is in glass and dark bootles right ?

Glass is good, yes, and PET also works well for working strength developer. It's also wise to store the developer in the dark; either in a dark bottle, or a clear bottle in a dark place. I prefer the latter because it makes it easier to see the color of the contents for inspection. But dark bottles are OK, too. For the developer it's important to store it in an entirely full bottle with no air on top.

The blix doesn't care if there's some air in the bottle, so it's not important to keep the bottles entirely full. It also doesn't have to be stored in the dark, and it doesn't matter much what material bottle you use. If you store blix for a long time, it's a good idea to agitate it once in a while as it apparently lasts longer this way.

 

[Samu]

My present batch of MP90 developer I've had for well over a year. This is a mono-concentrate that I've kept either in the factory-original jugs. Whenever I open one of those, I decant into entirely full, glass bottles. Blix is a similar story but I decant that into HDPE bottles. Don't try to store this kind of developer in HDPE, because it'll dissolve! PET and glass work fine.

The MP90 monoconcentrate is not made anymore, I think. The present developer is CPRA, which is a two-part concentrate. I've only received mine so it's still in factory packaging, but intend to store it in a similar way as outlined above. I'll decant the concentrates into glass bottles and then mix up part of the developer concentrates in working strength replenisher, and keep that in glass or PET bottles.

I don´t know whether CPRA is the only developer Fuji Hunt makes today. At least Enviroprint MP160 is still widely available - at least herw in Lithuania. Of course, the quantities are quite large - 6 bottles for 10 liters of replenisher each. MP90 has been discontinued, I am aware of this. Also MP47 is available.

 

[halfaman]

I don't see any problem so far in Spain to find Enviroprint MP60 and MP108 which are also monocomponent. I am using the first one for quite some time.

 

[kamvachon]

Welcome back to color printing, and also welcome to Photrio!



I can't comment. Personally, I succumbed several years ago for FUJIFILM Minilab chemistry (CPRA is the current RA4 offering), which works out as the most economic option on a per-liter basis, and quality is of course consistent and excellent. The drawback is that their smallest kit is larger than what you'd typically get from a consumer-oriented brand, but the stuff keeps very well, so I never found this to be an issue. Other than this, I don't have the impression there are big differences in chemistry, especially not the developer, and I don't think you'll necessarily get much better results with one brand vs. another.



What's the total volume of your working stock of especially the developer?
I usually replenish after 1 or 2m2 and my working volume is 2.5l (Durst RCP20). This works well with the Fuji chemistry.

Hey Koraks! Reviving this thread. I want to buy Fuji chemicals and the photo lab in my city can order some for me. They gave me this sheet and asked me what I needed, but I wasn't sure. If you could tell me what you buy for RA4 that would be awesome!! Thank you!! Here's a photo of the sheet:

 

[koraks]

Ah, that's very kind of them, and for the blix, #22602 would probably be a good choice. However, for the developer, those quantities are kind of big for a home user. You could either ask them if they can give you a printout of the entire Fuji product list they can order, or alternatively contact Fuji and ask them for the product codes of the smallest developer replenisher quantity they can deliver. For the starter, you can use 22660 on that list, but you'll likely only need a bottle or two, not six.

 

[halfaman]

I haven't seen any Fuji professional RA4 presentation that makes less than 20 liters of working solution, and they were rare. So it is very probable that DIGITAL RA PRO Developer-Replenisher 2x20 liters is the smallest kit you can get. Or you convince your photo lab to split the quantity.

 

[koraks]

So it is very probable that DIGITAL RA PRO Developer-Replenisher 2x20 liters is the smallest kit you can get.

AFAIK this is correct; I've never seen CPRA in any smaller quantity than 2x20L. To be clear: this makes 2x20L working strength replenisher. The actual bottles are smaller.

From here; this is the 'pro lab' developer and this is what Fuji recommended to me and others for darkroom printing.

There is also minilab-oriented chemistry, for instance:

Note that these are all fairly big quantities, but a 6x10L pack can be split out and distributed across several users.

There's also chemistry aimed specifically at 'fast processing'; it's on page 2 of the pdf linked to above:

Personally I have used the MP90 developer above for several years for tray and roller transport processing.

The CPRA developer is a triple concentrate (A, B and C parts) much like Kodak Ektacolor. CPRA blix is a two-part concentrate; a bleach and a fix part.
The EnviroPrint developer is a monopart concentrate; it is a single bottle. Very convenient, and despite this, it keeps fine for a few years at least in the original packaging. EnviroPrint blix is also a monopart concentrate.

With these developer replenishers it's important to also get the starter to be able to mix the working strength developer. How much starter is needed depends on how much working strength developer needs to be made, and this in turn depends heavily on whether you'll run a replenished system or not. As seen above, the EnviroPrint General Developer Starter AC is the proper starter for both EnviroPrint and CPRA developers. A box contains 6 bottles of 1l each, but some distributors may sell single bottles.

The situation with blix is a little less confusing because for some reason, a fairly small quantity (e.g. 2x10L) of blix nearly always pops up on product lists. Whether it's CPRA, EnviroPrint etc. doesn't really matter. For blix, a starter is available but I've never used it and I don't think it's required at all in a typical home setup.

 

[halfaman]

For blix, a starter is available but I've never used it and I don't think it's required at all in a typical home setup.

Blix starter is only needed for monocomponent presentations (like MP215) to do a working solution (not replenisher). Not needed for two parts kits.

 

[koraks]

Blix starter is only needed for monocomponent presentations (like MP215) to do a working solution (not replenisher). Not needed for two parts kits.

I suspect it's not very necessary for a monopart blix either. I've never used a starter with the monopart blix I've been using for the last few years. Never noticed any functional difference between fresh tank mix or replenished blix from the same product.

 

[mshchem]

 

[mshchem]

I used to buy this stuff from Unique Photo, looks like they are not selling this stuff anymore, at least to the public. Next time I will probably use Freestyle see what they have.