The new Fuji paper - it sucks.

[keytarjunkie]

Is anyone else making C-prints with Fuji paper? Back in december they said they were going to raise prices because the cost of supplies was rising...and in january they released an entirely new lineup of C-print paper, for less money than before. Well, I've been using the "old" stuff for about a year, and the new paper is awful.

The box it comes in is crappy and never closes all the way, it kind of sits open. I keep thinking my paper is going to get exposed.

The bag that the paper sits inside is thinner than a trash bag, no comparison to the older silver/black bags that the paper used to come in.

There is no more cardboard? Mine didn't have one. The cardboard helps with lightleaks and keeps the paper flat.

And now onto the paper...wow, where to start. I haven't noticed a significant loss in sharpness, but I haven't really done any tests for that. The new paper is ridiculously thin, and dents much easier than the older paper. The quality of the paper just feels crappy when you hold it in your hand.


In case you couldn't tell, I'm very unimpressed. If I had to make a guess, I'd say Fuji is getting out of the C-print paper business, which is very sad. First they discontinue Pro 160s in 4x5 sheets, and now this...maybe I'll be shooting digital again pretty soon. 🙁

 

[sepiareverb]

The C-print is dying.

 

[sevo]

The C-print is dying.

However the paper is the same as that used for the bulk of digital printing - if Fuji get too bad at packaging sheets, somebody else will step in and start cutting down Fuji rolls.

 

[rxmd]

The C-print is dying.

Is it?

RA4 is still much more suitable for mass processing than inkjet prints. I don't see corner minilabs cranking out inkjet prints for a long time.

 

[MartinP]

However the paper is the same as that used for the bulk of digital printing - if Fuji get too bad at packaging sheets, somebody else will step in and start cutting down Fuji rolls.

The digital RA4 printers use a different light-source to the halogen bulbs in most colour diffusion-heads. The newest papers are balanced for those newest light-sources and not for use with hand enlargers, so the process is the same but the colour balance isn't.

In Europe, it is possible to get Kodak and Fuji roll papers pre-cut, and boxed, by third-party companies and this is what I'm trying to use at the moment.

 

[sepiareverb]

I meant as an artistic medium.

 

[rxmd]

I meant as an artistic medium.

But's more a problem of artists moving to other media for whatever reason, than one of C-prints becoming unavailable.

 

[sepiareverb]

Well the materials are going away fast for non-minilab users which I why I stopped wet printing color. Eliminating Endura sheets (in the US) after a year of erratic supply was enough to send me away. Balancing all the remaining papers for digital printing doesn't help those willing (and with the space) to cut down rolls of paper.

I'm not complaining. My prints are better than ever on the Epson.