Fuji type R prints..bad news?

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Hi all...

I learned yesterday from the owner of a pro. lab that Fuji will stop making paper for type R print. The solution for him is going digital which he did recently... Anybody knows about this? if it's true is there any alternative?

(I saw a proof of digital print...well...it lacks the depth, the luminosity of the type R print... arghhhh...)

thanks for any info.

-- dan n. (dan@egmail.com), May 10, 2002

Answers

Dan,

the quality of a digital print, like the quality of a print made iwith an enlarger, will depend on the process and the operator. Some digital print processes are better than others (Lightjet and Durst Lamba are extrmely good and print on real photographic paper, for example0 and we all know about the variability of work produced by trained and skilled and artisans vs. that made by untrained & uncaring piece workers.

-- Ellis Vener Photography (ellis@ellisvener.com), May 10, 2002.


You're right Ellis... I'll wait till they sharpen their skills...I hope that will learn... :)

-- dan n. (dan@egmail.com), May 10, 2002.

It's worth checking this out a bit. Fuji type R is a standard used by most labs. I can't believe that Fuji would discontinue it, given the limited alternatives that exist.

It may be true, but I hope not. My lab has this paper and only Agfa as an alternative. Is it possible that the individual was referring to super-gloss, which probably doesn't get as much use and is a more difficult paper with which to print?

Remember when Type 55 was going to "disappear"?

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), May 10, 2002.


Dan,

Fuji has discontinued Chrome 35 at the beginning of this year and is selling their inventory now. As I have been told, the R-3 process will vanish, since all labs prefer only one process line. This is not bad news for those who use an external lab, since digital prints from slides on RA-4 paper are usually of good quality. But this is bad news for all who used to do their own processing. As far as I know, Kodak Radiance will be the only R-3 paper left for the next time and nobody knows how long. Even Ciba/Ilfochrome seems to be threatened by digital.

Regards,

-- Thilo Schmid (tschmid@2pix.de), May 13, 2002.


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