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Old 12th August 2019, 08:05 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Colour Paper

I'm not sure if this should be in this section or another so if it is wrong can the moderators please move it.

Anyway one of the companies I use to supply my photo essentials Morco Lt in Nottingham, has got this on their website:-

Champion Eurolight RA4 Colour Paper

I have never come across it before, has anyone else? It is only available in rolls up to 16" wide, but that is not a problem for me as I have a home made dispenser. I was just wondering if anyone has had experience of using it. They also sell Fuji in rolls and cut sheets but they work out more than the rolls per sheet when they are cut.

I know Champion make a generic RA4 developer supplied to minilabs, so is this an extension of their colour processing business?
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Old 12th August 2019, 08:30 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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John.,I had a quick look at Morco and it seems to have 2 rolls of most sizes from 5" to 12" but 4 rolls in 4" I couldn't see a 16" roll listed. Perhaps that size has now been sold?

If my maths are correct then in the 5" size you get just over 10 boxes of 5x7 inch at £9.60 per box which is an amazing price. I wonder how many years you need to go back to be able to buy a 100 sheet box of 5x7 RA4 paper for under a tenner?

It may be going quickly and at the those prices I am not surprised

Mike
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Old 12th August 2019, 08:51 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Oooops

Sorry Mike. My mistake the widest roll was 12" not 16". As I use 12" cut down I may just buy one although I have 75% of a roll of Kodak RA4 left. It should remain in good condition if I don't open it until I need it.
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Old 13th August 2019, 04:03 PM
John King John King is offline
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I spoke to the Manager of MORCO this morning and indeed it is re-branded Fuji paper, but exactly what type I have no idea.
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Old 13th August 2019, 10:57 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John King View Post
I spoke to the Manager of MORCO this morning and indeed it is re-branded Fuji paper, but exactly what type I have no idea.
Even if it pre-dates Fuji's latest paper then it should still be OK. I was using Fuji paper exclusively when I started colour printing and that must be about 2005/6 so whatever I was using no doubts pre-dates Fuji's current stuff and the colour looked pretty good to me

I suppose that if it is an earlier Fuji paper then the only possible concern might be its age but no doubt it was stored correctly by Fuji.

Just maybe not stuff to store for a long time before using

Mike
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Old 27th October 2019, 10:22 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Colour printing paper

I spoke to the manager/owner on Friday and asked about this paper. I was told it is new paper, not re-boxed/ branded and they sell a lot. I still prefer Kodak though.

Even using the Kodak paper at AG's prices of £105 per 88m roll will give me the equivalent of 214 full sheets, (Not including test strips) makes it about 49p per sheet. A lot cheaper than B&W

Compared to AG's Fuji paper prices, (boxed) that is still miles cheaper. If you buy the cheaper paper labelled Champion from MORCO, then the price plummets to just over 25pps (Minimum order 2 rolls though)

Last edited by John King; 27th October 2019 at 10:36 PM.
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Old 27th October 2019, 11:55 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John King View Post
I spoke to the manager/owner on Friday and asked about this paper. I was told it is new paper, not re-boxed/ branded and they sell a lot. A lot cheaper than B&W

Compared to AG's Fuji paper prices, (boxed) that is still miles cheaper. If you buy the cheaper paper labelled Champion from MORCO, then the price plummets to just over 25pps (Minimum order 2 rolls though)
I wonder if it is really or stuff made by Champion or stuff made by either Kodak or Fuji to a Champion spec which somehow results in cheaper paper. Logically if it is cheaper then it lacks something compared to Kodak or Fuji but if it is selling well then whatever it is that it lacks it would seem to be nothing that the buyers care about

Unless Champion have invested heavily in expertise, plant, equipment and labour I am at a loss to know how it can be its paper. If it isn't made by Fuji or Kodak who else is there?

On the point of price we seem to have turned full circle. It doesn't seem that long ago that b&w paper was cheaper but the trend over the last few years would seem to indicate that b&w paper price will continue to outrun that of RA4

My local mini-lab will process C41 colour film and do a set of RA4 7x5 prints from it at a price that I could barely match even without taking into account my labour.

Mike
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Old 28th October 2019, 08:17 AM
John King John King is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
My local mini-lab will process C41 colour film and do a set of RA4 7x5 prints from it at a price that I could barely match even without taking into account my labour. Mike
But where is the fun in that?

There are two ways to partially answer your question is to look at a piece of both Kodak paper and piece of Fuji paper.
The Kodak in it's unexposed/undeveloped state will be a light brown colour. The Fuji equivalent will be almost a turquoise shade.
The other is to feel the paper, Kodak is on a noticeably heavier base than Fuji. Actually the Fuji paper is almost flimsy in comparison.

Another way is, after processing and washing if you look at a Kodak print and a Fuji print side by side, the Kodak print will have a deep blue mask visible in the darker area which is not there with the Fuji. This mask disappears when the print dries. This is the reason you should never try to assess a Kodak print for colour balance until it has been washed and dried.

This mask I take to be similar when processing a colour negative or transparency, the still wet film will have a white-ish mask all over - until it dries off
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