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  #1  
Old 6th March 2021, 08:27 PM
ShaneHull ShaneHull is offline
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Default Ilford A4 paper

Why is Ilford's A4 multigrade paper 50% more expensive than 8x10 when it's only slightly larger? The obvious answer may be that not many people use it, which begs the question, why not? A 35mm print fits an A4 size better than an 8x10, so you don't have to zoom and crop to fill the paper.Also, cheap frames with A4 mounts are more common these days than 8x10 frames, which have virtually disappeared, so I have to order custom cut mounts to fit my prints, 35mm as well as MF.
Or are darkroom users too traditional and reluctant to change habits?
Anyone on here ever used Ilford A4?
Thanks.
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  #2  
Old 6th March 2021, 08:59 PM
John King John King is offline
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The only people that can give a definitive answer is Ilford. I would give them a call.
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Old 6th March 2021, 10:52 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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What John says. It may be the only way to get an answer. Let's hope it is an answer that responds fully to your very good points

One of the problems might be that as a group and by that I mean all users of darkroom paper and not just us on FADU is that we are conservative with a small "c" in most matters that deviate from whatever passes as the "norm"( defined as what we are used to) and we just have never taken to what may be a logical change in sheet sizes. The consequence being that there is little demand for that size and thus it is more expensive to produce.

For reasons that may be lost in the "mists of time" we still use 5x7 when for the same reason as you cite 5x7.5 would be the more logical size for 35mm negative and yet there would appear to be no desire to change sizes from consumers

Mike
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Old 7th March 2021, 08:31 AM
John King John King is offline
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Going back perhaps 40+ years we did not have 12"x16" sheets of paper, they were 12" x15". About the same time the sheets we have now as 12"x9.5" were actually sold as 12"x 10" just the same size as Fuji sell one of their boxes of RA4 paper.

What we have now as 24exp cassettes of 35mm film, previously were 20 exp! This can be seen of some of the older 35mm cameras with a red mark on the counters to mark the 20 exp and the 36 exp lengths. My Pentax SV had them. Why were they changed? Why did Fuji buck the trend with RA4 paper sizes? Who knows!

Last edited by John King; 7th March 2021 at 08:36 AM.
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Old 7th March 2021, 08:51 AM
MikeHeller MikeHeller is offline
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I remember doing a price comparison of cost per unit area for MGIV
some years ago and remember to have found them to be the same. Have things changed?

Mike

Last edited by MikeHeller; 7th March 2021 at 08:54 AM.
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Old 7th March 2021, 03:17 PM
Michael Michael is offline
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I would ask Matt of AG Photographic (they're a sponsor and he's Matt5791 on this forum). You'll not get a dismissive response from him.
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Old 7th March 2021, 05:33 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael View Post
he's Matt5791 on this forum). You'll not get a dismissive response from him.
Quite right.However I do wonder if even retailers are party to the "real information" that is held by the manufacturers

Mike
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Old 7th March 2021, 06:13 PM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Shane, i'm not sure whose prices you were looking at, but Process Supplies sell 100 sheets of 10 x 8 Mgd.V for about £56 and 100 sheets of A4 for about £70. This is just a bit more than 20% increase. (not the 50% you quoted) A4 is approx. 20% more area than 10 x 8, so there really is no mystery or price differential here...

Alan
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Old 7th March 2021, 07:58 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Just checked on the Ilford Photo site and the difference there is just over 25%. Interestingly enough but no surprise for me is that while Process Supplies is cheaper for 8x10 in 100 sheet boxes than Ilford, it is actually more expensive for A4

It's back to the old conclusion, mentioned before in FADU, which is prices vary from from stockist to stockist and picking and choosing on an item by item basis would be the way to go if it wasn't for p&p which in most cases makes buying individual items from the cheapest stockist not viable as the way to go

However I agree with you, Alan, that if Shane has found a stockist who does have a 50% increase for A4 then unless that stockist is much cheaper on other things that are needed, it may not be the place to buy A4

Mike
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  #10  
Old 8th March 2021, 08:53 AM
JOReynolds JOReynolds is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShaneHull View Post
Why is Ilford's A4 multigrade paper 50% more expensive than 8x10 when it's only slightly larger?
I buy A4 Ilford paper from Photo Comédie Montpellier France and the price per square yard, inch, centimetre is almost exactly the same as 8x10.
Do FADU friends use 12x9.5" for contact prints of negatives in Kenro sleeves?
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