Category: labnotes

Fuji Maxima or Fuji *x

Posted on Posted in Getting Stuff, labnotes, The Biz

The differences are market purpose, plant of production, patent.

Skill doesn’t answer to the 20 prints a year beggar

Date: December 6, 2018 Durst Lambda exp values  AND — 2011, Ciba display

Material Red Green Blue
FUJIFLEX Crystal Archive Printing Material 51, 50, 47
FUJICOLOR Crystal Archive Professional Maxima 51, 51, 49
Exposure of Ciba [CT.F7 ] using same exposing system: 38, 46, 46

USA fuji retailers follow simple rules ..fuji’s number is assigned making it easy to comparison shop, even for the thick fingered shopper.

the larger distributors lead the buyer into the catalog using type, meaning surface.

in the days of yore, when the market for photographic materials had more than five conglomerate suppliers, Pearl, Satin, Silk were names with bearing for the wedding-portrait industry. They mimicked the cloth of the wedding. Making a duplicate from them involved knowing the trick of “water” copying.

Also supplied were papers made for murals, or charcoal character prints– of course, for hand painting, Canvas.

Only inkjet papers come close to what was once expected of the manufacturers.

on the matter of knowing more than anyone else: maybe you’ve stopped learning .. proving yourself superior to the vendors is what sort of refuge .

Kodak,1942… sample book providing the casual user guidance on paper choice. Marketing has always played a role in commerce land.

it’s wrong/right because {h} says so. it becomes too easy to doubt the bloviator at the end of the sales-counter. they hold opinions that seem made of sand. unstable without direct references … all hand waving declarations centered upon their expertise. if they make enough claims occasionally they’re right .

DPII silk 2026-04-18 at 10.46.57 AMDownload

Maxima, when introduced, was a direct sales item… Fuji USA sold it directly, assuming it was a specialist item that premier labs (5 in US) would sell as a premium exhibition product. After COVID that changed. Many (3) of those 5 switched to offering inkjet solutions. One San Francisco lab had sold their much revered Poly after moving. Exhibition printing demanded larger more flexible surfacing not available with silver-halide paper.

Now, in 2026, it seems B&H, the home to the weekender sells Maxima.

Notice Regarding the Discontinuation of Fujifilm Color Paper (CLP) Sheet Type _Download

Prior posts:

going, going, glycin :2026

Posted on Posted in Getting Stuff, labnotes, overnight notesTagged ,

The thin trail .. drip drop of darkroom chemicals . It will be available, sometimes… until it is no longer around. The depth of the market is thin and thinning. You may sing the hymn, but you aren’t its author. The supporting structures are not stable enough to sustain even the small subsistence suppliers of your hobby. Knowing that, is the difference between paths to keep, paths to explore.

Glycin, when made in quantity, by industrial chemists using trained technicians is a long lived chemical. Light is its ager. When made in small batches, using cookery skills, it lasts months before losing its use as a magic-developer-bean.

the shorthand: it hasn’t been in stock for 2 months…

Asking for more isn’t enough … the oasis has limits of everything but sand… an acolytes prayer book can lead the neophyte into a desert. Memories don’t matter when it comes to nourishing a craft…

Better build using what is replaceable, repeatable… that’s just my opinion..

NB: “overnight notes” are briefs, responses, as are “minimum daily requirements,” “morning wood” — the differences are along the lines of possibly longer, should be considered, scoffs – toss outs — one liner possibles.

weather changes.. gain some self confidence by shopping for yourself. have more trust in facts you make. the facts of darkroom life change more often than the opinions, awareness of the ensconced forum-familiary.