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Hi all,
I've been "limiting" myself to 20x24" papers, e.g. Ilford FB, but would like to print larger for an exhibition; I know that 40x50" wasn't all that uncommon in the past. My darkroom can handle the size, so I'd like to try it. Can't seem to find a supplier thus far. Any pointers welcome. Graded/Multigrade, FB, RC....I don't mind (FB preferred).
B&H and all the major stores can get this for you.
B&H is out of stock and even before the lockdown, their special orders were taking much longer than the 2-4 weeks they advertise. Freestyle has quite a few in stock: https://www.freestylephoto.biz/categ...ttr%5B%5D=5-24
Of course! Freestyle. Brilliant. Thanks so much, Greg!
The papers are all made in Europe, so why not look for a European distributor?** Or as the OP seems to be in Australia, maybe Fuji still make some large rolls for the Japanese home market? That would be slightly nearer at least.
Also, stating the obvious, at those sizes one is looking at paper delivered in rolls, not pre-cut. Good luck :)
** eg. Fotoimpex, Macodirect, Retrocamera, AG-Photographic etc. etc.
Carsten...you'd mentioned that your darkroom can handle large sized...so the above suggestion for Amazon indicates a misunderstanding about media (not all that uncommon these days!).
I cut my large sizes from rolls (98ft. x 42inches), although I have in the past found pre-cut, 30x40 inch sheets of Ilford Classic at B+H - in a 50 sheet, heavy duty black plastic wrap, encased in a plywood box for shipping. Heavy and cumbersome, but the paper came through OK, and the shipping from B+H was free (thank goodness!)
I'd imagine that shipping anything larger than this (like 40x50) would be tough, but anything is possible!
At any rate, the shipping and handling logistics of a roll of paper is more favorable, IMHO, than going with pre-cut sheets. Plus, assuming you can arrange to cut the paper yourself without creating waste, the price per a given area of rolled paper is less than that of pre-cut sheets.
Rolled paper does retain a bit of a curl when cut, but I've found easy, effective, and efficient ways of mitigating this. I use a single large, open tray to process anything 30x40 and above, and use a pair of temporary (first minute of developer step) hold down rods placed slightly above the paper and beyond the exposed area - and these are very effective and logistically very easy to incorporate. I've also developed and designed a very efficient means of quickly transferring solutions into and out of my large single-tray, both before and after each step, with minimal solution carryover.
Then again...if you happen to incorporate paper curl into your processing routine anyway (rolling/unrolling in solution troughs) the presence of curl can actually work in your favor, so long as you can hold the paper down adequately and securely during exposure.
But do keep in mind, that depending on where you live and/or how well you can control the micro-climate wherever you store your paper, that pre-cut sheets of paper can also develop quite an edge-curl prior to exposure and development. The answer here is to see if you can store these large sheets together in a fairly tight wrap, and/or confined top and bottom under a gentle weight or storage container which confines the paper enough to limit curling. But you will still likely get some curling, and you do not want to squash the paper too tightly.
Pardon me if I'm preaching to the choir here...but I've had to deal with a number of "large paper issues" over the past few years, and have found some effective DIY work-arounds. Good Luck!