PRINT STOCKS

[J Costantini]

Hi. i would like to hear some suggestions and comments on the available print stocks we have today, Fuji, Kodak, Agfa in terms of color saturation, contrast, latitude, pricing etc.

 

Thanks,

Julio

[Simon Wyss]

Julio, are you also interested in black-and-white print stock ?

[J Costantini]

Julio, are you also interested in black-and-white print stock ?

 

basically interested in color print stocks... comparisons.

[robbie Land]

i'm interested in any ideas with this as well. im familiar with 3383 and 3393, but would like to know if a fuji or another color stock can provide a more dense black and richer colors?

[David Mullen ASC]

i'm interested in any ideas with this as well. im familiar with 3383 and 3393, but would like to know if a fuji or another color stock can provide a more dense black and richer colors?

 

First of all, "robbie", you need to go to My Controls and edit your Display Name to a real first and last name, as per the forum rule listed at the top of the registration instructions.

 

One problem is that not all print stocks are available in 16mm and 35mm, at least the last time I checked. Some are only available in 35mm.

 

In terms of contrast and black level and saturation, it roughly goes (more least to most):

 

Kodak Vision 2383

Fuji 3513 D.I.

Fuji XD

Kodak Vision Premier 2393

 

With Agfa somewhere in the middle. There is an even lower contrast Fuji print stock but due to low usage, it probably isn't being sold anymore, making 3513 D.I. the defacto Fuji print stock.

 

And there is the Kodak Teleprint (low-con) stock.

[K Borowski]

First of all, "robbie", you need to go to My Controls and edit your Display Name to a real first and last name, as per the forum rule listed at the top of the registration instructions.

 

One problem is that not all print stocks are available in 16mm and 35mm, at least the last time I checked. Some are only available in 35mm.

 

In terms of contrast and black level and saturation, it roughly goes (more least to most):

 

Kodak Vision 2383

Fuji 3513 D.I.

Fuji XD

Kodak Vision Premier 2393

 

With Agfa somewhere in the middle. There is an even lower contrast Fuji print stock but due to low usage, it probably isn't being sold anymore, making 3513 D.I. the defacto Fuji print stock.

 

And there is the Kodak Teleprint (low-con) stock.

 

Of course Robbie and David, all of this really is becoming more and more of a moot point now that DIs and even better, digital projection are rendering all of these aesthetics more and more moot.

 

I have always heard it bandied about here that Vision Premiere produces incredibly rich and intense blacks, enough to make up for the flattening effect of a DI.

 

Honestly, from what I saw with X-Files, they shouldn't have opted for premiere.

 

 

In terms of effecting the look of the final image, the capture medium takes precedence over the distribution medium, unless you opt for a radical manipulation, like a skip-bleach on all of the prints.

 

Your origination medium, and how you expose it and light it are going to have far more of an impact on the look.

 

In fact, I'd wager that, unless you saw all of these different print stocks side-by-side, you wouldn't be able to call out which was which if you were shown a sample without any comparison to another stock.