----- Original Message ----- From: Butch Black Subject: Att. W.R.: C41 processing
> Mike Wrote: > > > Hi Bill, > > Remembering your recent posts about pushing C41, I have just > come into possession of the Fuji publication "Professional Data > Guide" number AF3-103E. This has a vast amount of film data in > it. > > If you don't have this booklet and want to know anything that > might be in it, please let me know. > > An immediately interesting thing is that none of the Fuji > negative films use C41 process...CN - 16Q, CN - 16FA, CN - 16L, > CN - 16S are the processes listed, with no alternatives. Their > slide process, CR - 56, lists E6 as an alternative. > > mike > > I have the data guide AF3-102E dated C.2001. In it with the exception of NPC > and NPZ they all are listed as C-41/CN-16. NPZ was listed as CN-16X which I > have no idea how it differs from regular CN-16. I was always under the > impression that CN-16 and AP-70 (AGFA) were the equivalents of C-41 and the > 3 could be used interchangeably with no real difference between them. > > Perhaps Fuji got P****D off at Kodak and left the C-41 out <VBG> I think that is probably closer to the truth than you realize. When Kodak introduced the C-41 process, they still had a corporate stranglehold on the film processing marketplace. They patented the process, thereby forcing any company who wanted to get in the game to license technology or come up with a compatable process that didn't infringe on Kodak's patents. Hence the CN-16 process from Fuji, AP-70 from Agfa, and CNK-4 from Konica. The processes are similar enough to make cross platform processing possible, but different enough to be legal. In reality, because the C-41 process has so much allowable slop, both in the process and the possibility to correct colour deviations in printing, there is, effectively, no difference between the 4 processes, though running control strips from one manufacturer down several different processes would have you thinking otherwise. Kodak didn't patent RA-4, choosing instead to allow the formulation to be used by anyone. E6 and CR-56 are different enough process that process sensitive films will show a difference in colour if processed in on or the other. William Robb
