Is Oriental Seagull paper gone like the others?

Deardorff38

Deardorff38

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Does anyone on the forum know what the story is with Oriental Seagull?
I'm coming to the end of my stock & neither B&H nor Freestyle have any stock.
 
You should contact B&H and Freestyle with a request and see what their response is.

Or the manufacturer if they have an online site.

If any of the above responds, please post with the info. I'm sure others will want to know as well.

I have a large stock of 5x7 and 8x10 Seagull paper in my darkroom fridge, and have been thinking about selling it - but as I'm in Australia, this won't be of much help to you, ha.

It's a few years old but I've found Seagull lasts well with proper storage. Stocks down under seem to have largely vanished from our few remaining retail shops as well.
 
jwlee said:
Contact information:
<http://orientalphotousa.com/contact.php>
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Thanks i already sent them a message.... I was hoping some forum participant might know or have seen some in a store or on a website. B&H is way way down on paper stock now, mostly Ilford and a little Arista. It took 3 months to get Foma from them....so much for the advertised "2-4 weeks".....
 
Thanks Marty, But thats $188 USD before shipping... for the 8x10. (100)... which i mostly use for proofing. When it was in stock it was the same or less than Ilford. I used to buy it at Glazers everytime i was in Seattle....now they only stock Ilford....& i can get that w free shipping to Canada from B&H.
 
Deardorff38 said:
Thanks Marty, But thats $188 USD before shipping... for the 8x10. (100)... which i mostly use for proofing. When it was in stock it was the same or less than Ilford. I used to buy it at Glazers everytime i was in Seattle....now they only stock Ilford....& i can get that w free shipping to Canada from B&H.
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You use fibre base paper for proofing?!

I fear all the traditional materials are going to get much more expensive quickly.

Marty
 
Freakscene said:
You use fibre base paper for proofing?!

I fear all the traditional materials are going to get much more expensive quickly.
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Agree. I'm still using up ancient stocks of Ilford Multigrade III RC matte for the (very few) proof sheets of my film era negatives. Some are fogged, oddly most aren't. The grey tends to soften the harsh contrast of my Asian and Australian images anyway.

To many of us now proofing is one of those 20th century indulgences. It was okay in 1940 or 1950 when chemistry and enlarging paper cost two and six, but now it just uses up valuable paper and eats darkroom time. How often after the event do you check your old proof sheets? I almost never do.

For checking I do quick batch scans on my Epson scanner and view the proof images on my PC. After which the very few negatives I decide are worthy of a print, also get scanned as better quality images anyway.

To each their own, but you could check Ebay or other OL sales sites for outdated printing paper. And yes, why FB and not RC? Here in Australia FB paper is now so expensive, I could sell it to printers by the sheet...
 
ozmoose said:
Agree. I'm still using up ancient stocks of Ilford Multigrade III RC matte for the (very few) proof sheets of my film era negatives.

For checking I do quick batch scans on my Epson scanner and view the proof images on my PC.
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This is definitely the way to go.
 
Freakscene said:
You use fibre base paper for proofing?!
Marty
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Marty, I use 5x7 RC for test strips to get in the ballpark, then I make work prints (and finals) on FB 8x10, before moving up to bigger prints. So I'm using a lot more 8x10 than in the past when i made a lot more larger prints.
 
I used to go through thousands of sheets of Oriental multigrade FB paper a month; it was my preferred basic paper for most of my print work. But I had to shut down my darkroom and close up shot for the last five years, and now that I'm getting back up and running I am sad to see that I can't find this paper anymore- so I'm watching this space. If anyone has any information or leads I'd be very grateful. I remember what happened when Agfa went under and we lost their Multicontrast Classic twenty years ago, and I don't want to have to go through the process of finding a new paper again! I know this stuff is getting way more expensive these days, but I still want to print!
 
drewbarb, your comment about having to go through the process of finding a new paper has been ongoing. Brilliant (the Guillemot Boespflug iteration) then Forte (Polywarmtone & esp Fortezo), and the saga of disappearing silver-gelatin papers continues. On the upside kudos to Ilford for remaining stalwart.
 
ozmoose said:
For checking I do quick batch scans on my Epson scanner and view the proof images on my PC. After which the very few negatives I decide are worthy of a print, also get scanned as better quality images anyway.

To each their own, but you could check Ebay or other OL sales sites for outdated printing paper. And yes, why FB and not RC? Here in Australia FB paper is now so expensive, I could sell it to printers by the sheet...
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Oz, I don't proof negatives. I can read negatives and see if i want to print them. When it comes to RC vs FB.... there's just not enough correlation for me. When i'm setting out to make (as an example) a 16x20 FB print, I can't go from RC test strips or test prints. The same can be said for using outdated/ fogged paper.... which also has the added downside of todays shipping rates.

I do have a line on a freezer full of paper in town here from an acquaintance who no longer prints so there is a bright light in the sky today...
 
Deardorff38 said:
drewbarb, your comment about having to go through the process of finding a new paper has been ongoing. Brilliant (the Guillemot Boespflug iteration) then Forte (Polywarmtone & esp Fortezo), and the saga of disappearing silver-gelatin papers continues. On the upside kudos to Ilford for remaining stalwart.
Click to expand...
I don't perceive the paper situation as that bad, and think for the last years it's been relatively stable at least for mainstream brands. Guillemot was gone way ago, Efke in 2012 and Forte in 2007.

If anything, ADOX were trying to reintroduce Polywarmtone as well as having brought MCP+MCC back some years ago. Another issue is the spotty availability.

Is Oriental actually Oriental? I recall reading from Japanese photogs "Oriental new seagull" may be a Harman manufactured paper which somehow covered that market. Of course Kentmere was absorbed, Original oriental may be gone, Slavich no one knows and there are changes in emulsions such as Foma that make some iterations not as Lithable. From my short experience with Lith, that is a front where a lot of photographers have noticed a reduction of choices.

That said, I am lucky that out photo club has a stash of old paper such as Orwo that is fantastic for Lith. For the same shipping and storage issues, I don't buy expired film or old paper.
I don't yet print large but buying a small (5x7, 4x6") box alongside might be nice to use as test strips. Eeek, I did buy a 24x30cm 50 sheet box of MGFB and at $100 it isn't cheap.
 
Prest_400 said:
I
Is Oriental actually Oriental? I recall reading from Japanese photogs "Oriental new seagull" may be a Harman manufactured paper which somehow covered that market.

I don't yet print large but buying a small (5x7, 4x6") box alongside might be nice to use as test strips. Eeek, I did buy a 24x30cm 50 sheet box of MGFB and at $100 it isn't cheap.
Click to expand...

I'm sure "New Seagull" isn't the same, but I had boxes i bought at Glazers on (2018 & '19) recent trips. I bought it because it was available and it turned out to tone better than Ilford... it grew on me by providing consistent results....and B&H carried it.

As far as test strip paper..... i like to use the exact production batch lot of paper i'm printing from. So for final big prints i sacrifice a sheet which goes a long way.
 
My thanks to Mark, from Calgary, who sold me 3 boxes of 16"x20" Oriental Seagull FB....& delivered it in person!

50279212971_61ea50c2d2.jpg
Flickr
 
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