Where's all the 2x3 photo paper?

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connersz

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Jamie
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Where can I buy photo paper online in 2x3? I never come across it anywhere.

2x3
6x9
8x12
10x15

etc.
 
I guess that no one knows the mystery behind this. It seems a bit odd given that those are the 35mm print sizes.
 
Canon and Ilford both do 6"x4" paper in an assortment of finishes and I'm pretty sure a Google in the other manufacturers' sites will throw up more. For the bigger sizes you might have to cut down the A sizes. A4 should give you a 9" x 6" print but will need trimming and A3+ measures 19" x 13" so a couple of 9" x 12" or one 18" x 12" (or, of course, any of the smaller sizes!) Yes, that does involve a little extra work with a trimmer but it's hardly an arduous job!
 
might not be arduous but I've run into this sort of thing before, ie the fact that nearly every "standard" picture frame nowadays seems to be in a NON standard 35mm size eg instead of 8 x 12 it's 8 x 10 etc:cool:

I can't understand why what was once the most popular picture ratio on the planet ie 35mm has basically gone the way of betamax and the sony discplayer?
 
Donnie said:
might not be arduous but I've run into this sort of thing before, ie the fact that nearly every "standard" picture frame nowadays seems to be in a NON standard 35mm size eg instead of 8 x 12 it's 8 x 10 etc:cool:

I can't understand why what was once the most popular picture ratio on the planet ie 35mm has basically gone the way of betamax and the sony discplayer?
Click to expand...

Yeh well that's just it. The camera is taking pics in 2x3. The photo labs all do 2x3, so why can't I buy the paper myself instead of having to cut it?

Nothing showed up when searching on Google.
 
Very often, the larger sizes of print are mounted behind mount windows, so a 9" x 6" print would need larger paper to allow for the overlap. The larger sizes of paper tend to be in the A series of sizes and there are frames to fit these in many of the usual shops.
 
connersz said:
I guess that no one knows the mystery behind this. It seems a bit odd given that those are the 35mm print sizes.
Click to expand...

It's because there is no standard anymore (the original paper sizes matched the original 5" x 4", 7" x 5" and 10" x 8" cameras very nicely!!!!!!)

Picture frames and mounts, and traditional darkroom printing papers have always been available in 5" x 7", 6" x 8", 8" x 10", 10" x 12", 12 x 16", 16" x 20". These did not suit 35mm (3 x 2 ratio) printing either, but also did not match 6cm x 6cm (square format 120 film), or 6cm x 7cm, 6cm x 9cm, etc etc etc, they were produced for plate film cameras.

The paper sizes suited the original formats, but there are now so many different formats available that the easiest option for paper manufacturers was to adopt universal standard paper sizes, hence we now get A4, A3, A3+, A2 etc. The reduction in cost associated with producing papers in a few standard sizes far outweighs the extra cost that would have been imposed on us by manufacturers having a huge range of sizes, and also it would not be economically viable, especially for the few remaining bricks and mortar retailers, to stock such a large range of papers.

The reason people don't understand paper sizing is that they think that 35mm (3 x 2 ratio) is the universal format, but the formats were developed a long time before 35mm.

HTH.
 
Even now, 3:2 isn't universal. Loads of 4/3rds, 16:9 and other formats about.
 
to get 6x4 look no further than tesco,asda,etc they all sell them
 
Not sure that it matters too much what the size of the paper is. Certainly not if it's to end up framed; as has been mentioned, any extra paper will be hidden behind the mat. And isn't the A? system roughly 1.5 ratio anyway (1.4 by my calculations). If you leave a wider border at the bottom of a landscape (room for title and/or signature) you're practically at 1.5 ratio anyway.
 
Costco do good 4.6 paper (glossy only) at really good price
 
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