[pure-silver] Re: Polycontrast Paper Performance / Cold lite
- From: "J. Stewart" <jrstewart@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 14:41:28 -0400
Ralph, thanks for your comments. I have to admit that Picker and even AA's
writings of the 70s biased me toward cold lite / diffusion printing. I
bought my first cold lite head in the mid 80s. I have never owned a color
head so I can't comment on that. I do use a stabilizer and the output from
my lamp is pretty consistent day to day. 99% of what I shoot is landscapes.
I haven't reconsidered this decision since, and I appreciate your suggestion
that perhaps I should.
I recall several changes that switching to CL made in how I printed:
1. Where did all the dust spots go?
2. My contact prints seemed to be very much more valuable as predictors of
what I would get when projection printing the same negative.
3. I could now develop the negatives to a longer scale and get greater
separation of the highlights, mid values, and low values. But, it requires
long scale paper to see the benefit. (I like lots of midtones and softer
presentations than much of what I see--and what appears to be popular-- in
today's pictorial representation of landscapes).
I'm an amateur at this, and not sure I'm prepared to invest in a color
head... on reflection I should reconsider the above decisions and see if
they remain valid to me. This past week I bought my first VC paper in over
20 years. --My first trial is what generated this question. The writing's on
the wall regarding fixed grade papers, so I'll continue working with the VC
papers until I'm sure I know what to do regarding any equipment changes.
I'll try the tricolor filters if I can find them and then decide. Again,
thanks, Ralph.
JR Stewart
----- Original Message -----
From: "DarkroomMagic" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "PureSilverNew" <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 10:01 AM
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Polycontrast Paper Performance / Cold lite
> Besides offering my repeated objection against cold light sources, for
> this
> and other reasons, I can propose another solution.
>
> Try the tri-color green filter (Wratten 58). You can't get a softer
> response
> from VC papers then using this filter. In combination with the tri-color
> blue filter (Wratten 47), they can be used for split-grade printing.
>
> I replaced my red filter below the lens with this green filter and added
> another holder for the blue filter. The only disadvantage, they are very
> dark, causing very long exposure times.
>
> BTW, I fail to understand the, mostly N/A, fascination with cold light
> heads. Is this a left-over Picker inheritance? Don't get me wrong, people
> make good prints with them, but it is so much easier to get the same
> effect
> from color heads or other diffusion light sources. Even folks with
> condenser
> enlargers get more benefit from changing negative development than
> switching
> to cold-light heads. I wouldn't be willing to put up with the fluctuating
> light output of cold-light heads. Why do you like them so much?
>
>
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Ralph W. Lambrecht
>
>
>
>
> On 10/17/04 3:39 PM, "J. Stewart" <jrstewart@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Listers,
>> Some time back I asked about PC papers today and their use with Cold lite
>> lamps. My interest stems from a need to get very long scale (such as
>> Grade 0 -
>> 1) paper, which isn't readily availalble.
>>
>> I tried Forte Polygrade V with my D2 equipped with a standard W45 (non
>> VC)
>> cold lite head. Using my old Beseler VC filters and a relatively soft
>> developer (Ansco 130M), I only get a difference of about 1/2 stop scale
>> between the #1 filter and the #4 filter. The filters are very old (>30
>> years)
>> but are in excellent shape (but I don't know how much color change has
>> occurred... they "look" right).
>>
>> I see a post on APUG that recommends the use of a #40CCY correction
>> filter to
>> enable use of the cold lite with VC papers and filters.
>>
>> I'm posting this for two reasons... first to report my results and
>> second, to
>> ask if VC filters have changed significantly over the past couple decades
>> and
>> this warrants buying newer ones, and third, what do you think of the
>> requirement for a #40 CCY color correction for the non-VC cold lite lamp?
>> Is
>> this the required correction for all cold lamps and all VC papers?
>>
>> J.R. Stewart
>>
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