[pure-silver] Re: VC printing equipment Was: Replacement for Bromofort paper;
- From: "Dave Valvo" <dvalvo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2004 09:12:14 -0800
J.R.
I have been on this band wagon before touting the bad features of the Thomas
safelight. Others have claimed they have no problems with it. Issue with
the safelight is NOT fog but rather contrast changes. I got burned (I don't
mean to my body) a number of years back with a Thomas and have since tossed
it out. Dirty looking prints caused by pre-latentsification. Not worth
wasting my time and costing me a lot of paper. I can work very well in dark
conditions and don't need to read a newspaper in my darkroom. Recommend you
get a copy of "How safe is my safelight" from Kodak or they may have it on
their website. Or read Ralph W. Lambrecht's book "Why Beyond Monochrome"
for a method. Then run the test procedure religiously. Don't get led into a
false sense of security by running the old quarter fog test. Even following
the safelight test with the Thomas properly the results will be different
for every kind of paper you use. Or dump the Thomas, get real safelights
and run the test once. If you absolutely refuse to dump the Thomas, weld
the vanes shut!
I seem to recall 80CCY and 40CCG will bring a cold light head to std white
light. Can't find my notes right now. Maybe someone else out there has
better memory.
All the Kodak VC papers are designed to be insensitive to developer. That's
what makes them so robust and reproducible batch to batch. What I mean is
as a developer gets exhausted the Kodak papers will continue to perform
well. Unfortunately that means for those that like to pull a print early
will have reduced sensitivity. Low contrast developers vs Dektol is a
different story. The papers will respond well the them. Photographers
should instead control exposure and contrast etc on the enlarger....not in
the developer.
Kodak Polymax Fine Art should have the lowest contrast available of any
fiber base paper sold today. Best LER I was able to get on my Zone VI cold
light head was 1.65 which is like a contrast grade - .5. Paper will go to
a -1.5 contrast (if there was such a thing) or LER or 2.00 on a Saunders
4500 or VCCE. I don't know of any other paper that will go that low in
contrast. And that is in Dektol. Selectol Soft is unknown. Send me your
email address and ask for the chart I have with this paper on various
enlargers.
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: "J.R. Stewart" <jrstewart@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, December 24, 2004 4:39 AM
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: VC printing equipment Was: Replacement for
Bromofort paper;
> Well, after a round of several prints that I had to fight to get to the
> right contrast using my cold lite head and fixed grade paper and adjusting
> developer and development time, I decided to try VC. In January, I'll take
> ownership of a Super Chromega Dichro II head to put on my D2. It cost me
> about the same as converting my non-VC lamp to a V54 lamp.
>
> Some things I should have thought about before:
>
> 1. I use a Thomas Safelight now and with fixed grade papers I don't have
to
> worry about fog... should I worry about VC papers under a Thomas?
>
> 2. I know I can test, but can anyone give me a hint on which filtration
will
> best match what I have today in my cold lite lamp? Is that 0Y/0M?
>
> 3. Are VC papers as sensitive to different developers as fixed graded
> papers? I use Ansco 130 (softest), Ansco 120 (normal), and Beers for added
> hardness. Again, I know I can calibrate my new Dichro for each
> paper:developer combination, but should I expect to need to?
>
> 4. Can anyone recommend an especially long scale VC FB paper? I prefer
> neutral tone. I typically print to a scale close to 1.8-2.0 today.
>
> Thanks for any advice!
>
> Happy holidays, everyone.
>
> J.R. Stewart / Leesburg VA
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "J. Stewart" <jrstewart@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 9:23 AM
> Subject: VC printing equipment Was: Replacement for Bromofort paper;
>
>
> > I've been wondering lately whether I ought to go the route of converting
> > to
> > variable contrast. I used VC years ago, using filters (not a color
head).
> > I'm a bit reluctant to return.. the quality in those days wasn't near
the
> > quality of graded papers. Has that changed in the last 10 years or so?
> > ....
> > I know a lot of really good photographers are using VC. Plus, I think
I'd
> > like the ability to do split grade printing, and I sometimes like softer
> > papers than anyone can get in a graded form.
> >
> > I have a 4x5 D2 with cold lite head as my main enlarger.. standard light
> > source (i.e., not the VC). Would it be a major investment to equip
myself
> > with the gear to use VC?
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <XRadar@xxxxxxx>
> > To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 8:04 AM
> > Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Replacement for Bromofort paper
> >
> >
> >> In a message dated 9/17/04 10:09:12 PM Central Daylight Time,
> >> jrstewart@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> >> > Can anyone recommend a close replacement for Bromofort graded fiber
> >> > base
> >> > paper?
> >>
> >> Have you tried Bergger graded paper? Not much choice for graded.
Ilford
> >> Gallerie, Oriental Seagull and the Bergger for cold tone. Probably
some
> > that I
> >> haven't seen. Guess I'm contributing to the decline as I'm using
mostly
> > VC
> >> now. Just so much easier and easy to keep fresh supply. But still
have
> >> a
> > lot of
> >> the old Seagull #1 in the freezer for the right image.
> >> Chuck
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
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> >
>
>
>
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