Thanks for your insights, Ralph and others.. I will (and do) test, I was just looking for starting pointS. I have your book and I plan on at least trying the colorhead calibration test you describe. My testing of paper scale is somewhat objective since I don't have a reflection densitometer. But when I expose a sheet of, say, Berrger No 2 under a step wedge and develop it in Ansco 130, I get a range of 13 - 14 steps on a 21 step tablet between pure white and maximum black. Now, this is truly black when seen under a bright light. That gives me a scale of almost 2.1. Even if I back off one wedge from max black, I'm getting 1.95 as my scale. If I back off one wedge from paper white, then the scale from Z II - Z VIII becomes 1.80. I could keep coming in from the extremes to reach a scale that relates to published grades, but I then wouldn't know what that meant in terms of brightest white or blackest black. I get a scale for Fortezzo 3 (the hardest paper I use) in the same developer at 1.7. I know there's a thousand ways to screw up subjective testing, but I've done this repeatedly, and even though I'm inconsistent with the institutional knowledge, at least I'm consistent in my own lab. I also develop my negative to an average gradient of 0.62 to get me within range of the papers/developers I use.. and it usually works in my favor. None of this means I won't learn something different tomorrow and change everything @! Thanks again. J.R. Stewart ----- Original Message ----- From: "DarkroomMagic" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "PureSilverNew" <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, December 24, 2004 8:44 AM Subject: [pure-silver] Re: VC printing equipment Was: Replacement forBromofort paper; > If I read between the lines correctly, you are somewhat hesitant to test. > I > suggest to overcome this hesitation. It is my experience that these tests > take less time then people expect and contain the opportunity to learn and > turn trial-and-error into experience and knowledge. Nevertheless, here is > my > opinion about some of your questions. > >> 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? > > The Thomas Safelight has adjustable baffles, changing the light output > dramatically. No safelight is really safe and all need to be tested. The > result of the test is not, if it is safe or not, it will give you a time > for > which it is safe enough. Test! Would you like a copy of the test > procedure? > >> 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? > > No filtration will be close to a grade 2, but a test will reveal of paper > grades possible with this head. Many paper manufacturers give starting > points for their papers. If you don't want to test, start with 30Y/30M and > dial in more yellow to go softer and more magenta to go harder. The > benefit > of the test is that you can maintain highlight consistency when changing > paper contrast. Would you like a copy of the test procedure? > >> 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? > > I don't know the answer to this, because I only use one paper developer > (Dektol). I am about to try Neutol soon, because Dektol is increasingly > difficult to get over here in Europe. Changing contrast with a color head > is > easy enough. I see little need for multiple developers. > >> 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. > > Not sure what this means. Normal paper contrast is around 1.05. A grade 0 > is > around 1.55! > > Good luck with your color head. I think they are great for VC printing. > > > > > Regards > > > > Ralph W. Lambrecht > > > > > On 12/24/04 1:39 PM, "J.R. Stewart" <jrstewart@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> 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 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> ============================================================================ >>> ================================= >>>> To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to >>>> your >>> account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you >>> subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there. >>>> >>> >> >> >> ============================================================================== >> =============================== >> To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your >> account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you >> subscribed,) >> and unsubscribe from there. > > ============================================================================================================= > To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your > account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you > subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there. ============================================================================================================= To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there.