labnotes – Page 34

As paper comes and goes; as channels change; the supply of darkroom paper seems to gyrate like fashion. Photo paper is no longer a stable supply – the use dwindles, the need narrows, this reduces certainty such that people ask questions about alternates. Sometimes, just in case; other times because of changes in their restrictions, or ability, access.

Slavich paper is available in the US from key suppliers as well as a tiny niche importer. It is not a stock item – it is special order item. It can be imported, but this requires effort as well as significantly higher financial commitment.

AS OF JAN 2021: NO USA DISTRIBUTOR

I used Slavich for several years – several thousand prints. I like the tactile response of the paper as I work with it through the chemicals. It even spots well; well enough that the novice, who often thinks that spotting is retouching, will be able to touch those white dots away. I am drifting away from the paper, choosing to reduce the number of papers I use. Ilford will continue to be my main supplier. Foma will be my second choice paper, since I can source it from Europe. UPDATE: I NO LONGER USE SLAVICH. IT IS ALL GONE. MY CURRENT PAPER OF CHOICE IS FOMA.

..The key image of this post shows the 2 Slavich papers.. Unibrom and Bromoportrait. Unibrom is a graded paper that develops to a neutral tone in Dektol, or to a cooltone in catechol. Bromoportrait is warm tone, particularly in a warmtone developer such as Fomatol PW.

How does the Unibrom compare?

This is a photo of Unibrom atop a piece of MGFB – that’s the paper with the torn edge. I can clearly see the difference in tone and density between Unibrom and MGFB. These papers were exposed to a stouffer wedge, then processed at the same time in Dektol (1:1) for 2 minutes. (in the background, out of focus, are other test sets for other setups in process)

The Unibrom is slightly less intense, as well as mildly warmer.. both attributes could be adjusted with additives… but why?

Ilford MGFB Classic is widely used, highly regarded easily available paper. It comes in many sizes as well as quantities. Quantity has meaning to frequent printers – I prefer a 250 sheet box to a stack of 25 sheet packs.

What Does Slavich Provide?

It is low cost, well made paper – is durable during wet stages.

The Unibrom solarizes easily. The Bromoportrait (FALL 2017 SLAVICH CEASED PRODUCTION) is lithable (using divided dev is most flexible means) as well as having a bright warmtone for standard imaging. It also solarizes, but without the stark changes of Unibrom – the changes that most printers expect of a solarization.

Testing & Testing

I hate to do paper / developer tests. I dread the tasks; won’t even read anyone else’s results, since I do what I do, they aren’t going to make my prints, and I’m not going to make theirs. As a teacher, I had to show while telling… even encouraging some students, those with technical compass heading, to do the detail testing of different constituents of photographic developers. I hated, and regretted, the time spent on technique over reasons, reactions of imagery. But, in the chemical age, students had to fumble through the darkroom.

Why My Change

Since B&H had their shipping failure, coupled with an obvious re-working of their order system, I had to work through my preferences for chemicals, emulsions, vendors – what, where, when I could supply myself. I needed to replace Ilford Warmtone developer, since I bought it from B&H, yet they don’t understand how to read Harman’s SDS.. put a sticker on the box and ship it, even by international passenger air. I could buy from Freestyle – I buy most of my prepared chemistry from them. I have used Fomatol PW developer with Foma papers, but hadn’t tried it with other emulsions.

Emulsion Choice

Conventional wisdom holds that the “emulsion makes the choice” of color – is it warm, cold, or neutral. The size of the silver is fixed by the manufacturers, although, as the emulsion ages, it will shift gradually cooler in color. Emulsions from before 1990 may have included chemistry that sustained the warmth, but they are not used by Ilford, Foma, etc. in current emulsions. Hence, the reason that we are told to use the paper within (2 or 3) years, else it will change hue (going colder), and lose contrast range (lower contrast) Old paper is not the best choice; they don’t get better with age.

Foma Fomatol PW Developer

“Specially formulated positive developer in powder form, preferably designed for the processing of Fomatone MG-line photographic papers. The developer features slower developing kinetic, lower speed utilization and a warm image tone.” foma

In using so much darkroom chemistry, I have many ‘old’ bottles.. the one in the above illustration, bearing the Fomatol PW blue-tape, is an empty Moersch bottle. I date all my stock chemicals with mix date.

Foma dates their PW; they also include the proper caution (that diamond stamp) — Use dust mask during mixing. The NIOSH N95 means holds back 95% of (standard size) dust, making it more than adequate for mixing dry chemicals such as paper developers. The same should be worn while mixing dektol, or D-76.

Mixing is easy – follow directions… current packages are marked with “Maly/ Small” & “Velky/Big” … Mix using liter graduated plastic beaker… stir with a plastic spatula.. dissolve fully… add water to make one liter of stock.. pour into storage bottle… label .. done [ less than 5 minutes elapsed time from beginning to clean-up ]

I use the stock as working, since it is very slow acting developer; even then, my basic developing time is 5 minutes. The following is adapted from Foma datasheets. Also given

are the R values for Ilford Warmtone, and Seagull VC-VBII Warmtone. The Ilford warmtone is a widely used paper, notice that the R for the Seagull is wider- the contrast range is wider, providing “flatter,” and “harder” contrast than Ilford. The Fomatone is even narrower contrast range… still I love its look, as well as the touch of the paper.

Warm Paper, Warm Developer

Does the developer move the emulsion? Supposedly NO — since I was running some experiments anyway, I decided to test the Seagull paper I had set aside as not being significantly better than Ilford. The following tests compared Dektol + Ilford papers as baseline: Dektol at 1+1, and Ilford Multigrade FB Classic

characterofpaper-002 — paper /developer tests

The 3 scans: [A] is the tests grouped into stacks by developer (dektol, Moersch SE1 Sepia, Fomatol PW) [B] is Ilford Classic, Ilford Warmtone, Fomatone 131 comparison. [C} compares Ilford Wamtone, Fomatone 131, Oriental Warmtone in Fomatol PW developer.

[C} is the reveal – Oriental warmtone in Fomatol PW is a very strong warmtone paper; much warmer than Ilford Warmtone.

These tests confirm the old adage, and break it. Ilford papers stick to their label. They change less than other papers with a change in developer. The Oriental Warmtone changed so much it is now my preferred paper for warmtone prints replacing Ilford Warmtone. All because B&H hiccuped causing me to search my cupboard.

The downside of this developer is its activity. It is S L O W to come up, reminding me of lith times. It also loses paper speed. Oriental Warmtone + Dektol vs. OWT + FPW is a 3 stop difference in the enlarger. For very large prints, this could probably spell problem, with the time going into minutes; however, with my setup and standard sizes it moves my times up to around 48 seconds… reasonable in my process.

Why Of Silver Tones

Warmtone / coldtone — advance recede. Cultural inclination, taste — preferred acceptance … more on the [secret page]

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