Developer-incorporated papers
Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 11:55 am
What are you folks using for paper negs these days?
I'm almost at the end of my stash of old Ilford MGIV and so I'm looking around for a new paper to adopt for paper negs. I've tried the new Ilford MG, Ilford's MG RC paper, and Unibrom's single-weight grade 2. They are all developer-incorporated papers and the image comes in like a freight train, even in dilute developer.
I've tried using a water bath to slow things down with mixed results. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but there's a lot of mottling.
I tried developing with just carbonate, assuming there's already developer in the paper, all I should need to do is provide an alkaline environment and we should be off to the races. Alas, no.
Highly dilute developer (D-72 1:20) slows development and reduces contrast considerably, but now I'm not getting very much density. I'm processing individual sheets in trays and am not patient enough for dev times over 5 minutes.
So far, I like the Unibrom best because it's easier to print through the paper base. But I'm not happy with the tonality. It also has a weird grainy texture, which I may or may not learn to love.
So, what are you using? How do you process it? How's it working for you?
I'm almost at the end of my stash of old Ilford MGIV and so I'm looking around for a new paper to adopt for paper negs. I've tried the new Ilford MG, Ilford's MG RC paper, and Unibrom's single-weight grade 2. They are all developer-incorporated papers and the image comes in like a freight train, even in dilute developer.
I've tried using a water bath to slow things down with mixed results. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but there's a lot of mottling.
I tried developing with just carbonate, assuming there's already developer in the paper, all I should need to do is provide an alkaline environment and we should be off to the races. Alas, no.
Highly dilute developer (D-72 1:20) slows development and reduces contrast considerably, but now I'm not getting very much density. I'm processing individual sheets in trays and am not patient enough for dev times over 5 minutes.
So far, I like the Unibrom best because it's easier to print through the paper base. But I'm not happy with the tonality. It also has a weird grainy texture, which I may or may not learn to love.
So, what are you using? How do you process it? How's it working for you?