The latest Freestyle Camera catalog lists something called "Europe's Finest" single weight fiber base VC glossy paper. I've always liked single weight papers, and have never heard of this stuff. It's only $15.95 for a 100 sheet box of 8x10!!!!

Does anybody know who might have made it, and better yet, has anyone else tried it? Sounds too good to be true. Obviously, I'm going to order a box and report back.

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), October 14, 2000

Answers

Agfa MC Classic FB......I think.

-- kirk kennelly (kirk@ioa.com), October 14, 2000.

I think it is probably just what it says it is. The only drawback will be that it is single weight. and depending upon if you want to tone it etc. that could be a problem. It may be too flimsy. The ad from last years catalog says people use it for contact sheets, but I have never thought washing contact sheets for an hour was an option. I would like to know how it feels though. jane

-- jane (jmng@juno.com), October 15, 2000.

Back in the bad old days before RC, I used to use a lot of single weight paper. It's certainly harder to handle, but not impossibly so. No reason you can't tone it, either. Photo Techniques has a special issue out that talks about washing. There's a published method (from Ilford) that limits fixing time, uses hypo clear, and only washes for something like ten or fifteen minutes. Anyway, the single weight does need to be dry mounted if it's to handled much.

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), October 15, 2000.

Greetings,

I finally tried some of this paper last night, but only processed two sheets for a test. It's a warm tone paper with average-good speed characteristics and a nice finish. It looks like it has a nice tonal scale, but I'll have to process more before I make a judgement. I didn't test it variability (yet.)

Regards,

-- Pete Caluori (pcaluori@hotmail.com), November 07, 2000.

Hi Pete- I haven't reported back, as I too have only used a couple sheets of this. I had forgotten how hard to handle SW is, but it's still managable. In Dektol it doesn't seem like a warm tone, pretty neutral in fact. I had also forgotten how nice an air dried glossy surface is. Dry mounted, this could look really nice. Definitely not for people who have trouble handling thin paper!

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), November 07, 2000.

Greetings,

My impression of it being a warm tone paper may be due to my developer. Actually, the developer was mixed two months ago and I forgot to label it! I plan on mixing some fresh developer and giving it a try - I'll let you know what "develops."

Single weight papers don't bother me much. I develop in tubes, so handling is at a minimum and pop them into a washer. An added benefit to single weight, is it should reach archival wash standards in a shorter time.

Regards,

-- Pete Caluori (pcaluori@hotmail.com), November 07, 2000.

Greetings,

I ran a quick test last night using fresh chemistry. I contact printed a 21-step density tablet using an Omega DichroII color head and developed them in Kodak Polymax-T (1:9.)

In the past using this color head and developer while testing other papers, I wouold typically get very good response with extremely low contrast through slightly higher than normal contrast (i.e. grades 000 through 3 or 3/12 max.)

Here are the results with this paper: Filter = Range 50M = R80 75M to 170M = R95 25M = R110 0 = R125 25Y = R140 50Y = R170 75Y = R185 Despite doubling the exposure time for filter settings above 75Y, the exposure was still insufficient to produce max black, so IBll need to redo that test. Also, IBm not sure why the 50M setting produced a lower range setting than 75M to 170M, but the highest contrast with this source and developer appears to have a range # of 80.

Additionally, I made one print and based on this I would classify this paper as having a neutral tone. Note, none of these prints were toned and they were all viewed under tungsten light. For the price, this is a terrific paper! IBll make another assessment of them viewed under different light and let you know if anything changes.

Regards,

-- Pete Caluori (pcaluori@hotmail.com), November 08, 2000.