I recently was given alot of old Iford non variable RC paper. I was wondering what the effect of age has on black and white paper. The overall quality is not as high as new paper obviously, but is there a standard effect so could compensate ?? Basically does age affect paper all the same or is the response unpredictable ? I estimate the paper between 5 - 12 years old. (There was even some Ilford velvet ripple(?) in brown cardboard covering all unopened!!) It is all from a community studio...

Ta Ben..

-- benjamin langley (benjaminlangley73@yahoo.com.au), November 16, 2000

Answers

It will probably be fogged and unuseable. Old paper often has an overall grey cast that prevents you from obtaining clean highlights. If, however, it has been stored in a cool to cold environment, it *might* still be useable.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edbuffaloe@unblinkingeye.com), November 16, 2000.

Test it, and don't be too surprised if it's fogged. It might still be good for contact sheets and casual stuff. Be sure to do a side by side comparison against new paper. I find the degradation is sometimes subtle, and then I realize that it's time for new paper! You can also try adding some anti-fog compound to your print developer. Edwal "Liquid Orthazite", which is just benzotriazole and sodium sulfite, is easily available, but I have to admit I've never had much success at rescueing old paper (and I seem to collect a lot of it!).

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), November 16, 2000.

I have a 20 y.o. box of grade 4 fiber Kodabromide I found in the trash. It's not fogged but it's contrast has dropped to about grade 3.

-- Tim Brown (brownt@flash.net), November 16, 2000.

I have recently reinstalled my darkroom, and found some forgotten boxes of Agfa Brovira, Ilford Ilfobrom and Ilford Ilfomar, all graded fibre based. I was not expecting very much of them. These nearly 30 years old papers were stored in very ordinary conditions of temperature, but well packed in their original boxes, only a few sheets having been used from each box.

I tried them, developing them in Ilford PQ. They appear to have kept rather well, except that they have lost some contrast and the surface coating is very dry. This means that they take time to be soaked and developing takes extra time. The Agfa Brovira and the Ilford Ilfomar still sepia tone very well.

-- Philippe Verroest (philippe@pjvrst.fsnet.co.uk), December 03, 2000.