Polywarmton is being discontinued - alternatives?

SamuliSchielke · 2007-02-21T15:12:21+00:00

Dass Fomatone und Kentona eingefärbt wären, überrascht mich wirklich - beim Lithen und Tonen verhalten sie sich definitiv wie wahre Warmtonpapiere. Aber wenn...

SamuliSchielke

Dear Forum, Now that Forte has finally been discontinued, and production of Polywarmton has consequently ceased as well, the question of alternatives arises. I still have a bit left in the freezer, but in the long run I’ll need a different paper. Until now, Polywarmton has been my go-to paper for prints that needed a subtly warm, brownish-black tone, whilst I’ve been printing on Fomatone for prints that needed toning. Fomatone is still available, of course, but the image tone is too greenish for my liking when untoned. As far as I know, following the discontinuation of PWT, there are only two genuine warm-tone papers left apart from Fomatone: Kentona and Adox Nuance. I’ve tried Kentona before (nice, but not as nice as PWT), but not Adox Nuance. Who has more experience and knowledge about these? And are there any other warm-tone papers I’m not aware of? Many thanks for your advice, Samuli

luna

Hello Samuli! It seems there are very few alternatives to Forte PW – as you can see from the number of replies. I spoke to Mr Moersch on the phone again recently – that’s what I call support! Apart from the fact that he dispatches orders promptly, in excellent packaging and at fair postage rates, he also provides excellent information. Have a chat with him; I’m sure he can suggest some good alternatives and has probably had experience with them too! http://www.moersch-photochemie.de/ Best regards! Johannes

MirkoBoeddecker

There is no real substitute for Polywarmton. Fomatone, Ilford Warmton and Kentona are all tinted bromide-silver emulsions. Whilst they also produce a warm tone, they behave completely differently in other respects. This is particularly noticeable in all alternative processes such as lith printing, Amidol development or toning. The only remaining fine-grain bromide-silver emulsion is currently ADOX Nuance. However, this paper behaves in a much more restrained manner than PW. It isn’t as ‘snappy’ as the Americans say. Best regards, Mirko

SamuliSchielke

I’m genuinely surprised that Fomatone and Kentona are pre-toned – when it comes to lith printing and toning, they definitely behave like true warm-tone papers. But if that really is the case, then I suppose I’ll have to revise my opinion of pre-toned bromide-silver emulsions ;) I don’t need to stock up on PWT just yet; it’s more a matter of long-term planning. I’ll probably give Nuance a try once my stock of PWT runs out at some point – unless one of the remaining manufacturers decides to offer a PWT replica. I could imagine it might be worth it, as PWT was, after all, a very popular paper. Many thanks for the replies, Samuli

MirkoBoeddecker

I've moved my reply to Samuli's question here. Mirko

Rodinal

Hello, Isn’t the ADOX Easy Print a suitable replacement for the Forte PWT-PE??? Is the same true for the baryta variants? Or was the ADOX perhaps also produced by Forte? R.