Gast
Hello,
As my current standard paper (Polymax II RC) will no longer be available in the near future, I’m looking for a replacement. It should be PE again and have a slightly cooler tone.
Now my questions: 1. Is the tone of Easy Print Vario Cl. similar to that of the old Polykaltton PE, i.e. slightly cooler than, say, Agfa or Foma?
2. What about the lighting? The information in the catalogue contradicts that on www.adoxfilm.de
The catalogue says “red light only”, whilst the website also gives the green light for orange light. :)
Has anyone tried it and can comment on this?
Thanks and best regards
Taher
Gast
Hello Taher,
Unfortunately, sensitising the paper is a bit tricky.
At present, we can only approve the Vario Classic (Easy and Fine Print) for DARK RED light (Phillips red light lamp).
It should actually work with orange light as well, but unfortunately this is proving more complicated than expected.
We are currently working on it and will let you know if anything changes.
PLEASE NOTE: The AP Light Red lamp and the Paterson lamp may also cause the paper to turn grey under certain circumstances!
Please always test it when it is new!
Best regards,
Mirko
cfb_de
Hi Mirko,
This confirms my recent post here: “Get some red Duka lighting, learn how to use it, and be happy.” Why is that actually so difficult?
With “green”, there are issues in the highlights and with contrasts that are too soft when viewed through Duka. Orange is the worst-case scenario of all the options. And with good old “red”, once you’ve learnt the contrast effect, everything is actually perfectly fine.
I’m slowly starting to wonder why nobody these days listens to “Grandad”, “Great-uncle” or even “literature” anymore, and everyone feels they have to reinvent the wheel fifteen times over.
Is it really that difficult to give some thought to the transmission of various films? Is it really that hard not to ask yourself whether “orange” or “dark orange” justifies a special edition of a specific filter? Or whether the old “red light” simply won’t do?
After all, photographic paper is probably the only data-storing medium that has been documented as backwards-compatible for 150 years.
I’ll be reading the paper again tomorrow morning in my darkroom. Under red light. Without any issues with any papers (I don’t use ‘Pan papers’ or colour papers as the only exceptions to this basic rule). Old ‘Agfa bowl’, 15W bulb at the back, old filter. “Bright as the light of day” in my little bathroom (there’s absolutely nothing tiled in a shitty brown or black).
Best regards,
Franz [out and about tomorrow with PW14 (well-known), Fomatone (well-known, popular) and Varycon (half-known, half-popular)]
FrankJBeckmann
Hi,
I’m really disappointed with the AP lamp I bought from Impex the other day, as it was advertised as being safe. It still produces a severe haze even at a distance of 2 metres, even when using Foma Speed Variant film. The lamp was clearly a complete waste of money. Given how little money I have, I wanted to play it safe and not just buy something on eBay.
Bye
Frank
Gast
Frank,
My AP red-light lamp works with the Vario Classic too, but I bought the lamp and film (Efke Varycon then and now) around 1999; I currently use Kentmere, so perhaps things have changed since then (film properties, lamp housing material).
Happy shooting
Otto
MirkoBoeddecker
Frank,
AP lamps do not cause a haze on Foma paper.
We’ve been using them in our own lab for over 10 years.
If they’re far enough away from the Vario Classic, it works fine; however, if they come within 2 metres, the Vario Classic starts playing up, and so far only the Phillips red-light lamp has managed to get through the 1.5-metre / 10-minute test without causing a haze.
But that only applies to the Vario Classic.
Have you ever done a counter-test to see if it might not be down to the lamp but rather stray light or external light?
So far, I haven’t heard of anything like this or noticed it myself, so I assume that AP hasn’t made a manufacturing error either. If that were the case, we would of course have to raise the alarm in Spain.
Best regards,
Mirko
Gast
Just out of interest, what’s the situation with coloured lights?
Otto
FrankJBeckmann
Hi Mirko,
It’s definitely the Ap lamp. You can even see the shadows cast by the objects placed on the paper for the test.
Bye
Frank
cfb_de
Hi Frank,
Before you get any more annoyed:
- What sort of bulb are you using? 25W is usually already too much.
- If necessary, put a DC-Fix filter around it or use a red LED spotlight. A 2m distance has never done any harm.
My old Agfa ‘tin drum’ with an equally old red filter glass in front of it also gives a hazy image when I put a 7W energy-saving bulb in. With a 25W ‘matt’ incandescent bulb, there’s no haze and I can read the newspaper in the Duka (white-tiled bathroom).
Best regards,
Franz
FrankJBeckmann
Before you get even more annoyed:
- What sort of bulb is in there? 25W is usually already too much.
- If necessary, wrap some DC-Fix around it or fit a red LED spotlight. A 2m distance has never done any harm.
Hi Franz,
The bulb only has a power rating of 10W. I’ve already been thinking about making some sort of lampshade out of black card so that the paper only gets indirect light.
What kind of film would be suitable? Do you have any experience with this?
Bye
Frank
RomanJRohleder
Frank,
Get hold of a few square centimetres of Rubylith or DCfix – that’s red adhesive film. Rubylith is used in the graphics industry for masking and is sufficiently ‘reliable’ – a friend of mine made himself a frame and covered it with Rubylith; he uses it to secure his lab computer – the monitor stays on.
You then stick the film onto the cover of your AP....
Alternatively, the LED spotlights mentioned by Franz. They cost a good €10 at Conrad and are useful for anyone with an E27 socket and two left hands... although I’ve ‘bribed’ someone to solder four proper LED strips for me...
Don’t get annoyed about the AP thing – fix it or replace it. Plastic ages; perhaps the cover has developed micro-cracks.
FrankJBeckmann
Frank,
Get hold of a few square centimetres of Rubylith or DCfix – that is, red adhesive film. Rubylith is used in the graphics industry for masking and is sufficiently ‘reliable’ – a friend of mine made himself a frame and covered it with Rubylith; he uses it to protect his lab computer – the monitor stays on.
You then stick the film onto the cover of your AP....
Alternatively, the LED spotlights mentioned by Franz. They cost a good €10 at Conrad and are useful for anyone who has an E27 socket and two left hands... although I ‘bribed’ someone to solder four proper LED strips for me...
Don’t get annoyed about the AP thing – fix it or replace it. Plastic ages; perhaps the cover has developed micro-cracks.
Hi Roman,
The LED spotlight looks interesting; it’s just the thing for people like me. I found the one with the 20 LEDs in the Conrad catalogue. My AP light is brand new from FOTOIMPEX, so the plastic can’t have started to age yet.
Bye
Frank
Gast
To come back to the question about the paper, I’ve recently made prints with it and am very pleased. It has a slightly cooler tone than Foma, which I usually work with, and the white of the base is purer, which I really like. It’s quite thick for a PE paper, which is a matter of personal preference. The prints, developed in a mixture of Amaloco cold-tone developer and Fomatol PW, came out very nicely, brilliant and with good grey tones. Overall, I’d recommend it, though the emulsion is more sensitive than Foma or Agfa: gloves are necessary to avoid fingerprints.
I use a red lamp from Philips, and it works perfectly, though it isn’t very bright.
By the way, does anyone know where Easyprint VC comes from? I live in Holland and can’t always travel to Berlin (where it’s cheaper) for small purchases, but I can go to the local Forte and Efle importers.
Samuli
MirkoBoeddecker
Hello everyone,
Unfortunately, we’re currently experiencing delivery issues because we can’t start casting the material again until the light sensitivity tests have been completed. We’re currently experimenting with various Sensitizers and now have to wait for the storage tests to be finished.
I’m afraid we won’t have any new stock until September.
Until then, please use dark red DUKA light or switch the light off completely.
Best regards,
Mirko
cfb_de
Hi Mirko,
Does this also apply to the baryta version? That’s interesting for those ordering rolls.
Best regards,
Franz
MirkoBoeddecker
Franz,
I might be able to have some tyres cut from the May batch, but as I said: dark red, not even AP Bright Red.
I’d need everyone’s approval for that, though.
Best regards,
Mirko
cfb_de
Hi Mirko,
So the baryta version is affected too. Under these circumstances, you certainly won’t be getting my approval :-)
I think we can all wait until September; that’ll be after the main holiday rush anyway. I’ll pop a message in the other thread straight away.
Best regards,
Franz
MirkoBoeddecker
Franz,
This emulsion, with its red speed, has been on the market for over 15 years and has also been successfully sold by other companies.
We have improved the paper, giving it greater brilliance, amongst other things. Now we would also like to improve its sensitisation.
So it’s not that this batch is somehow ‘affected’. It’s just that the paper is now available to a wider range of users than before, and that’s why the ‘complaints’ are piling up. It’s always the same old story: ‘Ilford, your paper doesn’t work in this light’, ergo the paper is faulty and not the light that’s too bright.
That’s why I’m harping on about it. I’m simply fed up with telling the same story every day and constantly having to put up with stupid comments from people who think they know better.....
So, to sum up: the paper is flawless (as always) and produces wonderful results if you know what you’re doing, but it’s not really suitable for a broad user base due to its relative speed in responding to bright red, bright orange and yellow light.
We therefore hope to be able to offer a slightly desensitised version in future.
Until then, I’d rather not have the old version cast again.
That’s why things are a bit on hold.
That’s how it looks at the moment..... :)
Best regards,
Mirko
cfb_de
(I’ll copy it the other way round this time :-)
Hi Mirko,
Thanks for the clarification. It wasn’t entirely clear from your first description, and it seems I’d already been working with that emulsion (in a yellow-orange box).
Now I wouldn’t mind whether the old Güte is scrapped or the new one. However, I think it would be smarter for you to go with the new one. I’m sure you based your sales planning for sheet paper on the old Güte. I wouldn’t want sheet paper customers to have to wait because we’re ‘taking away’ the paper in roll form from them.
Best regards,
Franz
Gast
Mirko,
As I mentioned, I bought a 'trial pack' of 100 sheets of 18x24 Vario Classic Baryt from you back in 1999, along with an AP lamp. There’s no haze at all, even at a distance of a metre or so, though I do make sure not to leave my paper lying out in the open.
Take the sheet out, fold the plastic back over it, and that’s it.
Otto
