Multicontrast filters Ilford & ADOX

Olivinyl · 2012-05-18T08:30:29+00:00

Hallo zusammen. Ich habe einen Satz Ilford Multikontrastfilter bekommen. Nun musste ich feststellen, dass der Filter Nr. 4 sehr hell ist und der Filter Nr....

Olivinyl

Hello everyone. I’ve got a set of Ilford multi-contrast filters. I’ve noticed that filter No. 4 is very light and filter No. 5 is lighter than No. 3. When I check the Ilford Photo Lab Manual, the filter colours match the examples on page 5. http://www.blende7.at/datenblaetter/ilford/handbuch.pdf However, when I look at the example photo for the ADOX filters http://www.fotoimpex.de/shop/fotolabor/variokontrastfilter/multikontrastfiltersatz-9x9cm-ganze-gradationsstufen-0-5.html , I get the impression that filter No. 5 is the darkest and No. 0 the lightest. That isn’t the case with the Ilford filters. Could someone please clarify this for me? Best regards, Oliver

MirkoBoeddecker

Hello Oliver, These filters are produced by applying a substrate of colorants dissolved in gelatin to a film. Like all colorants, these fade over time. We attribute a great many complaints about paper that supposedly does not ‘set’ to either faded filters or incorrect darkroom lighting. It is therefore quite possible that your gift is, unfortunately, unusable. Best regards, Mirko

Olivinyl

Hello Mirko The filter colours match those shown in the PDF (link), but I just think that the ADOX filters in the shop have a completely different colour range, from light to dark. Could it be that Ilford uses different filters for grading?

AchimBauer

Hi Oliver, I’m not familiar with ADOX filters, but I do have Ilford filters. Filter 4 is actually very light, but it also has a different colour to 3, 4½ and 5 – it’s more yellowish. The only thing that confuses me is that 5 is supposed to be lighter than 3; for me, 5 is definitely darker. Were yours ever trimmed to size, and the numbers along with them? And were they numbered incorrectly by hand? Or was the No. 5 forgotten when being put back in the box, so that it has faded? Regards, Achim

Olivinyl

Hello everyone. So it seems my filters are fine. I was just a bit confused that the No. 4 is so bright. The No. 5 does seem to be a bit brighter than the No. 3, though. See the images on pages 4 and 5: http://www.blende7.at/datenblaetter/ilford/handbuch.pdf Otherwise, I would have bought an ADOX filter set and cut the sheets to size to ‘fit’ into the Ilford holders. Does anyone have an ADOX or Paterson filter set and can say anything about the colours of the filters? Best regards, Oliver

MirkoBoeddecker

Hello Oliver, Ilford seems to add extra density to the medium-grade filters to ensure the same exposure time across all gradients. Provided the filters haven’t faded, they’ll work well. Best regards, Mirko

Olivinyl

Hi Mirko, That might be about right for the exposure time, as from filter 2.5 onwards the times hardly differ at all. But does the MCP paper also work with Ilford filters? So far I’ve only used Ilford Multigrade paper, and once I’ve used up my last few sheets I was planning to get some MCP. Best wishes, Oliver

MirkoBoeddecker

The filter values (not the density of the filter) are standardised. Both papers can be processed with the other filters. There are differences in tone reproduction and speed, which must be corrected through filtering and exposure. It is therefore not possible to transfer exposure data from one paper to the other. Best regards, Mirko