ADOX (ADOLUX) SELEN TONER

Philippe-Georges

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I suspect these are the same but just to be sure...
Is there a difference between the ADOLUX SELEN TONER in the black bottles and the ADOX SELENTONER in translucent bottles (see the pictures)?
On the black bottle DMAX increase (Maximalschwärzen) at 1+10 is mentioned, not on the translucent bottle.
Although the dilution for toning and image stabilisation is the same, and the toner in the black bottle does an excellent job for DMAX.

PS: I haven't tried the translucent bottle (the black is't used up yet).

 

koraks

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I can only say that the Adolux bottle has to be over 10 years old by now. I'm only familiar with the newer version. I doubt there's much difference between them, to be honest.
 
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Philippe-Georges

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koraks said:
I can only say that the Adolux bottle has to be over 10 years old by now. I'm only familiar with the newer version. I doubt there's much difference between them, to be honest.
Click to expand...

I was of the same conviction, but jus wanted to be sure: different age, name, label and bottle.
Anyway the Selen Toner in that 10 years old bottle still does the thing it is supposed to do.
 

koraks

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I think it's a pretty reliable/durable recipe. My experience is also that selenium toner is really stable, indeed. I also suspect that the different brands of selenium toner are all formulated along the same lines; ammonium thiosulfate, sodium selenide, some sulfite to keep the thiosulfate from deteriorating.

Maybe @ADOX Fotoimpex can provide some insights into the specific differences between the old and the new product, if any.
 

Doremus Scudder

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There likely the same formula even. If not, close enough.

Take that stuff about "image stabilization" with a grain of salt. If there is no visible change (either in Dmax or image tone), then there's not a lot of protection happening either. It's kind of an old myth that has since been debunked.

Doremus
 

pentaxuser

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koraks said:
I think it's a pretty reliable/durable recipe. My experience is also that selenium toner is really stable, indeed.
Click to expand...
Yes, don't we have someone here who was( maybe still is) using the same selenium toner ( with occasional filtration) since we all "liked Ike"

pentaxuser
 

JPD

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Doremus Scudder said:
Take that stuff about "image stabilization" with a grain of salt. If there is no visible change (either in Dmax or image tone), then there's not a lot of protection happening either. It's kind of an old myth that has since been debunked.
Click to expand...

I'm not a chemist, but have always reasoned that if the silver didn't get converted into silver selenide then there's no protection, so what you get are just well-rinsed prints that might be slightly more archival, but that's like a placebo effect when you think that it was the selenium toning that did it.

I prefer to use a strong solution and tone to completion. The resulting look depends of course on the paper.
 
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Philippe-Georges

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Till certain extend tat is what I do, I treat the prints in 1+10 for 2 min at 20 to 22°C in the Selenium, after a short rinse and 2 min in 2% Na2SO3 to 'reduce' the présence of (neutral-) fixer. By this the blacks or getting 'deeper'...
 

Doremus Scudder

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pentaxuser said:
Yes, don't we have someone here who was( maybe still is) using the same selenium toner ( with occasional filtration) since we all "liked Ike"

pentaxuser
Click to expand...
That'd be me I'm not sure about Ike, but I have working solutions of selenium toner that have been going for 10+ years with filtration and replenishment when toning times get too long. No waste, no selenium toner down the drain.

Doremus
 

koraks

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JPD said:
I prefer to use a strong solution and tone to completion.
Click to expand...

That's pretty brick red to eggplant purple with low dmax. I've taken selenium toning pretty far on silver gelatin, but very rarely to completion and it sure takes a lot of toner and patience to get that far!
 
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Philippe-Georges

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I never encountered any colour change caused to the way I do selenium toning, which till recently was the Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner.
On the contrary, the slightly 'warmish' tone of the FOMABROM FB III paper, in combination with the developer I use (a home brewed human-friendly Dektol type), is going away, which I like a lot and is one of the reasons why I tone: 'returning' to intense, dense blacks and 'neutral' mid tones.
 
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GregY

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koraks said:
That's pretty brick red to eggplant purple with low dmax. I've taken selenium toning pretty far on silver gelatin, but very rarely to completion and it sure takes a lot of toner and patience to get that far!
Click to expand...

Likewise.... 1:20. I like black & white...... completion is far too far for me. A little extra D-max is all i'm after
 
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