Adox Vario Classic / Emaks

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Hello,

J&C Photo recommends using Adox Vario Classic as a replacement for Agfa fiber paper. Has anybody made a comparison?

From what I can read and study, the Adox paper (Fotokemika Emaks, same factory that makes Efke films), is slightly colder in tone, but with very deep, yet neutral blacks and brilliant highlights. Long tonal scale. Sounds almost like Agfa MCC by golly.
My father tells me Emaks paper has received several awards in Scandinavia lately, as being one of the very best VC papers around.

For you people in denial of / mourning the demise of Agfa Photo, this might be a worthy replacement. I intend to order some, and compare it to my remaining stock of Agfa. I'll let you know how it turns out.

- Thom

 

[John Simmons]

I have used Adox Vario G from J and C and here are my impressions. First, the paper s base is very very heavy..much heavier than the Agfa MCC. The Adox paper base is a very bright white...almost as white as the ilford MGIV where MCC has an off white base (at least when compared side to side). The Agfa Paper when air dryed has a very nice gloss. The Adox Vario G Glossy when air dryed looks almost like a semi-mat paper with a silvery sheen. The major difference is that the adox paper is a cold tone paper and agfa a neutral/warm tone paper. Don't get me wrong...the adox paper is very nice, priced right, tones beautifully, easy to work with, but it is in no way even remotely similar to agfa mcc. It is worth trying.

 

[Mark Layne]

All of the above and I still believe it is the Dupont /Adox Varilour formula. The paper base is almost identical and the same silvery sheen.
I suspect this paper would work beautifully in Amidol.
Mark

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Thanks guys. You think Amidol might give it an even colder tone? Not necessarily a bad thing.

If it tones beautifully, then for me it might be all right with the neutral base. I'm more looking for a paper that can handle the range the Agfa could, and produce deeeeep blacks with definition.

- Thom

 

[pauldc]

Just finished printing a first session with this paper. I used Eukobrom 1+9 and found the results fairly neutral - not really cold at all. The sheen of the paper is nice (my partner even commented on this un-prompted!) as others have reported. My main finding though is that the paper is low contrast, almost one grade less contrast than Ilford fibre paper. I use a diffusion enlarger and routinely print at grade 3 but with the Adox it has had to be grade 4.

Nice paper and certianly value for money.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

I use a diffusion enlarger and routinely print at grade 3 but with the Adox it has had to be grade 4.

Hi Paul,

What kind of light source (tungsten...cold light...) are you using? What kind of filtration (filters...VC head...) are you using? This will help me get a better sense of what I could expect from my enlarger (Zone VI VC cold light head) with this paper.

Murray

 

[pauldc]

Hi Murray, my enlarger is a Meopta Magnifax with a colour head using a halogen 100w bulb.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Thanks to one of the APUG members, I laid my hands on some of this paper, and printed with it last weekend. I am SO happy with this paper. It is exactely what I was looking for.

Thanks for all your help.

- Thom

 

[timeUnit]

Just finished printing a first session with this paper. I used Eukobrom 1+9 and found the results fairly neutral - not really cold at all. The sheen of the paper is nice (my partner even commented on this un-prompted!) as others have reported. My main finding though is that the paper is low contrast, almost one grade less contrast than Ilford fibre paper. I use a diffusion enlarger and routinely print at grade 3 but with the Adox it has had to be grade 4.

Nice paper and certianly value for money.

Exactly my experience too. In Eukobrom 1+9 it's perfectly netural to my eyes, but with a certain sparkle that MGIV FB lacks, IMO. Do try it in Dektol 1+1. It turns very cold, almost blue. I love it. Toning in Selenium has very little visible effect in my experience. I toned one print for 10 minutes in 1+9 and could see no difference in color. Maybe at 1+4 or something if one wants the purple.

 

[noseoil]

Thom, curious about the comments about a lack of contrast in grade 2 printing, have you found this to be true? Which developer did you use? thanks, tim

 

[honerich]

My main finding though is that the paper is low contrast, almost one grade less contrast than Ilford fibre paper. I use a diffusion enlarger and routinely print at grade 3 but with the Adox it has had to be grade 4.

Hello Paul,
a reason for low contrast also could be a wrong safelight: This ADOX paper requires dark-red, nothing else, especially no amber!