Adox Variotone--A NEW B&W paper

[David A. Goldfarb]

So, Wolfgang Moersch has been dropping a few hints about this new paper in the galleries, and Mirko has made an announcement on this forum--

http://www.fotolaborforum.eu/index.php?showtopic=1961&pid=10571&st=0&#entry10571

And there is a page on the Adox website--

http://www.adox.de/ADOX_Papiere/ADOX_Variotone/Variotone.html

And from these posts I can gather it's a warmtone emulsion on the same baryta base as Ilford MG Warmtone available in glossy and semi-matte, coated by Harman I'm assuming, and it tones beautifully (which tends to be true of papers that respond well to amidol, so that's what I'll be looking at when I can get some to try out).

So, those in the know (Simon, Wolfgang, Mirko...), tell us more! When should it be available, and is it VC or a fixed grade paper, and what grade?

It is great to see a NEW B&W fiber base paper entering the market in these days of products disappearing.

 

[Alex Hawley]

Hey David, is there an English translation of their website somewhere? Meine Deutsch ist nicht gut anymore. Danke!

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Haven't seen one, but I think I paraphrased the key bits accurately.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

It's a guess, but I think it's variable contrast, if the word 'vario' is used consistently at all.
Wolfgang has posted some examples in the galleries, and he states the paper will be available in August in the USA.

- Thomas

 

[Gary Holliday]

Bergger and Adox have all gone knocking on Ilford's door for a new warmtone paper...are they all going to be clones of Ilford warmtone?

I assume this new paper will be warmer than MCC, so a welcome addition.

 

[ath]

a short summary of Mirkos announcement:

this is a warmtone paper with pure white base, same base from Schoeller as MCC, Vario Classic, Ilford Multigrade (not warmtone).
Official announcement and start of delivery will be at photokina.
Currently they are waiting for the next test run to produce more example prints.

 

[Ian Grant]

If you go back to the home page of the Adox website you can choose the English version. But the papers not listed there yet.

Not sure why Gary or David think that a paper being test run by Mirko would necessarily come from Ilford, after all he is resurrecting some of the Agfa papers in Germany. The paper base may well be the same as Ilford use, and the Ilford Warmtone base has supposedly changed over the past 2 years.

Ian

 

[SuzanneR]

I'm pleased with this news... great to have a choice of papers!

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Thanks Andreas. So I guess it's a warmtone emulsion on a bright white base.

Ian, the announcement on the Adox website says it's a collaboration among Ilford, Wolfgang Moersch and Adox, so my assumption was that Ilford was coating it.

 

[Dave Miller]

I think I read something about this on the Silverprint site in their news letter.

 

[jstraw]

I love that Ilford is getting involved in these sorts of collaborations. It speaks well of its commitment to this medium.

 

[Ian Grant]

Thanks Andreas. So I guess it's a warmtone emulsion on a bright white base.

Ian, the announcement on the Adox website says it's a collaboration among Ilford, Wolfgang Moersch and Adox, so my assumption was that Ilford was coating it.

Yes your quite right David even my limited German should have picked that one up.

Many of us don't use the current Ilford Warmtone paper because of its base colour so maybe this is the paper we've been waiting for.

Ian

 

[Rolleijoe]

Well, I'll just keep my eyes open and wait to see. Meanwhile I'm happy with Varycon Fiber, and Fomatone WA Velvet. That Fomatone paper is excellent (as is the 542 paper....nothing else like it made by anyone).

So for now, all printing on Fomatone. That will be the one to beat, for me.

Rolleijoe

 

[vic vic]

adox, ilford, mr moersch ... all are wonderful .. as a reminder, now it seems even more wonderful
looking forward to hear more about this paper and to play with it myself any time soon.
i think all the darkroom printers should be quite happy with the choices out there (at least rite now), but the announcement of new paper, makes it feel really great.... as it seems from the texts, the callobarative work will be even more efficient in the state-of-affairs of the market this days. so cheers, my applauds and encouragement even before i saw the paper in real...

 

[Snapshot]

Is there a timeframe for the release of this paper?

 

[Dave Miller]

I think I read something about this on the Silverprint site in their news letter.

I was wrong, Silverprints announcement refers to a new Fomatone 532 paper; serves me right for not checking the source before posting.

 

[Uhner]

Is there a timeframe for the release of this paper?

The paper will probably be available at Photokina 2008 according to the statement on adox.de

 

[Gary Holliday]

It is a good sign that these collaborations exist and they are not all trying to put each other out of business. But then Royal Mail distribute mail for other courier companies?!

Regardless of the arrangements, warm tone and white base sounds great although I would like to see an RC version for my commercial work. I'm waiting for Fomatone WT RC velvet and semi matt to arrive at my door, so plenty of testing to do this week.

So we will see this new paper after September!

 

[doughowk]

New Adox paper at Freestyle

I received their catalog today, and it lists the new Adox Fine Print Variotone VC FB Warmtone paper. Wolfgang Moersch has posted some examples here of the new paper. Their website doesn't list it, so called them. Was told that they are waiting receipt of the paper. The salesperson said it was supposedly comparable to an old Agfa paper (Adox hired some of Agfa's former engineers to help develop the line). What paper might that be?

The catalog says paper is optimized for Moersch toners, yet I don't see Freestyle carrying those toners. Are they available in USA?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Wolfgang Moersch posted a while back that Freestyle will be carrying the full line of Moersch chemistry. I don't recall the scheduled shipment date, but he mentioned it in his post, and of course Freestyle should know.

 

[kristopher_lawrence]

Portriga please!!!

Fiber.. Old AGFA.... warmtone.... Please make it look like Portriga.

I am too young to have played with this one, but got an old pack couple months ago. I loved it so much.... It might me turn to Fiber printing alone!!!

 

[2F/2F]

I have lots of old Portriga Rapid, and I love it as well. Too bad it is mostly single weight.

 

[Larry Bullis]

I've got some Portriga Rapid 118 left, DW. Fabulous paper if it is still good. The box of 100 sheets still has the price on it. I think it was around $18.95. I have other miscellaneous pr, not worth really mention beyond this.

In the late 1970's Agfa changed the paper. I believe it was an environmental/toxicity concern. Seems to me I recall the mention of the dread "cadmium". Prior to the change, I could split the tone using selenium. There's an example attached. Of course it was scanned (from the print) and I find it quite acceptable in terms of what it shows, but it is NOT a print!

After the change, PR was just a good paper, but not at all what it was. It was fine as long as the color out of the box was ok with you, toned or untoned. No splits. At least I never could get it to work.

The other great Agfa Paper was Record Rapid. It was a chlorobromide emulsion. Ruth Bernhardt loved it.

 

[ath]

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Threads merged.

So I saw that Freestyle now has the Moersch Toners and other chemistry available from their website, but I couldn't find Variotone yet.

Does anyone know if it's actually available, or when it should be? I've got a few things I'd like to order from Freestyle, but I've been waiting to include Variotone in the order.