Agfa Brovira

[blackmelas]

The other night tried to print on some old (at least 25years) Agfa Brovira (see my gallery post-- (there was a url link here which no longer exists) ) that was left in my salvaged/inherited darkroom unrefrigerated. It was stored in the basement and thus at a reasonably stable temperature and high humidity. The paper doesn't seem fogged but it has a distinct ivory hue.

I had two problems. (1) I was using Ilford Multigrade developer at 1+9 and rapid fixer at 1+4. I was experiencing sporadic uneven development even though I was allowing up to three minutes of development time. Every third or fourth sheet had not blotchiness but fuzzy diagonal white streaks that seemed less exposed. And (2) the paper started to exhaust the developer quickly. After ten sheets my standard developing time was underdeveloping for the exposure given. I could print two or three times that for the same volume of developer if I were using Ilford MGFB. During the same session I printed with Tetenal Centrabrom and perhaps I saw fewer white streaks but this problem wasn’t eliminated altogether.

Can anyone diagnose the problem I’m having? Or recommend developers that might work better with this old paper?

I had never printed to bromide or graded paper before and I love its natural cold tone compared to Ilford MG. And the smell... I think I’m addicted. In “The Print,” A. Adams says at one point regarding a photo that he would use Oriental Seagull in place of Brovira. Does this paper (or any modern paper) still give similar results to Brovira?
Thanks,
James

 

[Mark Layne]

James
I have some 30 yr old Brovira which works just fine but I use Dektol or Bromophen with it. I wouldnt choose Multigrade however I'm not sure it is the cause of the problem
Mark

 

[David H. Bebbington]

I stopped using Afga paper (RC and FB) a long time ago because I felt this paper had far too many stress marks and scratches which had obviously been induced during manufacture (the sign of this is that a problem recurs on every x-th sheet). Bad storage with a heavy object resting on the paper packet could easily produce the marks you describe on every sheet but not on every 3rd sheet or whatever.

Can only guess about rapid developer exhaustion - I would imagine Agfa 25 years ago was coating its papers more heavily than Ilford last year!

Regards,

David

 

[Maine-iac]

I stopped using Afga paper (RC and FB) a long time ago because I felt this paper had far too many stress marks and scratches which had obviously been induced during manufacture (the sign of this is that a problem recurs on every x-th sheet). Bad storage with a heavy object resting on the paper packet could easily produce the marks you describe on every sheet but not on every 3rd sheet or whatever.


Regards,

David

You might want to give Agfa another try. I use MCC Classic most of the time, and have had no problems with manufacturer-induced marks. It's a lovely paper.