Given that it was a Kodak Ltd paper (i.e. made in Harrow for the UK market), I'm a bit perplexed by your statement that it wasn't as easily available in the UK as Agfa papers. It may have been that the Kodak material was more readily available through the professional supply channels rather than high street shops.
I have got some in to-be-lithed pile, along with a chunk of Record Rapid. The other main Kodak Ltd papers were Bromide (not Kodabromide) and Royal Bromesko. Royal Bromesko looks like it was being aimed at Portriga.
The Cd misnomer is a convenient excuse but it probably had a lot more to do with a more complex sequence of changes. The change to washed emulsions (so that they could be coated on RC) and the removal of Cd happened in the 1970s, along with some emulsion structural changes (and the loss of some emulsions that could not be conveniently re-engineered with the technology of the time) - the real cause of death of some warmtone emulsions seems to have been their use of lead salts in the initial precipitation step (to produce a favourable crystal habit) and sales levels that were too low (by late 1990s standards) to accommodate the re-engineering of the emulsion using modern emulsion crystal growth technology. Changes in anti-oxidants and other components to enhance the batch-to-batch consistency also seem to have had effects on processes that require the creative misuse of particular papers.
Rotten Canadians, spoiled it all for us diehard printers.Agfa removed Cadmium from their warm tone papers in the late 1980s. I began using Record Rapid around 1987 and was disappointed when they reformulated with no Cadmium, it no longer had the same range of image tones/colour, extremes of warmth, but it was still an excellent paper. It was discontinued and replaced by Agfa MCC in about early 1994.
After that the only major paper still incorporating Cadmium (here in the UK) was Kodak Ektalure, but this was old stock made long before the ban.
In the late 1970s, and particularly the 1980s, there were concerns of toxic metals building up in the Great Lakes and particularly Lake Ontario, due to discharges by Eastman Kodak, This included Cadmium, and led to the EEC/EU bringing in its own regulations.
Ian
Rotten Canadians, spoiled it all for us diehard printers.
In the late 70's I settled with Portriga Rapid developed in Kodak Selectol as my favorites for B&W printing, but I focused almost exclusively on color by the mid 80's. When Portriga Rapid disappeared I was definitely sad to see it go, but hadn't been using it for many years.
I seem to remember a short UK ban on North Atlantic tinned Tuna due to Cadmium in the 11980s, while Cadmium levels in Tuna was properly assessed.
Record Rapid without Cadmium did not keep well.
Agfa used slightly different names in North America and Europe.
Here in the UK/Europe, Portriga Speed was the RC version of Record Rapid (Gloss FB), and Portriga was a Pearl/Satin not quite Matte FB paper. It was nor uncommon for products exported to North American to have slightly different names. It was about preventing Grey imports.
In the late 1970s I experimented with a Cadmium Toner, this gave White tones, you would ask why . . . . What about an emulsion on a black surface. at the time I had a business applying emulsion to painted surfaces, usually cars, vans, etc, for advertising. This was before Vinyl transfers.
Ian
hanks for the feedback about Portriga. I'm in Canada, so I'm assuming we had similar products to the U.S., but that may not have been true.
Bromesko was phased out in the early 80s but Record Rapid lasted nearly until the 2000s
Agfa removed Cadmium from their warm tone papers in the late 1980s. I began using Record Rapid around 1987 and was disappointed when they reformulated with no Cadmium, it no longer had the same range of image tones/colour, extremes of warmth, but it was still an excellent paper. It was discontinued and replaced by Agfa MCC in about early 1994.
After that the only major paper still incorporating Cadmium (here in the UK) was Kodak Ektalure, but this was old stock made long before the ban.
There's been a lot of mention about "Portriga" as well as "Portriga Rapid". Are those the same thing, or are these different variants.
Thanks for all that info! Besides Portriga Rapid, I was also aware of Brovira, but Record Rapid didn't seem to be sold where I lived. I don't know if that was a Canada thing, or just in my region of it.To the best of my knowledge, Record Rapid lasted until the early 2000s, Portriga Rapid was discontinued in the 1990s and nominally replaced by MCC 118 (which in terms of the aesthetic of non-toned end product was rather like stating an apple had become an orange).
Portriga and Record were a different faster-than-Lupex contact speed emulsion that did have Cd in it. They were long gone by the 1970s from what I can tell from available catalogues, but had a history lasting back to before WW2 - the original formula was called 'Portriga' but versions on pure white bases seemed to have been called 'Record' in the post WW2 era. The idea seems to have been to give some continuity with the faster 'Rapid' enlarging papers.
Portriga Rapid and Record Rapid directly evolved from Brovira Braun which doesn't seem to have had Cd in it, but did use a small amount of Pb salts. The main variation was in base colour and the blending of some grades to give somewhat intermediate ones in Portriga Rapid (e.g. PRK). From what Agfa were prepared to give away in the patent record, other than a move to chemical sensitisation and away from active gelatins, until the necessity of introducing washed emulsions in the 1970s for RC, the emulsions were much as disclosed in FIAT/ BIOS (and in some aspects, their competition were still playing catch up even then, especially in terms of maximum contrast - soon after, newer emulsion making methods with tighter control of crystal growth resolved that). From that point there's at least two changes: the advent of washed emulsions for RC, resulting in Portriga Speed and Brovira Speed as additions (and consequent effects on the behaviour of the FB emulsions); and a further change as noted by Ian in the 1980s (which I suspect may have been a move to a different coating plant and a reformulation to newer making techniques with tighter crystal growth control rather than Cd being eliminated - and probably changes in hardener, preservatives etc to reflect then current legislation, which did not seemingly affect the scale of use of Pb in the emulsion at that point).
Alongside that, we can run what we know of Kodak's habits in the use of Cd - they were seemingly busy eliminating it from the early 1970s, and it is reasonable to surmise that while some papers (Kodabromide) that used it (you can see a 'typical' bromide enlarging paper formula in the SPSE handbook) were reformulated (not to the satisfaction of many end users), others that were perceived as not having sufficient market size/ worth were allowed to EOL somewhere around the early 1980s (Medalist, and I suspect, Kodak Ltd's Bromide, Bromesko and Royal Bromesko). The killer for Ektalure (and Record Rapid) may well have been RoHS legislation targeting Pb, and a shrinking market for the papers from the digital shift meant that the corporate decision was made to allow them to EOL at the turn of the century, rather than reformulate. Cd's big strength seems to have been in terms of desirable curve shape alteration, with rather milder effects on warmth of image tone.
Thanks for all that info! Besides Portriga Rapid, I was also aware of Brovira, but Record Rapid didn't seem to be sold where I lived. I don't know if that was a Canada thing, or just in my region of it.
If you are in the E.U you might be able to find Slavich papers still (or was) made in Russia, their warm tone was close.
GregY,Paul, I wouldn't be buying anything from Russia....or from the USA for that matter.
Photography doesn't exist in a vacuum.....
GregY,
Is there something inferior with products from the USAor Russia ????
My wife and I are thinking of looking for property in Nova Scotia or Vancouver area for a Summer home and maybe Ecuador for winter residency. I'll then switch over completely to all Ilford, Adox and Foma products. I think global warming is hitting the USA pretty hard and it's getting hotter here all the time.
Yes, it's so warm here my father and mother are rolling over in their graves. Drill baby, drill! It will be a high of 52F here Friday.JW....things have heated up a lot, even more since New Year.
I haven't bought Kodak for 2 yrs now....& I'm not travelling south either.
Nothing i can't do with FP4+ and the Ilford Delta films.
As far as the demise of Seagull was concerned, might that not have been down to the fact that, in marketing terms,"the product just wouldn't fly anymore?
pentaxuser
Smart-ass! This is that sneaky British humor again. I remember when they started airing Benny Hill here in the U.S.. My father was still alive and I thought he'd Pee his pants every time he watched Benny's program. All in good fun!As far as the demise of Seagull was concerned, might that not have been down to the fact that, in marketing terms,"the product just wouldn't fly anymore?
pentaxuser
I used the last of mine last summer and not a bit of fog and just as nice as the day I bought it.I still have 2 boxes of the later Oriental VC FB..... it has survived without fogging and prints very well. I got these in mid covid.... unopened.
I am looking to find a paper that gives this results -
photo was made on Agfa brovira-or Portiga Rapid [?]
the film was FP4-in ID-11 ____DATE [1972]
Smart-ass! This is that sneaky British humor again. I remember when they started airing Benny Hill here in the U.S.. My father was still alive and I thought he'd Pee his pants every time he watched Benny's program. All in good fun!
I caught it the minute I read it. I know I have some Irish blood in me so maybe that helps pickup on dry British humor. My mom's name was Goodsell and she always told me it was Irish anyway? I don't know for sure, and I really don't care if it is or not.Thanks, I didn't think it would take that long for it to be recognised for what it is
pentaxuser
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?