Arista.edu Ultra Paper Bad Experiences

I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience and if anyone has been able to solve it. I got a box of RC VC Arista.edu Ultra, the stuff from Foma, and everything I have printed with it so far has been extremely flat. Negs that I was printing successfully at about a 2 1/2 grade on other paper look flat when I print them at about a 4. If I go up to about 5 or so, they start looking really bad, kind of like they are too contrasty, but still lifeless. I can't seem to find any contrast grade where the stuff is worth using.

I am hoping that there is a trick, a certain developer, or something, because I have most of a box to use up and I am not going to be able to use it the way it is now. Also, has anyone tried Foma papers that are not rebranded as Arista and had similar or different experiences?

Thanks!

Is your developer going bad? Which ones have you tried so far? tim

noseoil said:

Is your developer going bad? Which ones have you tried so far? tim

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Developer is fine, I have had this experience with three or four different printing sessions, some with brand new developer, some not.

I have only tried Dektol so far since it is what we use. I have some ultra black I can try out if it seems to be worth it, but changing developers isn's very attractive an option the more I think about it. At that point I may as well just get some new paper.

Did you contact the shop you bought it from? Maybe this is a problem the manufacturer is having? It's worth a try.

david b said:

Did you contact the shop you bought it from? Maybe this is a problem the manufacturer is having? It's worth a try.

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Good point. It is Freestyle and they are pretty helpful, usually. They are also APUG sponsors, so that is worth something. Thanks, I wasn't thinking of it as a possible batch problem or defect, just paper that was not to my liking. I need to change my perspective!

You're a good enough photographer to know your skills and materials. So I say call Freestyle.

I'm relatively new in the darkroom, with limited experience, but I have tried the Arista.EDU Ultra VC RC paper. Compared to the Agfa MCP310RC I used prior to that, I've found the Arista.EDU to be a bit low in contrast, but I've been able to get acceptable contrast by kicking up the magenta filtration a bit. This has been with Dektol. Of course, being relatively new at this, my standards may not be up to yours. I've also noticed that the mid-tones with this paper seem almost brown rather than gray. For most of what I shoot, I don't like this effect, although it might work well for some subjects.