Chromogenic B&W papers

stevewillard · Oct 8, 2006

I used to do high-end wedding photography, and I just did my last wedding this June. For B&W I shot traditional TMX 100 & 400 and then my lab produced B&W prints using Kodak Portra B&W papers which were processed in RA4 color negative paper chemistry. The results were the most amazing B&W prints I have ever seen with unbelievable creamy tones. I have never seen anything comparable with traditional B&W papers.

Unfortunately, Kodak has discontinued its B&W chromogenic papers. However, Oriental has a chromogenic B&W paper called Hyper Seagull B&W paper. It comes in either sepia or cold tone. Has anyone out there ever tried these papers?

reub2000 · Oct 8, 2006

Cross Posting FTL

David A. Goldfarb · Oct 8, 2006

Steve--there's no need to post in multiple forums, since everyone sees all the new posts in all the forums in their "New Posts" view. Since this one is getting more attention, I've deleted the duplicate in the B&W forum.

Woolliscroft · Oct 8, 2006

stevewillard said:
I used to do high-end wedding photography, and I just did my last wedding this June. For B&W I shot traditional TMX 100 & 400 and then my lab produced B&W prints using Kodak Portra B&W papers which were processed in RA4 color negative paper chemistry. The results were the most amazing B&W prints I have ever seen with unbelievable creamy tones. I have never seen anything comparable with traditional B&W papers.

Unfortunately, Kodak has discontinued its B&W chromogenic papers. However, Oriental has a chromogenic B&W paper called Hyper Seagull B&W paper. It comes in either sepia or cold tone. Has anyone out there ever tried these papers?

Do you mean chromogenic, or just panchromatic? If the later, I think the Seagull paper might also have gone now. I have a few boxes in the freezer which I am using instead of Kodak's discontinued Panalure. It's perfectly usable, but not as good. Some processors now print B&W onto colour paper, which might be what you have got. Whether you like the result or not is a matter of taste. It's fine where you would use a low or normal contrast grade B&W paper, but can be a bit flat.

David.

Helen B · Oct 8, 2006

David,

The two Portra B&W papers were RA-4 chromogenic papers with near-panchromatic sensitivity for use with colour negatives as well as B&W negatives. It was intended for use with minilabs, and worked very well. I think that Hyper Seagull is pretty much the same, but haven't used it.

Best,
Helen

Ian Grant · Oct 8, 2006

Any B&W paper (or film) can be processed chromagenicaly.

Tetenal used to make a kit, essentially you process the paper in a colour developer which has the appropraiate colour couplers added. (much like Kodachrome).

The process works best though if the paper is conventionally processed then selectively bleached and re-developed chromogenicaly.

The work of Bob Carlos Clarke, and in particular "Dark Summer" shows the ultimate control achievable.

Ian

Samuel B · Oct 8, 2006

Hi Steve, I have used the Oriental RA-4 B&W paper in my lab, and it's quite good. It was available in Black (neutral tone) and Sepia. This type of paper was the best way to get optical B&W prints from colour negs. I haven't used the Kodak porta B&W paper so I can't say how it compares. The bad news is that the Oriental RA-4 B&W paper has also been discontinued, (although you can probably still get hold of some). AFAIK this type of paper is no longer manufactured by anyone.

stevewillard · Oct 8, 2006

Samuel,

Thanks for your reply, B&H out of New York still list the paper in sepia and Oriental's website site in the US lists it without any notice of discontinuance. I hope you are wrong, but it would not surprise me if that is true.

Samuel B · Oct 9, 2006

I hope I am wrong too, but that's just what I was told by my supplier.

stevewillard · Oct 10, 2006

Samuel,

I just received email from Oriental and they said that the paper is still available in both sepia and neutral tone. This is good news. Have you tried the sepia?

You can order the paper either from B&H or directly from them.

Samuel B · Oct 10, 2006

No, haven't tried the sepia, only the black. Good to hear that it's still available, but I wonder are they still making it, or does it just mean they still have supplies of it?

nworth · Oct 12, 2006

Kodak used to make an RA-4 black and white paper, but I believe it has been discontinued. It had a reputation for excellent tonality, but it was reported to be rather unstable after processing. I'm not sure how accurate those reports were.

Chromogenic B&W papers

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