Comparison of UK / EU market selenium toners

Tom, I haven't done a print comparison of the various toners - so thanks for posting first - you can draw all the flak

But I have been wondering the same thing as you

The only thing I have noticed was that the Maco is 3% and all the others are 2% strength.

From reading Tim Rudmans’ book it seem that there are just too many factors affecting Toning performance that my comparisons are only good for me & may well be very different from yours - yet both equally true :confused:

Good luck

Martin

 

In my unscientific opinion, based on using the maco and harman products a lot recently and some advice from others - If you're looking for dramatic colour shifts etc - get the Maco - it is much easier to force split tones and strong effects using it. I dont know if this is purely down to it's strength, or other factors, but it works. The effects I get with it mixed at 1:10-1:15 are more pronounced than I experience with the Harman toner at strengths of 1:5ish.

I have used the kodak and fotospeed toners, but not for about 5 years. The fotospeed was similar to the harman IIRC - needed quite strong solutions to get any colour shifts.

I'd get some and give it a go - best way is to find out for yourself.

 

Maco has reformulated their selenium toner due to new laws in the EU. According to this post of MACOs marketing guy the content has been reduced under 1%.

It is not clear, if this is really mandatory; Fotoimpex (Adox) states that a higher content is ok as long as it is documented properly.

You might want to check twice before buying when you are after a high selenium content.

 

that is bad news and I imagine it's bound to affect how it works

 

The EU has standardized everything from condom size to the amount of curve allowed in bananas offered for sale. There is a real standardization mania here that often stifles variety and individuality. That said, since selenium is toxic and bad for the environment, it makes sense to set limits for the strength of a solution that gets sent through the mail and shipped without any hazmat considerations. The Europeans seem to be a little more careful than we in the US. A similar thing happens with developer concentrates: the Euro HC-110 is much less concentrated and needs to be diluted much less than the North American variety.

Best,

Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com