ECN-2 color negative to BW print

[farpointer]

I took an image last summer on Vision3 500T that I’m quite fond of and I want to try and print it in the black-and-white darkroom. The negative contrast is pretty low.

Is it worth trying it on VC paper or should I try and get something graded?

 

[Patrick Robert James]

You can certainly print it on black and white paper. Color negs can be a bit weird because of the color inherent in the film, but you will get a print. VC paper will work fine.

 

[koraks]

Is it worth trying it on VC paper or should I try and get something graded?

By all means give it a go. There's no advantage to using graded paper for this, BTW. Graded paper is (1) barely available anymore and (2) availability is often limited to the more central grades (e.g. 2-4). If you have a very low-contrast negative, you may want to print at the highest possible contrast, which would be grade 5, which is offered by nearly every VC paper but may be impossible to find in today's market on a graded paper.

Keep in mind that exposures will be much longer than what you're used to with B&W negatives due to the orange mask.

If the darkroom print doesn't work out, you can always scan the negative and then proceed in the digital domain to make an excellent print in whatever process you like.