Efke Positive Paper

[Ray Rogers]

Ray;

I got Kentmere and Luminos at exactly the same time from the same dealer. So.....

PE

Yes. I once bought 3 of the same chocolate bar just because the wrapper was different. No other indication of difference... just wrapper color & design, sold side by side; I felt like a successfully manipulated guniea pig!

Ray

 

[Ektagraphic]

Well, I just got some of this stuff today and I must say I really like it. It is diffrent and I am just starting to understand how to adapt to it.

 

[Alexander Ghaffari]

What kind of developer did you use, Ektagraphic? I have a pack of that paper and a bunch of Scala slides that I want to enlarge.

 

[Ektagraphic]

I did this printing Elite Chrome 100 (I think) and I used Dektol, BUT I preflashed the paper with a small lamp I have in the darkroom. If you don't preflash the paper, the contrast is through the roof!

 

[Alexander Ghaffari]

Preflashing, eh? I have never tried that. I have a 15 W bulb, is that too strong for preflashing? I suppose that I could easily get a night light bulb, as well.

 

[Ektagraphic]

I use a very quick flash with a 15 watt and that is what does it. In fact, the lamp is only a about a 1 1/2 feet from the paper if that.

 

[Alexander Ghaffari]

I see. My darkroom is already set up for that. Thank you for the advice. So, I'll first try it by turning the light switch on, then off, as fast as I can (maybe the light will be on for half a second or so).

 

[Aurum]

Correct me if I'm totally off base, but hasn't a hand-held flash gun been used for pre-flashing before, or would that be of the same level of overkill as cutting your toenails with a chainsaw?

 

[fschifano]

A hand held flashgun might be too powerful. The duration is very brief, to be sure, so it might work. An easier way, I think, would be to use your enlarger as a light source. Stop the lens way down with no negative in the carrier and use the timer. If that's too bright, stick a couple of blank negatives in the carrier to act as neutral density filters. It's easier to control exactly the amount of light reaching the paper that way. You can use longer exposure times so that small errors don't mean very much.

 

[Ektagraphic]

I think it would be like cutting your toenails with a chainsaw I think the term comes from the fact that you only give a quick flash of light but light much much dimmer than a hand held flash gun.