FORTE paper...finally got hold of it all....

I posted a while back on the Forte paper i had purchased for a nominal fee in order to take it off someone's hand in an old warehouse.....I finally have it all at home......I have loads of it but not the famous one people go on about....regardless I dlike to know about the paper i have in my hands now......

The largest size I have is 40 x 50cm Polygrade-V (PG-V 4 and 5 paper)...does anybody have any comments aboput this paper? I have 180 sheets of this....no, not for sale...im gonna use it all.....

I also have tons of Fortespeed 1 (red label), 3 (green label) and 4 (blue label) paper - FPH1, FPH2, FPS-1, FPN-2....boxes of size 18 x 24, 100 sheets inside each one (I must have about 80 boxes of this size).
Any comments about these? I have used the FPH but havent noticed whether the 1 or 2 version of it.

anyone????

A number of years ago I tried Forte FB graded paper. The tonal range and shades were quite nice but the paper was too slow for my taste - exposure times were rather long compared to the old Oriental Seagull that was around then.

Forte papers weren't that common, it was the great shake up when Agfa pulled out, Kodak stopped all paper production, Ilford went into administration that really thrust Forte into the limelight.

My local dealer has loads of Forte on his shelf, but as I know the Ilford paper alongside it is well out of date I'm reluctant to buy any of it.

Forte papers were excellent. the factory was Kodak's pre-WWII and that about sums up where technology stood. I should add my favourite paper was Forte Polywarmtone it was the best warm tone paper I've ever used.

Ian

I recently printed on my last sheets of Polygrade V. It has gotten very contrasty. What should have printed with #2 filtration required all green (-1 filtration) and it was still too harsh. In other words it was unusable.

I have never used the grade stuff, so i can't comment on it. I imagine it won't take much to see if it's good.

The Polywarmtone I still have is doing just fine. No fog, no contrast changes, and still beautiful. I just wish it was faster.

I have a bunch of Polygrade V–it's all fogged and not even very old.

Richard Wasserman said:

I have a bunch of Polygrade V–it's all fogged and not even very old.

Click to expand...

It's not very new either

My Polywarmtone from the last production run isn't that old but it's dropped in contrast and speed in the last year, it's only about 3-4 years old.

I'd add that all my other paers age far morev slowly

Ian

thanks for the comments guys

The PolyGrade V I used (fiber only) was very nice paper, processed in LPD 1:2. I have an Aristo V54 cold light and the filtration necessary for this paper for my negs tended toward the low end to get normal contrast (Ilford filters), but had excellent range and quality, and selenium toned to a nice just barely warm tone with deep blacks. Split filtering worked very well with it too. I was sorry to see it go. Freestyle has a bunch of it in RC going cheap (just got a flyer today in an order of other stuff).

I use Forte Polygrade V on occasion. I found that I needed to turn off my Kodak safelight and only use a red safelight or else the paper would fog. The paper has spectacular contrast extremes and the deepest blacks I've ever experienced with any paper. The whites are positively brilliant. The midtones look cold and blue-greenish unless you selenium tone at dilutions of around 1:20 for around 10 minutes or more. This would yield a dark chocolate black that is quite appealing. Stronger solutions of selenium run the risk of getting very rosy. I have some paper that I purchased in 2004 that still looks great whenever I print with it.

Given the fact that Forte papers were manufactured some 50 km from where I live and a limited range is still available at a good price, I often print on them, either Polywarmtone or old (30 years) Bromofort and Fortezzo.

The Bromofort is just fantastic. Of course, there is no film or paper which I don't like, but my Fomapan 100 negatives (developed in Rodinal) just have a wonderful tonality on that paper.