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Forte paper (made in Hungary)

sperera

Subscriber
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Joined
Mar 6, 2009
Messages
607
Location
Gibraltar
Format
Multi Format
I have quite a bit of it still. I have posted about this before but getting back into darkroom-ing again....
What do you all think about them?

FNS Fortezo
PG-V5 'Polygrade-V'
FHS Fortezo
Fortespeed FPS1
Fortesopeed 4 (FPH2)
Fortezo FH4
Fortespeed 4 (FPH 2)
Fortespeed 1 (FPS 1)
 
Great for lith printing!
 
Yes, some were great for Lith printing. However, I tried some old Forte a few months ago and it was too fogged even for Lith printing.
 
I hope your paper is still good. Polygrade V was one of the best variable contrast papers ever, capable of a splendid cold tone if that is what you are seeking.
 
I loved Fortezo... still have a few sheets of both Grade 2 & 3. I got a box of polygrade WT from an estate.... but it's completely fogged....
 
I got some Fortezo, Polygrade V, Poligrade and Polywarmtone. Of all these only the latter is not fogged, though all of them are tropical emulsions.
Fortezo and both Poly(i)grade work great in lith. Surprisingly, Poligrade gives vivid pinkish color, while Polygrade V is solid brown.
 
I have had only tried some Bromofort and luckily a few sheets of Polywarmtone. The latter is amazing lithed. Never tried ordinary development and just lithed.
Have quite a bit of Bromofort and even others like Polygrade and Fortezo in our community darkroom. I have to experiment much more as it probably requires a lot more exposure for Lith that I have for other papers.

Adox makes the Polywarmtone emulsion, seemingly as good as Forte's for Lith but personally it's a whole big project to coat my own paper...
 
I'm glad you asked about the 'Tropical' designation, as I have been gifted quite a few boxes as well. All are designated 'tropical' (makes sense as I'm in Australia!), none larger than 8"x10", and either the Polygrade-V Cold Tone or Polywarmtone. I've only done a quick test of one of the warmtone papers thus far.
The highlights are perfectly clear and it has good contrast. The only surprising thing was the excessive length of exposure needed. As a small 4"x6" piece of paper, I'd expect Grade 2 f/8 5sec. to be about right. It took 64 seconds at f5.6 to print "correctly".
I'm gathering that, being warm tone, it's a predominantly chloride halide paper, going by my small experience of old contact papers. Just something to be aware of when you get a chance to make some prints with it. Having Mr. Robin Bell check it out for you is a bit special!
 
Yeah I emailed Robin Bell about his book (that I wanted one) and en passant I mentioned I had loads of Forte paper, to which he asked about his fave paper and if I had any....and it so happens I had 5 packs of it....so I sent it to him......he's a very friendly, down to earth guy....he's going to test the paper....hopefully its good for him
 
Although I came to it later in its life cycle, I loved Forte paper. I found it to just work better for me over the Ilford Multigrade I had been using. When the company decided that its real state was more profitable as a parking lot than as a photo paper factory, I think the production equipment was sold on to create the Foma production facility. Of course, that doesn't mean that Foma is using the same materials and production standards as Forte, but their paper is a good replication of the basic Forte materials, and it has become my favorite.
 
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