Forte polygrade salon

[Robert]

I got around to trying out the box I picked up awhile back.

Minor issues:

I now remember why I avoid glossy paper.
It's seems alot thinner then the Agfa I've been using and curls more.
Seems to take longer to dry.

Positives? Right now I'm not sure. It's not bad and if I'd gotten the mattte finish I don't think I'd mind it. It does seem marginally slower. One of the negatives I redid with it this morning was one I had trouble getting the shadows right with Agfa MC paper. Nothing fancy this morning and the shadow areas look much better. I'll try it some more next week but I'll think sticking with the Agfa paper will keep me happier overall.

 

[lee]

Robert,
You should try the Forte Warmtone VC paper. It is really lush. Good blacks and very good seperation between all the zones. I think it is a very pretty paper.

lee\c

 

[lee]

I should add this only applies if you like warmtones. If not, you may not like it either.


lee\c

 

[Robert]

Have to wait until the next time I buy some paper. To be honest I've got too much now really. I tripped over a box of this on Ebay one day for an okay price. The paper isn't bad I'm just not sure it's worth the extra effort to get it. The Agfa is easy to buy. No mail order just a quick drive.

 

[Aggie]

I'm lucky I can get just abolut any brand of paper at Looking Glass, near me. But Forte is know to curl. It pressed out flat quickly and is beautiful then. It's not the glossy that does it, it is the brand that curls. If you want a great paper, I recently switched to bergger vb varible contrast. I absolutely love its long range of tones. Its great paper.

 

[fhovie]

I have been using Forte Fortenza mostly with a little Ilford Gallery thown in for good measure - Although I am not philosophicaly opposed to VC, I want to get good at making my negs print right on grade 2 - so this is my discipline - today. I would like to try some papers with better blacks - I think The Ilford has it slightly over the Forte. I was reading about Cachet Expo R paper having a heavier emusion and was thinking of buying some Amidol and trying it. It would be yet another change in calibration I suppose - I guess I'd have to start over in some ways. I like to think of the whole process as a matched set. The film type (TRI-X or FP4 for 4x5), PMK and then there is the paper developer. I calibrated around D65 from photoformulary. i notice it is almost a paper grade softer than the Agfa paper developer I use for RC prints. I like to make 8x10 proofs before I jump into the fiber to give me an idea where I want to go with a negative. The Agfa developer is Hydrquinine based - it is soooo cost effective! I like the way it works on RC papers I bought a comercial container (a couple of liters of concentrate $11 - makes many gallons) and It has a month life and about 40 8x10 per liter - On RC paper it makes good blacks.

 

[Robert]

If you don't use filters on VC paper you'll usually get grade two.

Which Agfa developer are you using? I'm also using an Agfa developer and I'll say this. It lasts alot longer then 1 month-))) The stuff is very cheap and I think that hurts it. People think it must be crap. The stuff I'm using is rated at over 100 8x10 of working solution.

 

[fhovie]

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Robert @ Apr 8 2003, 03:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> If you don't use filters on VC paper you'll usually get grade two.

Which Agfa developer are you using? I'm also using an Agfa developer and I'll say this. It lasts alot longer then 1 month-))) The stuff is very cheap and I think that hurts it. People think it must be crap. The stuff I'm using is rated at over 100 8x10 of working solution. </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
Grade 2 is what they tell me - I think it is a little flatter than that - I usually go with a 2 1/2 filter rather than none. The label reads B&W Multicontrast paper developer - makes 25 to 35liters - wow - I am pretty happy with it - and it IS cheap to use. I still am experimenting with paper developers and it does seem to give up on the highlights sooner than glycin based brews.

 

[Robert]

That sounds like the one I'm using. When I got it I thought it would produce 200 8x10 per litre of concentrated developer. That sounded like a lot so I dropped Agfa a note. They wrote back something like

"Well actually 125 8x10 per litre of working solution so 625 per litre of concentrate" That's using the normal 1:4 dilution and not the economy 1:6.

The funny thing is I've been waiting for it to become old developer so I can try mixing it with some fresh and see how it acts. The thing won't slow down.

 

[tommorris]

I have used Polygrade so much over the last year or so. I really like the Coldtone version, and have tried it in both RC and FB, ranging from 8x10 up to 16x12. Good fun stuff. I've found the results to be quite interesting, and have exhibited a few pictures on the RC version.

According to various sources, it tones very nicely too.

 

[Les McLean]

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (lee @ Apr 6 2003, 08:01 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> I should add this only applies if you like warmtones. If not, you may not like it either.


lee\c </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
50ml of a 1% solution of benzotriazole added to any developer will cool down warm tone paper but not to total neutrality. When using a water bath development, warm tone papers also cool down. Finally, if you delicately gold tone a warm tone print you can produce a quite neutral to cold tone depending on the tonality of the print. I often print snow scenes on Ilford Warmtone paper and gold tone them to introduce a cold feel to the final print.

 

[MikeK]

Les, are you sure about the dilution? I tried a 1% solution and it stopped development dead in its tracks. I use a .1% solution and add in increments of 5 ml until I get the color I like.

Mike