Green photo paper

dwl22 · Jul 30, 2017

Dear all,
A mystery for a Sunday.
So I've just gone back into the dark(room). I bought a papersafe and it had some 5x7 paper in it. Under safelight it had a "grey" colour so I assumed it was fogged/exposed. Chucked it through (B&W) dev anyway and it went white! Stuck a bit on my contact sheet printer with some negs and it brings up an image when developed but very low contrast (total guesswork and I did not play any further).
So pulled a piece out into the light and the emulsion side is bright green! (sorry forgot to take a pic and darkroom is away from the house). When I chucked it in the dev (in light) the colour goes and I get a grey (not black) - below
Anyway, anyone have any idea what this paper might be?

dE fENDER · Jul 31, 2017

It is color RA-4 paper, probably Tura. Fujicolor Crystal has a light blue emulsion, tura - bright green. Color paper also may be pink and dark brown. After b/w development color papers gave slightly grey image.

dwl22 · Jul 31, 2017

Thank you! Should have guessed - I thought I had stumbled on something exotic!

Down Under · Jul 31, 2017

May I throw a stone in the works here? dEfENDER, have you developed color RA-4 paper it in black-and-white chemistry and got an image from it? I tried, some years ago. The safelight fogged it beyond any hope of seeing an image.

What the OP may have is Kentmere colorED paper from the 1980s. This was B&W panchromatic paper, so entirely different from color paper. In 1990 or 1991, my retail photo supply shop in Melbourne cleared out its stock of this paper, and I bought three 8x10 25 sheet packs, one sepia, one blue, one yellow. I never used any of it, so the packs are sealed and the chances are good they are still hiding somewhere in my storage fridge, under the Multigrade III, the Brovira, the Polycontrast, the Guilbrom, the Azo, the six packs of Galerie (old stock) and the two boxes of Kodabromide G FB from 1950. Think of the Ebay sale after I shuffle off this planet...

Someone did advertise a pack (I think it was red) on Ebay about ten years ago. I thought of bidding (nobody else had on the last day) but the starting price was high and I forgot to. My loss. I haven't seen any of this stange Kentmere paper on sale since then.

So there is another possibility for you. No help at all (sorry about this), but then you may well have something more exotic on your hands than just color paper.

dE fENDER · Jul 31, 2017

ozmoose said:
May I throw a stone in the works here? dEfENDER, have you developed color RA-4 paper it in black-and-white chemistry and got an image from it? I tried, some years ago. The safelight fogged it beyond any hope of seeing an image.

What the OP may have is Kentmere colorED paper from the 1980s. This was B&W panchromatic paper, so entirely different from color paper. In 1990 or 1991, my retail photo supply shop in Melbourne cleared out its stock of this paper, and I bought three 8x10 25 sheet packs, one sepia, one blue, one yellow. I never used any of it, so the packs are sealed and the chances are good they are still hiding somewhere in my storage fridge, under the Multigrade III, the Brovira, the Polycontrast, the Guilbrom, the Azo, the six packs of Galerie (old stock) and the two boxes of Kodabromide G FB from 1950. Think of the Ebay sale after I shuffle off this planet...

Someone did advertise a pack (I think it was red) on Ebay about ten years ago. I thought of bidding (nobody else had on the last day) but the starting price was high and I forgot to. My loss. I haven't seen any of this stange Kentmere paper on sale since then.

So there is another possibility for you. No help at all (sorry about this), but then you may well have something more exotic on your hands than just color paper.

Yes, sometimes I do b/w developing of RA-4 paper. It is a part of RA-4 reversal process. Usually I use Rodinal with 1:40 dilution for this (with some additional chemicals), sometimes other developers.

This paper is not tinted paper like Kentint or Luminos Pastel, 'cause it doesn't have black. And please note, that dwl22 stated that during developing color goes away.

For example, my picture from Luminos Pastel Gree, which I developed in March of this year. Paper was expired in 1974, antifoggant were not used. Blacks are strong, but the whites are dark, so the contrast is quite low:

dE fENDER · Jul 31, 2017

About fogging while RA-4 developing - you have to use timer and darkness. Visual control is possible, but the methods are fully differ from b/w paper.

For the first, you have to find TWO! green Fuji Safelight Filters No. 103A and 10W lamp.
Second, you cannot light the paper directly, light must be directed to wall.
Third - you can only use the light no more than 1 minute.

Even with this limits, your image could be fogged. But I find out that green light of some divecomputers is not actinic for color paper (within limits - indirect lightning and no more than 20-30 seconds), so I use its light, waterproofing and ability to count seconds in my darkroom. Perhaps, some LEDs should not be actinic too, but need some more experiments.

Down Under · Aug 1, 2017

Many thanks for clarifying the points I made. I stand corrected on - well, a few things.

It has been a long time since I tinkered in the dark with color paper, and I've forgotten a lot.

I have also learned some new things in this thread. As an old dog, and about new tricks, well, woof!

I am now conflicted between opening my Kentmere packs and playing with this very old paper, or flogging them off for pots of money on Ebay.

Oh, all these First World Problems...!

If I decide to print, I will report back, eventually.

Algo después · May 20, 2021

Does anyone know if this paper has a watermark on the back?

BobD · May 20, 2021

Kodak had a green paper called Kodak Velvet Green. I found an unopened package of it with "1920" stamped on it at an estate sale once. From what I could find out, though, the prints from it only had a hint of green so I sold the package.

dE fENDER · May 21, 2021

BobD said:
Kodak had a green paper called Kodak Velvet Green. I found an unopened package of it with "1920" stamped on it at an estate sale once. From what I could find out, though, the prints from it only had a hint of green so I sold the package.

Iodide papers have yellow emulsion in undeveloped state, not green.

Just another example of another iodide paper, Agfa Verdex, from sample album of 1920th:

I've got some Kodak Velvet Green old postcards (but not scanned at the moment), in unfaded state they have the same visual properties as Verdex - bright green-blue shadows with pink lights.

And selfmade by me iodide emulsion paper (yellow-green without stabilizers):

tokam · May 21, 2021

I remember in the '70's there was a french made single-weight FB paper available in several colours. The paper had a matte finish.
I tried the blue and quite liked it. Never did try the other colours.

Green photo paper

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