Kodabromide F2s and ILFORD Multigrade III

[joe7]

i got an offer for this 2 items,the seller have few boxes which is still unopened,i'm planning to give a try to this kind of paper..
what is the different between ilford MGIV and MGIII?is there any different in my print?
can i use Kodabromide F2s,in the way i use MGIV?what is the difference of both type of paper?
i'm still new in printing,hope somebody can give me an advice.
Thanks.

 

[2F/2F]

I have successfully used glossy MGIII RC with MGIV filters. It was paper that had been stored in a hot Los Angeles storage unit for who knows how long, and before that???

As for the Kodabromide, that sounds like grade 2 glossy, though someone might correct me on that. I was never a user of Kodak papers, personally.

At any rate, do not pay much for the paper. They should be offering it to you for very cheap; close to free IMO. I got the previously-mentioned MGIII in a lot. I got the lot, a whole fridge full of old papers (some going back to 1949), for $20. I have certainly got my $20-worth out of it, though I don't think I would have paid much more at the time.

P.S. I got the paper from this fellow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBynQarkAbA.

 

[fschifano]

Kodabromide F2 is glossy grade 2 paper. It is a single grade paper, and will not change contrast characteristics with filtration. Other than that, it's the same as any other silver gelatin paper. Gosh, I used a lot of that stuff in single weight fiber base back in the day.

The thing about old papers is that you never know. Sometimes it's ok, sometimes not. It's a real gamble, so don't spend a lot of money on it. The only way to know if it is good is to use it, and by then it's yours. There's not much you can do with it if it's bad except trash it.

 

[Mike Wilde]

There is the risk of fog, which is higher with bromide over chlorobromide papers. I believe the kodak is an all bromide paper.

The MGIII, and all papers in general tend to loose contrast as they age, before fog becomes an issue which also has to be dealt with.

I just this week tested some expired MGIV stored I don't know how before it came to me, and maximum magenta filtration gives me an eqivalent of grade 2, not the expecte grade 4 plus contrast. All yellow lets me print a full scale tone of a negative of density out to 2.3, which is way over developed for al silver gelatine work.

I might end up using it to test how negs that I develop intending to use them in cyanotype will look before I coat the cyanotypes.

 

[pentaxuser]

MGIII is getting quite old. Unless you are very lucky or it has been stored frozen it is almost certainly fogged( greyness in the borders which should be white). Benzotriazole might remove most or all of the fog and is worth using but as Mike has said the grade range towards the higher range will be reduced.

If the negs print well on grades 2/3 and benzo removes the greyness from the white then it might be worth buying. I have some MGIII with fog. The prints aren't exhibition quality but as snapshot prints are OK.

pentaxuser

 

[Steve Roberts]

I had a box of Kodak Bromide paper given to me a couple of years ago from the early 70s. It was unopened and (I think) 500 sheets of some peculiar size. Nonetheless, it was absolutely fine and gave no hint of its 30+ year age. How it had previously been stored, I don't know, though I suspect not very well as it had been in someone's collection of photo memorabilia and they were slightly peeved to hear that I'd opened the sealed box and was using the contents!

Steve