Long Forgotten Mystery Paper

AZD · Monday at 11:22 PM

An unimportant question, but I still wonder - what was this paper? Maybe you know or can guess. It doesn’t matter if we get the answer wrong because the packaging is long gone, so no evidence.

Anyway, sometime between 1996 and 1999 I used one 8x10 envelope of this long forgotten photo paper. It is fiber base, of warmish tone, has no optical brighteners when viewed under a UV light, and a dead matte surface (except where it has been scuffed). I think it was “off-brand” er, meaning “not Kodak.” Any idea what it could have been?

Forgive the crappy print (from a poorly developed negative taken with a temperamental camera)

I remember not really liking this paper at the time, but in retrospect I’d love to have something similar today. The range of options just before digital took over was impressive and we could still be disappointed in our bounty.

Just for fun, other things I do remember: Almost positive I bought it at Wasatch Photographic in Salt Lake City. They carried a full range of Kodak (and Ilford?) papers and a selection of others, including Forte and who knows what else. Developer was Ilford Multigrade, likely old and/or near exhaustion.

Zathras · Tuesday at 12:47 AM

Could it have been a EFKE paper? I don't think that they put brighteners in their papers. Or possibly something
sold under the LUMINOS brand name.

Craig · Tuesday at 12:56 AM

Maybe Agfa?

koraks · Tuesday at 3:12 AM

This is much like asking us what kind of meal you had 12 years ago on a Friday, it might have involved potatoes (or was it rice?) and you don't really remember much otherwise except that it tasted good.

Sorry, but this could literally be anything.

AZD · Tuesday at 8:05 AM

koraks said:
This is much like asking us what kind of meal you had 12 years ago on a Friday, it might have involved potatoes (or was it rice?) and you don't really remember much otherwise except that it tasted good.

Sorry, but this could literally be anything.

Well, not anything… not glossy, not RC, not optically brightened… There should be enough residual memory among us to at least suggest brands, references, etc.

The answer is ultimately unimportant, just scratching an itch.

Btw, it was probably potatoes.

AZD · Tuesday at 8:16 AM

Zathras said:
Could it have been a EFKE paper? I don't think that they put brighteners in their papers. Or possibly something
sold under the LUMINOS brand name.

Had thought about Efke, but not Luminos, thanks for the suggestion. Seems as though the internet has nearly forgotten or disappeared this brand. Hoping a random pic or advertisement will jog my memory.

koraks · Tuesday at 8:20 AM

AZD said:
Btw, it was probably potatoes.

In that case, I put my money on Agfa.

Ian Grant · Tuesday at 11:06 AM

Zathras said:
Could it have been a EFKE paper? I don't think that they put brighteners in their papers. Or possibly something
sold under the LUMINOS brand name.

Luminos were the UK importers of Adox films, paper, & cameras, in the 1950s, the owners closed their UK company in the early 1960s and relocated to the US. They imported and sold Kentmere papers under the Luminos brand name, and it's not Kentona, the Kentmere warmtone paper.

Might be Foma, or Forte, their warmtone papers were warmer than Agfa MCC, Record Rapid was discontinued and replaced by MCC around 1993.

Ian

AZD · Tuesday at 11:20 PM

Well, this thought experiment has taken more of my brain cells than it should have. After many hours of consideration and googling manufacturers’ packaging I have come up empty.

However, the best description is for Efke Varycon, via the text for a later Adox rebranding:

“Neutral tone fibre based paper with deep blacks and excellent greyscales. (Yep)

“This paper is coated on the last remaining [dunk] coating [machine]…. This also leads to the necessity to develop it at least 2-3 minutes in order to achieve full dmax and greyscales. [Maybe I did? Black is sure black for matte paper]

“The developer and fixer are also faster exhausted, please recalculate their capacity. [Definitely exhausted them, didn’t calculate, therefore impossible to recalculate]

“The paper’s emulsion is free of additional optical brighteners or incorporated developing substances thus making it suitable for alternative printing, two dish development and other processes. No fade out of optical brighteners
over longer exposure to light.”[Presumably true, definitely holding up well in an old shoe box]

It was likely this or a Forte product. I can’t recall (but could be wrong) ever using anything by Agfa or Foma at the time. Then again I forgot the name of this stuff, so…

An interesting note on the image color. Looking at other prints, they vary from slightly warm silver-black to noticeably brown-black. Same for some prints on Polywarmtone. I really did push the developer to the edge of its useful lifespan and this must’ve been the result.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on the matter. Heckuva job! Mission (partially) accomplished!

Zathras · Wednesday at 1:49 AM

AZD said:
Well, this thought experiment has taken more of my brain cells than it should have. After many hours of consideration and googling manufacturers’ packaging I have come up empty.

However, the best description is for Efke Varycon, via the text for a later Adox rebranding:

“Neutral tone fibre based paper with deep blacks and excellent greyscales. (Yep)

“This paper is coated on the last remaining [dunk] coating [machine]…. This also leads to the necessity to develop it at least 2-3 minutes in order to achieve full dmax and greyscales. [Maybe I did? Black is sure black for matte paper]

“The developer and fixer are also faster exhausted, please recalculate their capacity. [Definitely exhausted them, didn’t calculate, therefore impossible to recalculate]

“The paper’s emulsion is free of additional optical brighteners or incorporated developing substances thus making it suitable for alternative printing, two dish development and other processes. No fade out of optical brighteners
over longer exposure to light.”[Presumably true, definitely holding up well in an old shoe box]

It was likely this or a Forte product. I can’t recall (but could be wrong) ever using anything by Agfa or Foma at the time. Then again I forgot the name of this stuff, so…

An interesting note on the image color. Looking at other prints, they vary from slightly warm silver-black to noticeably brown-black. Same for some prints on Polywarmtone. I really did push the developer to the edge of its useful lifespan and this must’ve been the result.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on the matter. Heckuva job! Mission (partially) accomplished!

This is what I was thinking, I could not remember the name of the EFKE Varycon when
I posted last night. They also made a graded papers called EMAKS. Does that name
ring a bell? Agfa Record Rapid is another possibility.

AZD · Wednesday at 9:39 AM

Somehow I didn’t mention that my mystery paper was variable contrast. That eliminates both Emaks and Record Rapid. And I would likely have remembered Agfa’s bright packaging. I’m a sucker for distinctive branding.

In all likelihood this was one of several third party rebrands of Varycon in a generic package, sold at a discount to a cheapskate looking for a deal. I shoulda bought two…

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