Long Life Cold Tone Developer?

[Justin Low]

I'm looking for a cold tone developer for my Ilford MGIV RC papers. It should have a long tray life. Any recommendations?

I have Neutol WA which has a pretty good lifespan, but it doesn't give me the tone I desire.

Thanks!

 

[Ole]

I have tried several different developers with MGIVRC, and have failed completely to influence the tone in any way. The only time I got a hint of warm tone (warmer than normal, by direct comparison) was with very dilute and totally exhausted G262. So if you want a different tone, you need a different paper!

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Ole is bang on. WRT Multigrade cooltone RC, Ilford advised that if a cold tone were required, a cold tone dev at double concentration should be used to overload the incorporated dev. I would imagine that such a method would be the only hope with teh regualar RC, but would prob be disappointing. In a comparison of Cooltone and others in a cold dev, Forte polygrade in a cold tone dev still came out far colder. As far as cold tone devs, I have used Tetenal Eukobrom, which is very cold and has very good life. I have Forte cold tone, but this apear to beasically be the same as far as the print tone is concerned. Both are cold enough to produce a cold image on polywarmtone (actually a blue green tone)! Polygrade, Oriental Seagul and Kodak Polymax Fine Art all produce Blue Blacks. Polygrade being the coldest by some margin. All are FB. Gold toning polygrade is very blue, but a gold toned warmtone paper more so. Gold toned Lith prints bluer still!

Tom

 

[Justin Low]

Thank you. I plan to try Agfa's MCP resin-coated papers early next year (to get a warm tone with Neutol WA). Is that emulsion's tone influenced much by the developer?

It's quite difficult for me to obtain cool-toned papers in Singapore; it's either in very limited sizes, or I'd have to indent a large quantity. Mail-order postage can kill.

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Agfa Premium RC is my standard RC paper. I FAR prefer to it Ilford. It has superb blacks and is on a bright white base. It is neutral tone, but without a hint of warmth. I have used it for proofing thru many different devs and it never looked any different!

If you want to stick with RC and get warmtones I can strongly reccommend the following: Ilford MG Warmtone RC - Lovely paper, esp in gloss and Paterson Acugrade Warmtone - only available in a unique sort of lustre - Its the warmest RC I have used and IMHO is rather unique looking. The surface is unlike anything else I have used - kind of a stipple lustre. It is also Lithable (not that I have tried). I have heard mixed comments on the Forte RC papers, but have heard that the RC polygrade is genuinely cold.

For neutral tone, you will not get better than teh Agfa RC, its great!

Tom

 

[ann]

try LPD at 1:1 for cold tones, has a long tray life. also ansco 130 at 1:1 or straight.

For cold tone papers, altho, this is not the question, try Luminous, or Seagull Oriental with the above developers.

 

[Adrian Twiss]

Ann

I would recommend Forte Polygrade in RC with Tetenal Documol for cold tones. I have moved heaven and earth to get Multigrade IV to produce cold tones without success. Ilford Multigrade Cooltone is nothing special either. Forte Polygrade is not a developer incorporated paper and is very responsive to different developer types.

 

[ann]

adrian,i use seagull oriental graded paper and have no problems with the tones i am getting. just passing on some thoughts to assist Justin.

Am not a fan of RC papers either. HOwever, my students use a of of Ilford's MG which is easy to obtain. More advance folks have moved on to fiber papers, and depending on the project and the look will use a varietry of papers and developers.

 

[Justin Low]

Thanks Ann. I have just ordered some LPD from Freestyle, as part of a larger order. I'll probably get some Agfa MCP to try it with. Freestyle didn't have the Tetanal developer that Adrian recommended, and paper is rather expensive to ship.

I still have a few boxes of MGIV left, so I'll probably just use that for other projects.

By the way, what is the lifespan of the working solution (1:1) of LPD?

 

[Konical]

Good Evening, Justin,

I've used a lot of LPD at 1:2. It keeps at least a couple of days in a tray; I let plastic sheeting (dry-cleaner type) float on it between uses. The 1:1 solution should do at least as well.

Konical

 

[Adrian Twiss]

Ann

Having finished my darkroom and made provision for the effective washing and drying of FB papers I am increasingly moving in that direction. My first home darkroom had no running water and my print washer was not that efficient and wasted a lot of water. Also the fixer laden water stripped the chome of the waste trap in the bath and damaged the enamel over time. I now have an archival washer and print drying racks so look forward to using more FB papers.

 

[ann]

I don't know the exact life, of 1:1 have never really tracked it, i would recommend using saran wrap as a try cover. be sure the wrap is on the surface of the liquid and up the sides of the tray. Don't have a clue as to why saran wrap vs the other "knock Offs' as i am not a chemist but that is the word for Ctein.

Been out of town, so that is why the delay in my response.

Adrian,hope you enjoy using fiber papers the wash is a bit of a hassle, but well worht it (at least for me).
regards and happy new year to all.