No contrast in B/W prints

dblaszyk · May 7, 2014

Hi all,
When I do a print with my Durst M301 enlarger all my resulting prints lack any contrast. They all come out very grayish. I already did a test by developing some unexposed paper which turned out very light gray close to white but not completely. My negatives seem to be fine with lots of black and white in them, but for some reason after paper developing the result is always a gray haze. On one occasion though the results where very good but that was with some leftover paper and I don't remember anymore what the exact type and brand was. This made me think that my paper and developer might not be compatible. Does this makes sense? I use RPN (Rollei) replacement for Extra varimax. According to the supplier this should be good for PE/RC and baryta photo papers. Furthermore I don;t use any contrast filters yet as I don't even get a basic proper contrast out of my trials.

I'm hoping I can tap into the collective experience to help me sort out this issue. Is there something I could test to narrow down the problem?

TIA,

Darius

jovo · May 7, 2014

Your paper may be old or fogged which would account for the lack of contrast. Use fresh chemicals and buy a small package of new paper from a reliable manufacturer like Ilford.

As this is your first post, welcome to apug!!

Hatchetman · May 7, 2014

I recently had this happen and it turned out to be old developer. Just one possibility.

darkosaric · May 7, 2014

Welcome to APUG .

Your problem could be because of many things.

As first step of troubleshooting do the following: one piece of paper put directly in developer without exposing it, stop, fix. It should be white. Is it white?
One piece of paper expose for very long (room light also is ok) - develop, stop, fix. It should be black. Is it black?

Don't give up , all this is part of learning and fun!

Xmas · May 7, 2014

dblaszyk said:
Hi all,
When I do a print with my Durst M301 enlarger all my resulting prints lack any contrast. They all come out very grayish. I already did a test by developing some unexposed paper which turned out very light gray close to white but not completely. My negatives seem to be fine with lots of black and white in them, but for some reason after paper developing the result is always a gray haze. On one occasion though the results where very good but that was with some leftover paper and I don't remember anymore what the exact type and brand was. This made me think that my paper and developer might not be compatible. Does this makes sense? I use RPN (Rollei) replacement for Extra varimax. According to the supplier this should be good for PE/RC and baryta photo papers. Furthermore I don;t use any contrast filters yet as I don't even get a basic proper contrast out of my trials.

I'm hoping I can tap into the collective experience to help me sort out this issue. Is there something I could test to narrow down the problem?

TIA,

Darius

Hi

If it is variable contrast paper you need a test strip with a range of half grade filters.

If the paper is gray maybe your safe light is faded, or paper has been stored badly or dev bad.

You might need restrainer in the developer to keep the paper white if the developer is too active or the paper old.

darkosaric · May 7, 2014

darkosaric said:
As first step of troubleshooting do the following: one piece of paper put directly in developer without exposing it, stop, fix. It should be white. Is it white?

Just to add - do this twice: once with safe light on, and once in total darkness.

cliveh · May 7, 2014

dblaszyk said:
Hi all,
When I do a print with my Durst M301 enlarger all my resulting prints lack any contrast. They all come out very grayish. I already did a test by developing some unexposed paper which turned out very light gray close to white but not completely. Darius

If you develop unexposed paper it should stay white, not go grey. You are either using old or fogged paper, or your safe light isn't safe.

Rick A · May 7, 2014

To test paper, in total darkness, cut one sheet into two pieces, place one piece directly into fixer, and develope and fix the other , then compare. Second, do a proper safe light test to make sure it is safe. Make sure your paper developer is fresh, and diluted properly.

Thomas Bertilsson · May 7, 2014

cliveh said:
If you develop unexposed paper it should stay white, not go grey. You are either using old or fogged paper, or your safe light isn't safe.

This is precisely what is going on.

When you start printing it is especially important to use fresh paper and paper developer. It is imperative in order to understand what is going on.

If you still get slightly gray tint with no enlarger exposure with fresh paper, then it's time to look into buying new safelights, or properly light proof your darkroom.
Test your safelight by simply leaving it turned off when taking the paper from the package, developing stage, and stop bath. Don't turn it back on until after about 20 seconds of fixing in fresh rapid fixer (40 seconds in standard fixer).

After you learn how to print with fresh paper in appropriate circumstances, and address things like making negatives that print well without too much darkroom gymnastics, you can start exploring the use of older fogged paper. There are ways to overcome it, but often it is simply not worth the effort.

Good luck!

dblaszyk · Jun 3, 2014

Hi all! Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. In the mean time I got a bit wiser. I attended a darkroom workshop closeby and learned a thing or two about printing. I decided now to setup a more permanent darkroom instead of the makeshift darkroom I was using. I think there was just too much stray light entering the room I was using before. In a few weeks all should be setup and I will let you guys know here about my results.
Regards...

pentaxuser · Jun 3, 2014

Worth getting a good book on printing. It might seem easier and quicker to ask a series of questions on APUG but if this is your only route I'd suggest that it might actually take longer to learn printing that reading a good book, trying what the book suggests and then asking questions.

pentaxuser

dblaszyk · Jun 5, 2014

It's no so mucht the procedure itself that is wrong (I have a number of books and I read a lot online). This was demonstrated in the workshop I took. I could immediately produce acceptable quality prints. However, my setup, equipment and material needed a proper review so it turned out. Atm I'm working on seting up a new darkroom which is permanent and I don't have to tear down everything all the time. I expect by the end of the month to be in operation!

Mark_S · Jun 5, 2014

dblaszyk said:
Hi all! Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. In the mean time I got a bit wiser. I attended a darkroom workshop closeby and learned a thing or two about printing. I decided now to setup a more permanent darkroom instead of the makeshift darkroom I was using. I think there was just too much stray light entering the room I was using before. In a few weeks all should be setup and I will let you guys know here about my results.
Regards...

Ahh yes, a darkroom should be dark.

One way of testing the darkness of the room is to turn off all the lights (including safelights), and put a sheet of paper on the counter or easel, with something opaque on it such as a coin or a lens cap, then just hang out for 15 minutes or so, and develop the paper. If you have a darkroom, the paper should come out white. If you can see where the coin was, then the darkroom isn't.

nworth · Jun 6, 2014

So far, the replies seem to have concentrated on fogged paper. This is a very likely source of your problem, but the lack of contrast could be due to other things. I assume you have tried a more contrasty grade of paper (or more contrasty filtration with VC). If you have checked your paper for age fog (using fresh developer) and it is OK, make sure the negative has enough contrast to do the job. There is a trend these days to severely underdevelop (a reaction to the underexposure and overdevelopment common 20 years ago). That results in negatives that are very difficult to print. Check for light leaks in the darkroom and do a safelight check. Problems there cause subtle fog and lack of contrast. I'm not acquainted with your developer, but all the papers I know of work in just about any paper developer. Use something standard, like Dektol, if yours is questionable.

mklw1954 · Jun 24, 2014

In my makeshift bathroom darkroom, even though the room was light tight, I was getting poor contrast prints. The following eliminated this problem:

- I hang towels or sheets to eliminate reflection of light off tile walls and metal/glass shower doors when the enlarger was on.
- I sealed light leaking from the enlarger (check by turning on the enlarger, no safelight, lens cap on)
- I use a smaller safelight; the Delta Bright Lab Jr. small safelight was too much for my 5 ft. x 6 ft. darkroom so I use an old Kodak Brownie red plastic cup-type safelight with a 7 watt bulb, and I minimize its use

Prints now have nice contrast with good whites.

No contrast in B/W prints

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