Odd paper

pentaxuser

Member
Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
20,033
Location
Daventry, No
Format
35mm
Ian Grant said:
The similar Waterproof paper I bought in the early 1970s, advertised by AW Young, would have almost certainly been ex-RAF or Royal Navy stock. Waterproof to speed up washing and drying times, and maybe water usage in board Navy ships.

Ian
Click to expand...

Yes I should have thought of this aspect as that really make sense on board RN ships

Thanks

pentaxuser
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,989
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
This is strange; I always thought (and still do) PE and RC mean the same thing. From Agfa's latest MPC pdf:



 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,989
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
So what does RC stand for?
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,989
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
I guess so. And yet you state that resin coated papers do not exist.
 

MattKing

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
53,322
Location
Delta, BC Canada
Format
Medium Format
Kodak used the phrase right from day one.
Most likely, it was a marketing choice, because polyethene paper would have been a tough sell.
This contemporary comes to mind:
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,989
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
Alright, so it's all about semantics.
 

MattKing

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
53,322
Location
Delta, BC Canada
Format
Medium Format
miha said:
Alright, so it's all about semantics.
Click to expand...

All marketing labels are.
If every product had a comprehensive and accurate label attached, "RC" paper would have to be referred to by something way too long to fit comfortably on the label.
When you think of it, "film" is a similar example, as "film" is actually just a thin coating ....
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,989
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
koraks said:
Well, apart from some very new papers that are just around the corner that will no longer be PE-coated, but with something else...those are not for sale yet, I think.
Click to expand...

Please share more. Polyester, perhaps?
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,989
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
BobUK said:
Polyester was the base for the late, lamented Cibachrome.
Click to expand...

Indeed. A much mores stable/long lasting support than polythene.
 
OP
OP

Ian Grant

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
23,282
Location
West Midland
Format
Multi Format
koraks said:
They do now. I don't think 'resin' coated papers as such still exist for photographic purposes. I can imagine this was different in the (distant) past.
Click to expand...

Well Ilford's RC base has not changed significantly since the 1974 release, except to have a rougher rear surface to allow it to be written on. So they do still exost.

It may well be that Kenthene was actually a PE paper, the "thene"b,it had an amazingly high gloss for an early RC paper. I was looking for a good warm-tone paper maybe 1987. I tried Kentmere Kentona but it was only available in two grades. I tried Oriental Centrabrom, and the new Indian Sterling warmtone paper. opting in the end for Record Rapid.

Record Rapid was replaced by Agfa Multi Contrast Classic. When Agfa stopped paper manufacture I was stuck, I didn't like the creamy white base of the Ilford Warmtone, and opted for Forte Polywarmtone. Then Forte closed.

Meanwhile the creamy white paper base of Ilford Warmtone had been discontinued, great it was now on a nice white base. At the time Ilford told me that there was only one major manufacturer of the paper base FB & RC.

The bottom line is how the papers perform, and their stability, I looked at images made on this unbranded Water[roof paper made in 1976 and there is no deterioration.

Two slightly different approaches PE & RC the results were not quite the same. I will have Ilford's RC patent(s) somewhere. PE colour print papers were introdced in 1968, B&W much earlier.

Ian
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,989
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
I can hardly wait!
 

Sal Santamaura

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
7,530
Location
San Clemente, California
Format
Multi Format
Sal Santamaura said:
How do those two differ? I always thought PE was the British (and other countries') term for what we in the U.S. refer to as RC.
Click to expand...

Ian Grant said:
PE means the paper base is polythene encapsulated, with a thin film on both sides when you tear a print which isn't easy you see the polythene stretch slightly then break, so quite different to RC where the paper base is coated with a resin...
Click to expand...

As a side note, that's yet another instance of two countries separated by a common language. It's still referred to as polyethylene in the U.S., not polythene.

OK, the main question remains a mystery to me. What is this "resin" if not polyethylene/polythene?
 
OP
OP

Ian Grant

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
23,282
Location
West Midland
Format
Multi Format

Looking at it from a historical point of view early PE waterproof papers used plastic encapsulation of the paper base, using thin layers of plastic film applied to both sides

The difference is that RC papers have a Polyethylene polymer resin coated on the paper in liquid form, Polyethylene Glycol for instance is liquid so are other polymers.

Ian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…