Old paper

[wedoe]

Hi, I bought an old Focomat IIc recently, and got a lot of stuff with it, inlcuding app. 550 sheets of 25x30,5cm Kodak paper. Now, I don't know how old these sheets are, but do you think I can put them to some use? Any advice on how I can avoid any fogging? I'm out of chemicals, so I haven't had the opportunity to test them yet.

 

[Neal]

Dear wedoe,

The easiest way to deal with this is to assume that you got the paper for free. If it works when you use it, great. If it doesn't you're not out anything. I have had good luck with old (~15 year) graded Kodak fb paper. Less than good with old (~15 year) VC Kodak RC paper. Both of these instances were from lots made in the early '80s.

I hope they work well for you.

Neal Wydra

 

[Akki14]

Just try it out. I had some B&W cheap Jessops own brand RC paper hanging around from my university days (okay that was only about 5 years ago) and it worked out fine. Can't tell it apart from the Ilford stuff. Just follow the instructions on the bottles for your chosen developer/fix, do test strips like usual, etc.

 

[PHOTOTONE]

If your paper exhibits age fog, don't despair, you can use "Edwal Liquid Orthazite" or a common benzotriazole restrainer in the developer and usually get the paper to work just fine more often than not.

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

May I add: if you are in the process of setting up a new enlarger, probably a good idea to get a small pack of bonafide fresh paper to start with. Restrainers are great if your paper is fogged, but development times can be several minutes. Not very efficient for running test strips and learning about a new enlarger.

 

[PHOTOTONE]

I agree with above post..for learning you need fresh, known good materials, so the errors you make will be just that, errors that you can correct without having to factor in aged materials.

 

[nze]

Hello
I ahve good result with 50 year old paper. Most of the time the grade of the paper is lower than new one but it still work. You may have fog but it solve easily with some benzotriazol or potassium bromide added to the developer.

and if the paper is out of use do not forget that some use fix out paper as transfer paper for carbon printing.

best

 

[wedoe]

Thanks for your replies. I have fresh Ilford paper, so I will use that for learning. Thanks for the tip about benzotriazol and potassium bromide, I'll keep that in mind.