Printing black and white on old AGFA color paper

[Peter Schrager]

I bought an old roll of agfa color paper...
Can I print from my black and white negatives onto this and use standard black and white chemistry
OR am I delusional...looking for the effects more than straight reproduction
Any help appreciated...enlarging..chrmd etc.
Thanks!!
PETER

 

[Ian Grant]

Try it, however you need to work in darkness as it's colour sensitive so would be fogged by a B&W safe light. I don't think it'll be much good though or people would be doing it

Ian

 

[Peter Schrager]

Ian I only paid $5 for the roll...surely someone here has some ideas for me!!

 

[BMbikerider]

I think the best use for it will be to send it to be recycled, You certainly could not get even a half decent image out of old colour paper. Life is to short to be messing about with lost causes.

 

[removed account4]

hey peter
the only suggestion i would make is use it not in the darkroom but as sun print paper
or in a camera to make retina prints, or sandwiched under glass with plants to make lumen prints ..
i have no experience with any color paper whatsoever !
wish i did, i'd tell you all sorts of fun stuff, but ..
john

 

[OptiKen]

When I picked up my Bessler 45 enlarger, it came with almost full 100 sheet boxes of Kodak 20X24 and Kodak 16X20 color paper.
It had been improperly stored (when I picked it up, it was on the guys outdoor patio) and was pretty old.
I've since tried to use it somehow - anyhow - but to no avail. I will try to use it for a paper negative in a pinhole camera now, but don't expect any luck there either. I have had no luck getting any image so far using B&W chemicals
Suggestions are welcome. the boxes are too large for my trash can.

 

[pentaxuser]

You have the paper and the B&W chemistry but no encouraging replies so far. Well here's one. Give it a try and tell us of your findings. I don't hold out much hope but if it is for effects then you never know. I believe the bumble bee adopted a similar suggestion after he had attended an aero-dynamics class and had been told that with his equipment he'd never fly

pentaxuser

 

[Peter Schrager]

You have the paper and the B&W chemistry but no encouraging replies so far. Well here's one. Give it a try and tell us of your findings. I don't hold out much hope but if it is for effects then you never know. I believe the bumble bee adopted a similar suggestion after he had attended an aero-dynamics class and had been told that with his equipment he'd never fly

pentaxuser

love it guys!! this was an experimental idea so of course I'm going to play with it...never bought it to make straight images...

 

[Ian Grant]

You could try it as a Colour paper, well maybe not as it's not compatible with the inferior Color paper chemistry in the US, lifeless as it doesn't incorporate "You" (U) the creative component

Joking apart the former (retired ?) owner of my local pro lab with many years of colour lab experience, ex Durst UK expert, said colour papers may age and slow down but the basic B&W emulsion component ages and slows equally for all layers, so while there might be a very slight colour shift paper last far longer than you'd imagine. That was his practical experience.

He gave me a lot of B&W paper over 10 years ago, each box marked as tested and the date (some with other comments) they all print perfectly today so I trust his judgement on Colour papers.

Ian

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

If it were me, I'd cut it and expose in my 8x10, with a deep red filter...develop it like black and white paper, skan it and... (can't talk about that here)

 

[trendland]

I bought an old roll of agfa color paper...
Can I print from my black and white negatives onto this and use standard black and white chemistry
OR am I delusional...looking for the effects more than straight reproduction
Any help appreciated...enlarging..chrmd etc.
Thanks!!
PETER

Peter I just remember old ORWO bw papers I got to my darkroom from school for an exibition.

I wasted so much time with it. But the very bad to this issue - I wasn't be sure after, if I got the competence to darkroom work ever.

And - I tryed it again and again.
3 hours to only 1 enlargement with was at least not in the near of perfect.

And I wasted paper to paper. But they gave me tons of ORWO Papers.

I was completely worn down.It was terrible.Then I was throwing the one
enlargement and the work of over 3 hours
to this away - because it look not great.
I decided to check all parameters of darkroomwork I knew at this time and
had a last try.
I last not 1/2 hour - then I got it.

I was throwing the whole stuff with
ORWO logos from school away (tons).
And I got a next try with my Ilfospeed RC
deluxe.

4 Minutes to first (for me at this time)
PERFEKT RESULTS.

AND WHEN I HAVE TO READ NOW
"Printing bw in OLD Agfa color paper"

what should I say Peter ???

It has costs to you at $ 5- any Idea why
it was very cheap?

Nobody here on APUG would name you
as a masochist Peter don't worry I can
imagine you attention with this old Agfa
color paper to a very cheap price.
And some here have given you nice recomandations.

But (sorry for doing this) and pls. don't
be angry aboud.

But I would say to this concerns and on the basis to my personal experience with
very old papers (ORWO TRASH)

"If you would like to become a
masochist - the old Agfa color papers will do their job
as great one can imagine"

To only $ 5,-


with regards

 

[MattKing]

Get a tub sized to fit the paper and mix up a couple gallons of fixer, fix, wash and let dry. What you now have is great ink jet paper. Ive a lot of Signum 16x 20x and 24x paper from a closed lab and use it in my Designjet 755c.

Or more appropriate for APUG: what you will have is a great support medium for carbon transfer.

 

[pentaxuser]

but of course...
BW chems will give low-contrast BW from color paper... MUST WORK IN TOTAL DARK.
use contrast increase developer to raise the contrast..
THEN comes the fun part
re-halo bleach... wash fully... now paint on color developer ... watch color appear ... put back into BW developer, watch BW appear in those areas...
don't bleach (silver go night night) BUT fix . wash . marvel

welcome to 1964

Sounds interesting. Is this something you have tried with success? If so can you expand with a little more detail on how it is done and show us an example? Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[AgX]

If it were me, I'd cut it and expose in my 8x10, with a deep red filter...

Why a deep red filter?
Are you referring to contrast increase at sun-/sky-light lighting?

 

[MattKing]

Why a deep red filter?

To mimic the orange mask in negative films???

 

[AgX]

The orange mask would be mimiked on enlarging from maskless films to be in the range of typical filtration again.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Using an ordinary B&W exposure with color paper, you end up exposing only the fastest layer (blue), and so using about a 50 - 100 R filter with a B&W negative will give good exposures in all 3 layers.

However, color papers are often coated with lower silver levels due to the amplification by color and thus you might get low Dmax at best. I know that Endura gives low Dmax in Dektol for many purposes.

The RA4 process might work if you want some unusual color effects. Couldn't hurt to try.

Best of luck with your trials Peter.

PE

 

[Peter Schrager]

thanks everyone for helping out. I was down at the lab yesterday and spoke with the "color" person in charge there. she gave me some good ideas
haven't got the paper yet...still in the mail to me so I'll report back when I try something!!
thanks again!!
peter

 

[Peter Schrager]

Got the paper..gyess what?? It turns out to be color paper for making black and white prints
Should make things a lot easier
THANKS EVERYONE!!
PETER

 

[AgX]

You mean panchromatic b&w paper.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Color RA4 makes black and white prints with color processor

 

[Craig75]

oh wow those are cool Richard. I like

 

[pentaxuser]

Thanks for the examples. Can you explain how you did them? Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[Peter Schrager]

YES.
if I post conjecture, it is noted... here is something from early 60's
Dead Link Removed 2 sep images / styles of work .... did hundreds of these images tween 62 - 70

Where's the link richard...

 

[pentaxuser]

Where's the link richard...

It was there yesterday, Peter, but appears to have disappeared today. At least it has on both yours and my APUG. How does this happen, I wonder?

pentaxuser