Varycon experience

Hi,
I have been printing 16x20 all week with the Varycon FB Glossy and I enjoy a lot this paper. Beautiful blacks and toning very well.
I used two boxes of 25 and it was perfect. Last night I opened a 10 sheets box and prints were much softer with difficulty to get crispy black.
I hope it's not going to be the lottery to get consistant paper from boxes to boxes.
Any experience like that ?

No, but I am only on the second box, I too hope that it's not going to be a problem. I made a portrait today and toned it in KST and I don't see much change when toning. I use the AA formula for Selenium toner. With Oriental I could get an egg plant color, not that I would tone that deep with any prints. I haven't seen any color change with Varycon paper. It's a nice paper and I would like to continue with it. Do you find that it isn't quite as glossy as some other papers?

Yes, less glossy but I don't mind. I toned in Kodak Brown and the color is great. I develop in bw65, which dev do you use ?

I have been using LPD which comes in a can, I get it from Freestyle there in LA. I started using the paper when I couldn't get Nuance and found it to be a pretty good paper overall.

I'm not acquainted with Varycon (it sounds interesting), but I had a fairly similar experience recently with Forma paper in mid-box. I traced the problem to the developer (54-D), not the paper. I had let the developer sit in the tray overnight. Since I had only run about 10 11X14 prints through it, and because it looked good (not yellow), I figured I could use it a bit more the next morning. Not so. I got print like you described. I replaced the developer and the next sheet came out just fine.

I'm on the third 100 sheets box of 8x10. I had not noticed any untill recently. When I opend new 11x14 box, made some work prints, found that it's softer than what I had been using.
So I'm feeling like bit hesitate to order the next box.

Yes, it's less glossy.
In my experience, it turns little bit cooler in selenium toner. (Currently I use Maco 1:9)
When bleached with pot-ferri after selenium toned it turns little pinkish under light bleach, reddish purple under stronger bleach. That's what I don't like with this paper.
(Tone-then-bleach is the one of my favorite method with other papers like Ilford MG WT)

I haven't tried lith with this paper much. Far as I've found, this paper gets an interesting look with Fuji Hi-lithodol.
Dead Link Removed

I also like the price and the fact that it does come in 5X7 and a good range of sizes. The red light doesn't bother me at all. I have used Oriental Seagull a lot in the past and I wonder if the extra $9.00 might be worth it. I liked the glossy surface of Nuance but it is not a VC paper. At this point I am trying several papers and will settle on one or two. The cost of Varycon is what makes it so usable and I like to use as much as it takes to get a final print. So far it is higher on the list for papers I am trying. I have used dektol / selectol soft also. My regular developers are Amidol and Ansco 130 but I had the LPD and decided to use it up.

Curt,
Emak isn't Nuance ?...
Mworth,
Dev might be the cause (I hope). I replenished it just before the new box. It was the end of both bottles of bw65 and the B solution was milky. Sort of deposit. I will try tonight.

Varycon in the Adams Ansco 130 is absolutley beautiful, 2 parts dev. 3 parts hydroquinone solution and 2 parts water, developed for about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes. Rich blacks with shimmering highlights that retain texture. By far the best enlarging paper combo I have found.

Christopher Breitenstein

Varycon is variable

When Varycon is good it is superb, particularly in 130 developer. However, several older boxes I had would not develop good contrast. So either they have worked out their problems, or it will continue to be a crapshoot, varying from batch to batch.

I've been using Varycon in 5x7 and 8x10 for a couple of years(also Emaks) its been pretty consistant for me so far. I develope in LPD, 1+2 and replenish after each session. It also developes well in Dektol and Selectol.