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was giving outdated box of oriental. will the prints look like crap?

desi8888

Member
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May 7, 2010
Messages
68
Format
35mm RF
Hi there,
Someone gave me an unopened box of oriental vc, outdated. There is no date but he bought it like 10 years ago. What should i expect? Should i throw it out?
 
lol! no it's not. just wanted to know what to expect.
 
I'm still using 20 years old Oriental Seagull. Best paper I have...
 
It should be fine. It may be fogged a bit, but probably not much.

If you send it to me, I'll try it out for you and let you know exactly what to expect.
 
I still use Kodak matte paper exp 1965....
 
It depends on the emulsion type, some papers like Kodak Bromide keep extremely well, just slowing and dropping slightly in contrast, I gave away a few hundred sheets 2 years ago, from the 60's. Ilfobrom also keeps well.

However I just tried some 1994 Record Rapid and that was useless, not so much a base fog rather the paper had gone pinkish, paper & emulsion sides, and was flat, similar aged Oriental Seagull Portrait (New Warm tone) has gone so slow and flat that it's useless.

Ian
 
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It works amazing. I have to stop using that box now cause it's running low. when i got it, It has been opened but it was almost full. I'm saving it for special occasion. Hell it been so long already, whats another 20 years, lol.
 
My experience with old Oriental VC is that the fitration goes very strange, compared to 'normal' ilford settings.

My first batch needed almost all yellow to control its path from 0-3 contrast; the highest contrast (equal to 3.5 of ilford) was found with only 15units of magenta.

I have a second box that has recetnly landed on me, but I have yet to find the time to test it to see how it reacts.
 
I had some very old Oriental paper until recently. This was the original Seagull in the silver package, the stuff that Adams used. I made one of the best prints I've ever made on it at least twenty years after its manufacture. I developed the print in Dektol. It was magnificent paper.
 
Older papers keep better than some newer versions of the same papers. This is because some of the heavy metals etc are no longer permitted (cadmium etc) and where phased out. Once they were removed keeping properties changed significantly.

Ian
 
I recently finished a box of Oriental I bought in the early '90s and it printed as good as when I first used it.
YMMV
 
papagene,
did you have to make alterations?
 
Hi papagene, Do you think an unopened, factory sealed box of Record Rapid would be ok after 15 years if it were kept in cool dark storage ?
 
and I had heard that it would be unusable.
going to give it a try.
 
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