Paper speed help needed

[Niall Bell]

Hi All,

I’m trying to make in camera 10x8 paper negatives but am having trouble with the long exposures required.

Using MGIV RC as the benchmark, can anyone suggest a paper that is faster?

Help/suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Niall.

[Richard Gould]

Kentmere paper is about a stop faster than the multigrade, also the fotospeed paper is faster,Richard

[Dave miller]

I agree with Richard. Don't know anything faster, or should that be, not so slow. :)

[wiesmier]

Silverprint Proof is cheap and works well for paper negs and fits into 10x8 darkslides just fine. I rate it at about 5 ish - then give it a bit more. Pre-flash the paper first and develop by inspection in weak developer. Works great and I love the process.

[Keith Tapscott.]

Hi All,

I’m trying to make in camera 10x8 paper negatives but am having trouble with the long exposures required.

Using MGIV RC as the benchmark, can anyone suggest a paper that is faster?

Help/suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Niall.I don't know about comparing actual speeds of various papers, but I know that Ilford have direct-positive papers available in both resin-coated and fibre-based that should be suitable for loading in film-sheet holders.

Just think, an 8x10 positive image without having to make a contact from a negative. Just a thought. :cool:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/product.asp?n=66&t=Photographic+Papers

[Niall Bell]

Thanks all.

Keith, I have some and yes it would cut out the negative stage, but I'm trying to make an albumen print and hence need negative. The negatives are being made using a home-made pinhole camera, but I'm having trouble getting my subject to sit still long enough- and hence original question about faster paper speeds.

But the Ilford paper is fun to play with, albeit pretty contrasty.

[JimW]

Pin hole? Pre flash the paper. The inertia of the paper may be an issue. Can you not use some kind of LF lens? Even at small apertures, at least they will more wide open than a pin hole.

[Niall Bell]

Jim,.
Thanks: I've read about how to go about pre-flashing and whilst I've thought about it off and on, I've have never actually tried it.

I'll give that a go using enlarger before loading paper to camera and see if that shortens the time required.
Thanks,
Niall

[wiesmier]

Well, my feelings are that pre-flashing helps reduce contrast which can be excessive with paper negs. I prefer lower contrast paper negs where you can increase the contrast when making the contact print.

[Dave miller]

Well, my feelings are that pre-flashing helps reduce contrast which can be excessive with paper negs. I prefer lower contrast paper negs where you can increase the contrast when making the contact print.

Would you tell us more about your pre-flashing method please. What is your set-up and duration for the pre-flashing?

[wiesmier]

Would you tell us more about your pre-flashing method please. What is your set-up and duration for the pre-flashing?

Sounds like you want something technical here :-(.
I set up an enlarger at it's highest point - the head that is, not the whole thing - stop down to f16 with 00 filter. I do a test at 1-5 secs flash then develop in full strength developer. Then I select the exposure that gives me some colour. I know this is not what others do, but I find it works well for me.
I then flash the paper neg [often Silverprint Prooof] and expose in camera at about 5 asa - and a bit more for luck. Better to have something on the neg! Then develop in weak paper developer by inspection. I wrote it up here (http://boxesbellows.blogspot.com/search?q=paper+negatives)if one is interested. Hope this helps.

[Dave miller]

Sounds like you want something technical here :-(.
I set up an enlarger at it's highest point - the head that is, not the whole thing - stop down to f16 with 00 filter. I do a test at 1-5 secs flash then develop in full strength developer. Then I select the exposure that gives me some colour. I know this is not what others do, but I find it works well for me.
I then flash the paper neg [often Silverprint Prooof] and expose in camera at about 5 asa - and a bit more for luck. Better to have something on the neg! Then develop in weak paper developer by inspection. I wrote it up here (http://boxesbellows.blogspot.com/search?q=paper+negatives)if one is interested. Hope this helps.

Thanks Andrea, I'm sure that will be a great help. :)

[Niall Bell]

JimW, thnaks again for the suggestion re flashing.

I spent some time at w/e arrving at my required flash point for MC IV RC 10x8 paper.

After several test strips, I landed on f45 (!!); 2.13 sec with enlarger at 52 cm; no filtration (but never experimented with this variable).

It all seemed to work well, and exposures in the pinhole camera could be reduced from 2-5 mins to 45 secs to 1 min. Still too long though to get a 10 year old to sit still to produce a non-fuzzy image (materials in shot with writing on were pretty sharp so it should be possible- looking now at various options for physical restraint).

From the paper negatives I made contact prints onto MGIV RC and FB. All works just fine. Next step is to make albumen contact print. Never a dull moment.

Thanks again,

Niall

[JimW]

Glad to be of help.

[wiesmier]

JimW, thnaks again for the suggestion re flashing.

I spent some time at w/e arrving at my required flash point for MC IV RC 10x8 paper.

After several test strips, I landed on f45 (!!); 2.13 sec with enlarger at 52 cm; no filtration (but never experimented with this variable).

It all seemed to work well, and exposures in the pinhole camera could be reduced from 2-5 mins to 45 secs to 1 min. Still too long though to get a 10 year old to sit still to produce a non-fuzzy image (materials in shot with writing on were pretty sharp so it should be possible- looking now at various options for physical restraint).

From the paper negatives I made contact prints onto MGIV RC and FB. All works just fine. Next step is to make albumen contact print. Never a dull moment.

Thanks again,

Niall
Looking forward to seeing the prints :-)