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View Full Version : Kodak Polycontrast help


Paulographic
19th February 2011, 03:16 PM
Has anyone here any experience of using Kodak Polycontrast paper?
I've picked up some ex college stock 5 1/2 X 3 1/2, semi-matt cheaply £2 box, unopened, to run off proofs of a large number of 35mm negs.

First use of it his week produced dullish flat prints even at grade 5 using Ilford MG Dev.
I used some of this in gloss two years ago with no problems.

Is it just age?

Paul

Mike O'Pray
19th February 2011, 04:56 PM
I have had this issue with several different kinds of paper and it had nothing to do with the paper. My dev was becoming exhausted. The classic symptom is that all grades look roughly the same which is what you seem to be describing

Unless the dev was brand new I'd be tempted to make fresh then develop the same neg at different grades and see how they look. I'd be surprised if this doesn't work.

If paper has aged then the usual symptom is light grey borders and flatness. Try taking a piece of the paper out of the box in the dark and place straight into fixer, then another piece out and into dev then fix. If the former looks white and it should and the latter looks slight grey then the paer had age-fogged.

If it has, things are not necessarily irretrievable. Try benzotriazole in the dev. If the greying is very slight then 5ml of a 1% solution might work but be prepared to increase this up to 20mls.

Mike

Paulographic
19th February 2011, 05:10 PM
It was fresh developer, first thing in the morning.

(Loss of contrast is the usual sign of developer becoming exhausted, Agfa Neutol losing it sooner than anything I remember.)

Also the face and back of this surface are almost indistinguishable under safelighting and there's no curl to give you a clue.

I had enough remnants of other boxes of various brands to do all I wanted.

Richard Gould
19th February 2011, 05:22 PM
Kodak polycontrast need different filters to they multigrade, Kodak had their own filters which worked for their own paper,and they kodak paper does not respond to well to Ilford filters,Richard

Keith Tapscott.
19th February 2011, 05:57 PM
I used some of this in gloss two years ago with no problems.

Is it just age?

PaulMost likely age as you suspect. What's the expiry date on the box?