Paper negatives Questions

[Reinhold Schable]

Howdy Ian,

I'll add to the chorus of folks who (re)discovered the charms of paper negatives.
As others have said, a Y2 or YG filter enhances tonality.
I also like to add some restrainer to diluted Ansco 130 developer for better control during developing.

Here's an example of how I use paper negatives to verify the performance of one of my Wollaston soft focus lenses...
https://www.photrio.com/forum/index....a-lens.104925/

another example...
http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...hp?albumid=598

Reinhold
www.re-invetedPhotoEquip.com

[Peter Gomena]

I've done some pinhole photography with Ilford Multigrade RC. During testing, I found that in direct sunlight I had to use a "00" Ilford polycontrast filter to tame the contrast enough to make a print. I can't show you any samples of the results - the negatives were made on 16x20" paper and won't fit my scanner very well! I held a workshop for large format pinhole photography, and all the students made their cameras with the "00" filters. Some of them produced stunning results. Pre-flashing certainly will help tame contrast, although I found that in contact printing the negatives, the usual printing filters and split-grade printing produced good results. In general, you'll have to choose whether to keep either shadow or highlight detail in a sunlit scene. I can't give you an exact EI for the paper, but my tests gave a 9-minute exposure in direct, over-the-shoulder sunlight at f/360 with the "00" filter in place.

[jnantz]

ian

once you get a system down i don't see why you can't develop your paper negatives in the sp445
but like everything ... you will have to devise a system ..
pay attention to the quality of light, bright+harsh vs flat/soft, open shade &c
once you get the hang of things it will be like you have been doing it for decades.
have fun!
john

[IanBarber]

Interesting Peter. I have a Noon 5x4 pinhole and never thought about using that with paper, certainly much cheaper option.

I have never tray developed before and I am currently trying to convert a small cupboard in the house to have a go, its only going to be small though and I will also be wanting to try contact printing but will have to resort to using a low wattage light bulb suspended from above

[IanBarber]

I ordered some RC paper to try which has now arrived.

When working with film, I use a spot meter and put the important shadows on Zone 3/4 at exposure time and work to putting the high values around Zone 7/8 with development.

How many stops roughly can RC paper hold when used for paper negatives and is it still ok to meter with a spot meter or would incident be more easier for this paper

[desertrat]

I ordered some RC paper to try which has now arrived.

When working with film, I use a spot meter and put the important shadows on Zone 3/4 at exposure time and work to putting the high values around Zone 7/8 with development.

How many stops roughly can RC paper hold when used for paper negatives and is it still ok to meter with a spot meter or would incident be more easier for this paper

Before the exposure question can be answered, it's important to know whether the RC paper is variable contrast or graded. VC paper with a yellow or green filter can probably hold more stops than when no filter is used. Graded paper is probably blue sensitive and will probably be contrasty.

I've had best results using VC paper with a yellow filter, and developing to completion with standard paper developer. I haven't tried to meter with paper. Several test exposures are made and each is developed to completion. The slightly darker negs seem to make the best contact prints, and the slightly lighter negs seem to scan better. There have been no problems with excessive contrast.

If you want high contrast and a 19th century wet plate look, graded paper or VC paper with no filter will probably give that.

[IanBarber]

Before the exposure question can be answered, it's important to know whether the RC paper is variable contrast or graded. VC paper with a yellow or green filter can probably hold more stops than when no filter is used. Graded paper is probably blue sensitive and will probably be contrasty.

I've had best results using VC paper with a yellow filter, and developing to completion with standard paper developer. I haven't tried to meter with paper. Several test exposures are made and each is developed to completion. The slightly darker negs seem to make the best contact prints, and the slightly lighter negs seem to scan better. There have been no problems with excessive contrast.

If you want high contrast and a 19th century wet plate look, graded paper or VC paper with no filter will probably give that.

The paper is Ilford MG IV RC Deluxe

I am also using Ilford Multigrade devloper. The bottle states 1+9 but I read elsewhere that it would be best used at 1+28 which would yield a longer dev time enabling you to pull it from the tray when the highlights look as dense as you want. Would you agree with that

[JoeV]

My paper negative medium of choice has been Arista EDU (Freestyle Photo, here in the US, made by Foma) grade 2 RC glossy paper. It has a low enough contrast, even in sunny conditions, to produce a decent negative without a yellow filter. Being fixed grade 2 contrast, it renders a more usable tonal range in high-contrast daylight than MG. And I've found its working Exposure Index in bright sun to be around 12, which is much faster than MG paper with a yellow filter. This is with using fresh Ilford MG or Universal paper developer diluted 1+15 and at 68f. It's important to keep the paper developer at or around 68f, or higher, else the effective speed of the paper drops off. This is an issue with us that have unheated and/or cold darkrooms in the winter months.

I pre-flash the paper so that, if developed without any further in-camera exposure, it will have a faint gray tone. This helps to raise the paper's sensitivity to shadow detail, further helping to control excess contrast in sunny landscape conditions.

I use dilute paper developer, but film developer also works well. I develop by inspection until the shadow density is showing but not until the highlights are blown. A good paper negative should not have highlights near the D-max of the paper. The idea is to fit the wide dynamic range of a scene into the narrow range offered by the paper.\

~Joe