The Variable Contrast Printing Manual by Anchell, Steve

[chris72]

Have someone this book in pdf format? I’m interested how to calibrate the VC.
Any help please?

[ic-racer]

Some info here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/making-a-multigrade-calibration-table-for-color-head.42839/

[Peter De Smidt]

https://fliphtml5.com/exru/vhtf

[neil poulsen]

What kind of head are you using? Make and model?

[Tin Can]

Thanks Peter

Printed for DR use


https://fliphtml5.com/exru/vhtf

[chris72]

Omega Superchromega DII

[chris72]

I find the book, and I buy.

[esearing]

Amazon.co.uk has some but I do not know if they ship to Romania or not. US Amazon will not ship there. I had a color head but eventually just switched to under lens filters. For split-grade printing it was easier than adjusting the dials in the dark.

[neil poulsen]

Why the need to calibrate?

I use a Beseler 45s head. I consider no filtration to be "grade 2," or "normal." To increase contrast, I add magenta without yellow, and to decrease contrast, I add yellow without magenta. (Cyan always zero.) Very simple and straight forward.

I really like and use the zone system. (May the force be with you.) That's where I end up doing calibrations for contrast control, based on the given scene. (i.e. N, N+1, N-1, etc.) In my view, much better to have the desired contrast built into the negative.

When I print, to taste of course, I always end up using magenta filtration between 20 to 30. This is not deliberate; it just ends up this way. I've never used yellow filtration to decrease contrast. So, calibrating VC settings would be of no advantage in this situation. I use no filtration when I print test calibration negatives.

Not saying this is necessarily better. (Though, it is more me.) Just an alternate approach.

[Doremus Scudder]

Neil,

My approach is much the same as yours. I find I like prints made on VC paper with a bit of magenta filtration (around 30 or so) better than those made at a lower-contrast setting. It's something to do with the mid-tone curve I think. I like to calibrate development-time tests to about 30M these days. Back when I used graded papers, I calibrated to Seagull G grade 2.

Anyway, I don't bother with speed-matching or calibrating paper speed, etc. If I need more contrast, I dial in more magenta; less, I reduce magenta (or add yellow if I'm on that side of "0"). I'm always ratcheting up to 170M or down to 170Y for burning anyway.

I've learned to guesstimate exposure time changes for changes in contrast settings instead of trying to speed match. Subsequent prints always need refining anyway, so getting in the ballpark is all I need. For larger changes, I'll just make another test strip.

These days, I think in terms of more or less basic contrast instead of grades. The color head lets me achieve intermediate "grades" easily too, so no more split-developing prints (which I did as a matter of course with graded papers).

Best,

Doremus

[neil poulsen]

Doremus,

Thanks so much for this post. Really interesting!

It's reassuring that you use about the about the same contrast settings when printing. I've been curious about this, because the theory goes, if I have the "correct" contrast in the negative, I "shouldn't need" any additional contrast when printing. Right? :)

But at the same time, we also know that print contrast behaves a little differently than negative contrast. It could be that, there's an optimum combination of the two that works best.

For this reason, based on experience, I now begin at about magenta 25 when printing a new negative. This results in very little needed contrast adjustment to optimize a print. So, I guesstimate speed as well; though, it occurred to me at one time to do some testing in this regard.

My graded paper days are long gone. Isn't it great that we have such excellent variable contrast papers available. I recall John Wimberly, who's done some outstanding silver gelatin work, saying that Ilford Warmtone was one of the best papers with which he's ever worked. (Even with the high silver content in yesteryear papers.)

[Peter De Smidt]

Using Paul Butzi's method with a dichroic head was the single best methodological change I made in my darkroom work. YMMV.