ADOX MCC 111 VC Paper

[al olson]

As most of the View Camera subscribers already know, the Sept-Oct issue has a nice article by Eric Biggerstaff on the resuscitation of the ("new") ADOX brand MCC 111 VC paper.

Eric received a sample from a test run. His reproduced examples shown in the article indicate a paper with an excellent contrast range and wonderful tonality. Delivery of production is supposed to be early fall (now?). I am looking forward to trying a box because I think I will like the results.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Al,

It is very nice paper and I am enjoying it.

However, it is my understanding that we are now looking at sometime this winter for shipment. Your best bet to know when it is available is to check with Freestyle as they will be the distributor.

As soon as it is available I will be placing a nice big order!

Thanks
Eric

[Merg Ross]

Eric, I also enjoyed your article and conclusions. Did you have a chance to trim and dry mount a print? I once used a paper that, for some reason, would not cut cleanly on the Rototrim.

As I deal pretty much exclusively with Freestyle these days, I will be on the lookout for the "new" paper.

Thanks for the review.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I have mounted a print and it worked well, even with my off brand, cheap trimmer. I just made sure the blades were sharp. :-)

I want to try this paper in Ansco 130 which I plan to do this winter as I still have a few sheets left from the trial.

[Michael Graves]

If my understanding is correct, this paper is based on the Agfa MC-111 formula. That paper developed wonderfully in 130 developer, and while I still had a supply, was my favorite paper/developer combination. You can bet your .... your .... you can be assured that I'll be scouring Freestyle's pages regularly for the first sign of availability. It was the one paper that in my humble, worthless and biased opinion was as good, if not better than the old Kodak Elite paper of yesteryear.

[Nathan Potter]

Oh! OK Michael that tells me something. I used to use Kodak Elite and liked it a lot IMHO, especially for the rendering of shadow values from my zoned negs. I still have a bit of 8X10 elite left in the refrigerator. Also nice View Camera article Eric - many thanks.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[bob carnie]

I too recieved this paper, almost 9 months ago.
I did not have a chance to test it until last week, first print out of the chems and unfortunately the paper was fogged to light grey, put in a sheet of current paper stock other brand and the paper was not fogged.

I love this paper , and the fine grain matt version, but 15 years ago I could not use the fine grain matt for the exact reason.

Maybe I just got unlucky with my sample pack.

[al olson]

Last week I used some Adorama paper that I had stored in my refrigerator for 3 or 4 years. In the past I had liked the results, but since it has not been available for a couple of years I have been switching to Ilford and Kentmere. Unfortunately my current results turned out to be a fogged dingy gray. I still have a couple of unopened boxes that are probably in the same condition. It appears that this paper has a very short shelf life.

Adorama has not stocked this paper for a couple of years which implies to me that it was likely produced by a coating lab that left the business. Could the supplier have been Adox? Or is it some other coating lab?

[PViapiano]

Al, I know it's a pain but try a regular exposure and pull it from the dev in 30-45 seconds. After fixing and washing, you can run it through a ferricyanide bath to bleach the fog away.

Works great for me with fogged paper (providing it's not totally hopeless)...

[al olson]

Thanks, PV, I will give it a try. I still have 100 sheets in the refrigerator that I don't want to go to waste.

Based on Bob's experience with the fogging of 9 month old Adox, however, I am still curious if anyone knows who coated the Adorama paper? Is there an Adox connection?

My Adorama paper was refrigerated over the 3+ years since I bought it. I previously used it a year ago and the results were excellent at that time, but when I used it last week it developed a serious fog.

Living here in the boondocks it is difficult enough to keep enough supplies on hand for immediate use so I have a large inventory of film and paper in my refrigerator that mostly has become out of date.

Are the storage conditions for the new Adox going to be critical? Will keeping it in the freezer vs. the refrigerator help? I like the look of the Adox, but I don't want to be stocking materials that have a short shelf life.

[Toyon]

I just tried out a test batch of 5 sheets. It has a whiter base than the old Agfa but has a similar deep range of tones - giving a sharp and clean appearance. The air dried surface is semi-matt, more like the old Bergger paper. I found it to be virtually unnaffected by selenium toning at 1:20. A really nice paper and I look forward to testing it more.

[Bill Kumpf]

Does anyone have an update on Adox MCC 111 paper?

[Sal Santamaura]

http://www.adox.de/english/ADOX_Papers/MCC/MCC.html

Scroll down to the bottom. This is a great paper; your patience will be rewarded.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I also tested this paper a while back. I was very, very pleased with it.
I've been waiting for this paper to become available, as I'm almost out of my favourite paper, Forte Polygrade V.

[Bill Kumpf]

I have one pack of Agfa left that I have been hoarding. I have been using Multigrade for work prints but it is time to revisit the whole paper issue. It is spring time. I would prefer to be out shooting than in the dark room testing.

I re-read Bruce Barlow’s work on the “Great Paper – Developer Shoot-Out”. (His “Finely Focused” CD is still my go-to for direction.) Maybe I will continue with Multgrade till next winter……….

Maybe MCC 111 will be available then.

[Toyon]

Here's the response to an inquiry I sent to Fotoimpex (Adox) yesterday.

"Thanks for your interest on our mcc paper.
It needs more time for the fabric produktion
of that. We hope that we can offer it at late
summer.

Best regards

Andreas Kottlorz

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Thanks for the update Toyon. I hope this paper does find its way to market as it is excellent and worth the wait.