Would 7 year old Kodak Elite paper be any good, it it wasn't frozen?

[Vick Ko]

Would 7 year old Kodak Elite paper be any good, it it wasn't frozen?

It was stored in a basement, at slightly lower than room temperature.


Vick

[Jess C]

I doubt it. Back when I used Elite it was prone to severe fogging from storage if it wasn't frozen or, at the very least, refrigerated. As I recall, the paper went bad after about a year or so in normal room temp.

Cut off a section and stick in the developer and see what happens. Then you will know for sure.

[Michael Clark]

I bought some that was older that 7 yrs and it was fine, it was not stored in cold at all. If the price is low enough it could be a good deal, or if it is for free grab it and make a few prints.

[Mark Sampson]

Elite has been gone for more than seven years. Think 1986-2002. Still worth a try if it's cheap enough.

[Pawlowski6132]

Curious...what would you expect to see, one way or another?




I doubt it. Back when I used Elite it was prone to severe fogging from storage if it wasn't frozen or, at the very least, refrigerated. As I recall, the paper went bad after about a year or so in normal room temp.

Cut off a section and stick in the developer and see what happens. Then you will know for sure.

[Kevin Crisp]

My experience was that this paper is very prone to fogging if outdated and only stored in a "cool place" as opposed to an actual freezer. I did buy several boxes of it that were 2 or 3 years out of date and it was too badly fogged to use.

[rjmeyer314]

I did a lot of photoraphy in the 1970's, and then quit for about 10-15 years while my kids were growing up. When I went back to it all of my old Kodak paper was fine, I didn't find any spoiled.

[bob carnie]

If this paper is good I would recommend Lith printing as Elite is a brilliant lith paper.
A slight fog will not be a problem for lith.

[Jess C]

Curious...what would you expect to see, one way or another?

Any paper that I suspect that may have passed its useful life gets tested in developer without exposure. If its good it should remain paper white. If it fogs up (and it usually happens within the first minute) then it gets retired or becomes reassigned as focusing sheets.

I thought everybody tested suspect paper this way.

[Jess C]

My experience was that this paper is very prone to fogging if outdated and only stored in a "cool place" as opposed to an actual freezer. I did buy several boxes of it that were 2 or 3 years out of date and it was too badly fogged to use.

That was my experience . I have never had paper (unless frozen or refrigerated) last much past a year or two that didn't go bad. Kodak Elite was more prone to that than any other paper I have ever used.

[Scott Walker]

Would 7 year old Kodak Elite paper be any good, it it wasn't frozen?

It was stored in a basement, at slightly lower than room temperature.


Vick

Test it, if it is fogged add a few ounces of photo grade potassium bromide to the developer and re test it.
If the potassium bromide fixes the problem use the paper and if it does not, either use it for paper negatives or toss it out.

[Vaughn]

Don't toss it out!

It is great paper for final support of carbon prints!!!!!!!!!

[Kevin Crisp]

I think it was a developer-incorporated paper? If so, that is part of the short shelf life. I've had other papers kept at about 35 degrees last for more than a decade.

[Mark Sampson]

Elite was not developer-incorporated. It was Kodak's return to high-quality fiber-base paper, which all but disappeared after the introduction of RC paper in the mid-70s, and the Hunt brothers' attempt to corner the silver market c.1980. Elite was on a very heavy, almost triple-weight base, and was big news c.1985. I used a lot of it, as I worked for Kodak then and could get it at a discount, but never really enjoyed it. I found it difficult to get prints I liked, although it was undoubtedly a silver-rich paper. Certainly many people made beautiful prints on it.