Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/08/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Feli- Most new fiber based papers I have used or looked at have Baryta (barium sulphate)sizing between the emulsion and the paper. The result of this is that-one, the paper substrate is a brighter white, so you get a greater apparent contrast. Two, it prevents the emulsion from penetrating the paper fibers. The older papers without the sizing will often have a 'creamy' look as they have no artificial brighteners, and since they are not sized the emulsion seeps into the paper during manufacturing, giving a greater 'depth' to the image, literally. The obvious downside of this was that with the old papers, you needed several minutes of fixing in each bath, and to thouroughly rid the print of spent fixer, you needed to wash the print for at least an hour. (Look at some of the darkroom instructions from a photo How-To book from the thirties!~) If anyone is making such a paper, it must be one of the makers like Seagull, or if the FOMA folks make a paper, they may still be doing the old style paper. From the Tech Spec sheets of Agfa, they apparently use baryta in even their fiber based paper. Ilford, I haven't checked. It might be an interesting quest, short of coating your own! Best, Dan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Feli di Giorgio" <feli@creocollective.com> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org> Sent: Monday, August 02, 2004 5:48 PM Subject: [Leica] silver prints > I was up at the Getty Museum this weekend visiting one of their photo > exhibits. One thing that always strikes me is the quality of the > vintage b/w silver prints. They are incredible lush and rich. Their > tonal scale is to die for with a creamy smooth tonal scale all the > way from the shadows to the highlights. I've never seen a modern > print that looks remotely as good. So, what is it? Certainly the > uncoated lenses (taking and enlarging) may have something to do > with "the glow", but my guess is it's the paper. True? False? Maybe? > Does anyone still make anything even remotely like that today? > > Thanks, > > Feli > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >