Any REAL diff between Sepia and Sepia II?

[J Pellegrino]

I have been trying both the Kodak sepia toners on both Ilford regular and warm-tone papers, even going to far as to tone half of a print in one and the other half in the other. And I can't detect a difference.

Am I missing something?

[rbarker]

Am I missing something?

Obviously. Sepia II is "new and improved" and costs 30% more.

[Tom Duffy]

The Kodak Sepia type 1 provides a "real" brown tone the type 2 provides an "ugly redish" brown tone, which is incidently the same ugly redish brown tone as their sepia color paper.

Trying to figure out why you are not getting results from the Ilford, are you using a hardening fixer, by chance?

I generally use Bergger paper and the results are spectacular.

[Bob Carnie]

This new improved version has given me nothing but headaches

I had to change all my times and dilutions for the new stuff. It seems to be 3-4 times as strong in the part A. Therefore lots of extra Part A packages left over.
I have no idea why they changed this product.

It seems so silly to do this, but then again they were the company that decided to get rid of Ectalure and Elite papers.

[J Pellegrino]

Tom: yes, I use Sprint Speed Fixer, which has gotta have hardener in it. Perhaps I should try non-hardening fixer. I am really most interested in using both toners on the same print, to get two different browns.

Bob: thanks for tipping me off that the bleach that comes with Sepia II is stronger. I can USE a stronger bleach, since I like to apply the bleach to only parts of the print with a brush. The bleach that comes with the original toner can be tedious to use, even mixed extra strong.

JP

[ann]

I am not sure if Sprint fixer has a hardener. i will dig out the spec sheets (however, they are older, and may not be up todate.)

Many people who do some serious toning recommend sprint fixer as it seems to allow for better results. Which certainly goes counter to having a hardener in the fixer as most toners work better when the fixer does not contain a hardener.

I wish that we could get Sprint products in this area as when i used them years ago, i really like them. Just hate to pay shipping on all that water. When and if the time comes that we have to order on line for all chemicals I may re-visit that thought.