Kentmere VC Select Paper Need Help

[mryoda]

I have a Patterson safelight like this one
http://www.photographyattic.com/product-496
Its kind of not Red as in bright red, but exactly as the pic above
I will test the light as you described tomorrow,

As for the developer, i tried 2 different ones,
First Suprol
Second Ilford MG Developer,
this did make the dark parts of the image slightly lighter maybe 1/4 stop as a guess.
Both fresh.

[Sim2]

Hallo,

I do not use colour head filtration so this suggestion should be taken with a pinch of salt but if equal amounts of the colours (c/m/y) are added, in addition to that needed for contrast, would that add a neutral density element into the light path? This might enable longer print times.
Thoughts on this suggestion by all welcomed.

[pentaxuser]

Based on my experience if you are using fresh Ilford MG developer then you can eliminate the developer as a cause of your problem.

Secondly and again based on my experience if you process your film exactly as the developer maker suggests you do then the negs should not come out as dark as yours have and they should have a normal range of contrast so at the usual range of grades(2-3) the prints shouldn't look flat, provided that there is nothing wrong with camera exposure.

I am puzzled as to why you are experiencing an issue. Have you tried other negs that look OK with Kentmere paper? I would try other negs and I'd send my problem neg to Simon Galley. The conclusions that Ilford reach about the neg and how to print it correctly might be the quickest way to resolve the problem.

pentaxuser

[mryoda]

I am no expert, but as you can see, i haven't made a thread like this for the Ilford paper
Every time i use Kentmere paper i get issues like this.
The first prints in the thread were taken using a Nikon F65 on full auto
The negative scan came from a Canon EOS 50E but i increased agitation by at least 5x so the neg wasn't as thin

Although my enlarger timings are the same for both papers, prints using ilford papers always come out usable.
Out of this box of 100 i have used 30 pieces and totaly wasted 28 of them
only 2 came out reasonable, even these are close to blowing out the whites and are more grey than i would like.



Steam Engine


Milverton Church Entrance

[MartinP]

"My enlarger timings are the same for both papers" -- the Kentmere paper is at least a stop faster than Multigrade. If you use the same exposure under the enlarger and pull the print too soon then you are going to have a low-contrast, grey result like you showed above. As a guide to a starting time with any combination of negs and paper, make a 10x8 contact sheet using Grade-2 so that the filmbase is only just different to black (ie. so that you can only just see the sprocket holes). If always done in the same way, this will give you a start point for deciding if your negs are ok. It 'should' be possible to make a reasonable work-print at that size and exposure and if not it gives you a baseline from which you can adjust things.

It also sounds as though there is something unusual about the exposure of the film. Try using the camera manually so you know how it is actually metering, compare that with a good light-meter (or even sunny-16), then develop according to the manufacturers instructions. Rodinal is sensitive to agitation and will change the contrast of the negative a fair bit depending on exactly what you do, so try using ID11 or something similar.

[Simon R Galley]

HARMAN technology Limited,
Ilford Way,
Mobberley,
Knutsford,
CHESHIRE.
WA16 7JL

FAO Simon Galley

Bring on the neg, I will print it for you...

Simon ILFORD photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

[Thomas Bertilsson]

"My enlarger timings are the same for both papers" -- the Kentmere paper is at least a stop faster than Multigrade. If you use the same exposure under the enlarger and pull the print too soon then you are going to have a low-contrast, grey result like you showed above. As a guide to a starting time with any combination of negs and paper, make a 10x8 contact sheet using Grade-2 so that the filmbase is only just different to black (ie. so that you can only just see the sprocket holes). If always done in the same way, this will give you a start point for deciding if your negs are ok. It 'should' be possible to make a reasonable work-print at that size and exposure and if not it gives you a baseline from which you can adjust things.

It also sounds as though there is something unusual about the exposure of the film. Try using the camera manually so you know how it is actually metering, compare that with a good light-meter (or even sunny-16), then develop according to the manufacturers instructions. Rodinal is sensitive to agitation and will change the contrast of the negative a fair bit depending on exactly what you do, so try using ID11 or something similar.

This is really good advice. And Rodinal is sensitive for sure, very powerful. Making contact sheets - on the same paper we use to print, is really valuable for someone beginning.

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I guess I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem with your safelight.

Based on the last two pictures you uploaded that shouldn't be a problem.

Are you developing your prints to completion? Or do you pull them from the developer when they 'look right'?

I have a Patterson safelight like this one
http://www.photographyattic.com/product-496
Its kind of not Red as in bright red, but exactly as the pic above
I will test the light as you described tomorrow,

As for the developer, i tried 2 different ones,
First Suprol
Second Ilford MG Developer,
this did make the dark parts of the image slightly lighter maybe 1/4 stop as a guess.
Both fresh.

[mryoda]

I always develop to completion these days, no matter how dark they get
I used to pull them when the looked right, but not now
They are in the developer for at least 60 secs and sometimes 90 secs...

I put them in the ilfostop for 30 secs and then Ilford Rapidfix for 1 min. ( Simon can you make a non smelly version lol )

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I always develop to completion these days, no matter how dark they get
I used to pull them when the looked right, but not now
They are in the developer for at least 60 secs and sometimes 90 secs...

I put them in the ilfostop for 30 secs and then Ilford Rapidfix for 1 min. ( Simon can you make a non smelly version lol )

It will be interesting to see what Simon comes up with. Maybe you should send him a light proof envelope with some of the paper you are using too, so he could print using the same paper.

Have you tried making contact sheets the way it was described by Martin(?) above?