What happens when you print a variable contrast paper like Polymax and you don't use any filter to control the contrast? Does the paper have some sort of default contrast value like normal contrast F2 or something?

-- patrick (rpeg@yahoo.com), February 02, 2000

Answers

The way I understand it is if you use no filter, you get roughly a grade 2. The advantage of using an actual grade 2 filter, then, is for maintaining the same exposure as you increase or decrease contrast by changing filters. So in the case of grade 2 without a filter, if you wanted to boost contrast with a #3 filter you would also need more exposure. The #2 filter generally provides more consistency and saves you some time. Different contrast grades for a given VC paper will probably have different exposure characteristics however.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), February 02, 2000.

It would depend on the paper and the color temperature of your light source. The yellower the light, the less the contrast.

-- Peter Hughes (leo948@yahoo.com), February 02, 2000.

Greetings,

Peter is absolutely correct. There is no "default" for VC paper without a filter. You shoud test your paper/light-source/developer by printing a step tablet and determine your default paper grade.

When I did this some years ago, I found that without a filter I was getting a grade 0. Regardless of the filters I tried, the highest contrast I could obtain was a grade 3, but I was able to get very low contrast, down to about grade 000.

Regards,

-- Pete Caluori (pcaluori@hotmail.com), February 03, 2000.

Patrick,

I usually print with VC paper without a filter. You can also get some variation in contrast by shortening or lengthening the time in the paper developer, and some paper developer combinations give you more range with this technique than others.

I also enjoy doing an intermittent water wash development on prints of overly contrasty negatives.

-- Stephen Burns (sburns@oregontrail.net), February 03, 2000.