Stabilization Processor

I have a Do Mac stabilization processor... Tried to get some developer

incorporated paper to use with it - like Kodak RCIII... The usual paper sources all

act like they never heard of stabilization paper... Any suggestions as to a supplier?

 

denny

I think that was discontinued in the early 80's. It was not light fast for very long.

I doubt there is any available.

If it is similar to Kodak's Ektamatic processor, then no one is making any new paper that will work with it. The Polycontrast Kodak papers were developer incorporated and would work with SII activator (KOH based) or Clayton activator (NaOH based). Agfa RC paper would work with the SII. I gave up on trying to keep my processor going after my stock of Kodak Polycontrast ran out. Kodak and Agfa papers are out of production although you might still find some on Ebay. Kodak did make stabilization paper for several decades, but ceased production of it quite some time ago. WIth RC paper, you filled both reservoirs with activator. Stabilization paper needed S30 stabilizer.

This is why most places that have stabilization processors are giving them away.

It was nasty stuff--be glad you can't make it work.

 

I worked at a newspaper in the 70s, and inherited one in the darkroom there. It put out stinky, limp and damp photos that started turning strange colors weeks later. The theory at the time was that there were two conditions for stability: an image completely free of chemicals, or one completely saturated with them. Some sort of official testing was trotted out to reinforce this concept, which didn't sound much better at the time than it does now.

 

I probably have a couple (or couple hundred, or thousands--I don't remember) of rolls of film from that era that were washed by a quick rinse in photo-flo followed by a wipe and dry, and I cringe for what I'll find when I dig them out.

if you can find the paper, we still make the ACT & Stab.

There was, by the way, a graceful way out, and that was after the layout guys had done their thing, take the print and fix and wash it for real. It wasn't fun with the fiber paper, but with the RC version it was at least a plausible scenario.

The last time I used my stabilization processor I used Kodak Polycontrast D surface RC paper and Clayton Activator (the stuff Lowell Huff's company sells). I don't know if Kodak still makes activator or not, but most places will not ship it. The Clayton activator can be shipped so if you really want to try the processor, this may be the only way.

When my family owned a camera shop, we did custom black & white darkroom work and for large volume jobs we used the processor. We would fix the prints and wash them to prevent fading.

The last version of RC paper that Kodak made was Polycontrast IV. I just checked ebay and there was only one listing for that kind of paper. I think it was a pkg of 25 8X10 D finish. That was the last kind of paper I used with stabilization. Worked fine with Clayton activator. I used the last of mine in dektol and toned it with Kodak Sepia toner. The RC III is likely so old that it may be fogged unless refrigerated. When I used that I was still using Kodak SII activator. Still, if really cheap you could try some. At one time I had considered making my own activator from scratch but after my source of developer-incorporated paper dried up, I gave up on it and disassembled my processor.

My darkroom stuff was in storage for past 5 years til now! I am almost finished building the small darkroom and was planning on using my Kodak Ektamatic processor for quick & dirty fast stuff... You all say paper is not available.. I just googled Porter's Camera Store and they have quite a few RC variable contrast papers available from Forte and another paper mfg. Do you think these RC papers will work with the processors?

The papers would have to be developer-incorporated to have a chance of working. The only papers that worked for me were Kodak Polycontrast RC papers (III and IV) and the Agfa RC papers. I think Ilford papers may be developer-incorporated, but I could not get them to work with Kodak SII or Clayton Activator. Most RC papers left on the market probably are not developer-incorporated. See if you can download data sheets on any papers you are interested in. Maybe you will find some that are. Another thing I've noticed about developer-incorporated papers: if you leave undeveloped paper in room light it will darken after a while. More so in sunlight. So that might be a test. If possible, check with someone who has tried the paper in question before investing a lot in reviving your processor. Stabilization chemicals are not cheap!

I found this thread very interesting. I am a photograph conservator working on the preservation issues surrounding stabilized prints and am looking for to acquire a stabilized print processor to use in making samples. Does anyone have one that they would be willing to donate to this project? I would pay for the packing and shipping of it of course. Any leads would be most appreciated! Thank you!

I found this thread very interesting. I am a photograph conservator working on the preservation issues surrounding stabilized prints and am looking for to acquire a stabilized print processor to use in making samples. Does anyone have one that they would be willing to donate to this project? I would pay for the packing and shipping of it of course. Any leads would be most appreciated! Thank you!

 

Given that this thread is 9 years old, it's extremely unlikely that you will find either paper or chemicals available, even if someone has a machine to donate.

The thread may be old, but there are likely many machines sitting in old darkrooms or basements.

 

I didn't know about developer incorporated Polycontrast, though. I still have some, and some of it might still work.

 

I do have one package, though, which I got from someone unopened, and maybe five years old.

When I tried it, each sheet is fogged except for the outer 1/4 inch. That is, develop an unexposed sheet and you get a gray rectangle with a white edge.

I have never seen that before. The package was factory sealed.

 

The chemicals might be simple enough to make, if one wanted to do that.

Long ago, in a different world, I toyed with the idea of getting a stabilizer developer.

 

However, quite aside from the vast problem of getting materials for it, the prints I saw were mostly gray and low contrast.

 

Suitable for a real-estate office, but not for high art. I'm sure we will be told that good stabilizer prints are as good as Ansel's darkroom, but I don't remember ever seeing any such. I think its use was mostly "quick and dirty".

For some ideas, the time has "went".

 

 

Now I will return to my extended search for printing-out papers.

Edited May 12, 2017 by JDMvW

I also never saw any stabilization processor prints that made me want to go out and buy one, even though I used to make hundreds of prints every month for commercial purposes. At one point back in the 1980's, Ilford Multigrade RC was developer incorporated so that it could have been developed in a stabilization processor. although it still required fixing and washing. I could probably date that more exactly by looking at the contact sheets I made with that paper as they are turning brown on the back, although the images still look OK.

Now I will return to my extended search for printing-out papers.

 

Reminds me, I once saw in a Goodwill store what must have been close to the original contact printer.

 

It was big, made mostly of wood, and had six big lamps, maybe 150W each.

 

I didn't buy it, as it was too big, and I didn't have that much space.

 

It does seem that printing out papers were used for a long time after film developers were available.

This does take me back quite a way. I hate to think of how many sheets of 8x10 Ektamatic paper I went through in my early newspaper days. True it would fade fairly soon but could be fixed, washed and dried to make it more or less permanent. I recall it being a lower contrast paper though which was good for the newspaper printing process of the day. Kodak also made a processer that would develop and fix prints using PolyMax and PolyContrast papers. I still have quite a few of those prints. For me now it is back to trays though.

 

Rick H.

I know this is an old thread, but since there's been some renewed interest I'll add a little more. My first experience with stabilization processing was in summer of 1972 when I worked in the darkroom of the local newspaper. Of course the newspaper had no provision for improving the lasting properties (and odor) of the prints. A few years later after my dad opened our family camera shop he bought a used Kodak Ektamatic processor and refurbished it. It was in use until Kodak black & white paper was no longer available. We always fixed and washed our stabilization prints and the ones I saved still look great today. Paper made for the processor (like Kodak's Ektamatic paper) could, with care, make decent prints, but not up the standards we came to expect with tray processing. When we started using Kodak's RC papers the difference wasn't so great since tray processed RC didn't look as good to us as fiber based paper.

Maybe too much change of subject, but I wonder if we are more used to RC now, and its look. Do we still find the fiber based look so much better?

 

One thing I remember so much about fiber based paper is that it always curls up. RC mostly doesn't do that.

Here is a Spiratone listing for their stabilization processor (for nostalgia's sake):

Modern Photography 1976-01

Now I remember, it is the Spiratone ad that I originally learned about stabilization processing, though it was too expensive for me.

(That was about 8th grade or so. I could afford film and paper, but not expensive processors.)

While Kodak's Polycontrast paper (RC) was developer-incorparated, it wasn't recommended by stabilization processing although Kodak did say some uses might be acceptable. Not sure who recommended this originally, but with Kodak and Agfa RC paper it was recommended to put activator in both bottles and immediately put print in fixing solution. I got my best RC stabilization prints with this technique (combined with Ilford Rapid fixer).