More good news-----about Cibachrome

I had a slide printed on Cibachrome in 1975. Turns out their advertising did not lie. The print, as far as I can see, is exactly the same. It wasn't stored under special conditions, but all the color is correct and intact.

Have similar, plus all of the processing equipment. Haven't managed to just throw away the box full of gear. It was a great system.

I tried one of the "Cibachrome Discovery Kits" I think it was called. It contained 10 sheets of 4x5 color paper, a 4x5 processing drum (roll back and forth on counter), chemicals, filters, and instructions. It worked great, but printing slides wasn't a priority for me in those days. I still have a couple of the prints (from late 70's) and they still look good.

I would make up some Cibachrome contact prints from my 8 x10 inch Ektachrome film. I loved the shiny plastic like surface of the Cibachromes. I had a method to print the Cibs at room temperature but I forget how I used to do that. It was quite a long way back when I did that.

I have several Cibachrome prints that I made in the 1970’s and they still look like they did when I made them. It was a great system.

Unfortunately, I got into Cibachrome when it was almost dead. I even purchased a Cibachrome processor all the way from Canada, but that thing was in such bad shape, that after a few months it went straight into the dumpster. B&H use to sell Cibachrome paper some of which I still have in my fridge, but they refused to ship the Chemicals. You had to go to NYC and pick them up otherwise, it was a no-go.

 

I remember searching far and wide for somebody that would ship those chemicals, but I came up empty handed. I have a good friend who shot Cibachrome back in the 90's. Some of his prints are amazing, very high contrast. He too had to give it up due to dwindling stocks of chemicals and shipping restrictions. The only person in the world that I think is still making Cibachrome prints is this guy: Browse Hand-made Cibachromes | Christopher Burkett Of course he uses Large Format cameras to get the best out of that process. Oh Well there is always Platinum Palladium...

I remember reading that some photographers experimented with using Cibachrome in 4x5 cameras for direct positives. Of course it would need to be corrected for daylight and require long exposure. I never tried it although I was tempted to try it in the Crown Graphic.

I still have some Cibachrome prints from the early 1980's that look good. One reason I gave it up was the chemistry--mixing the bleach from powder was nasty, and I don't miss that part at all.