Saw some Portriga-Rapid in local shop; think it's worth trying?

[jerry thirsty]

Hi all,

 

I was in a photo store this morning and digging through the

miscellaneous stuff when I discovered they have 10-sheet packs of

16"x20" Portriga-Rapid (one pack of grade 2 and one of grade 3). I

didn't see an expiration date or anything. Searching for info here, I

found one thread that said it was discontinued around 1994. So do you

think it's even worth attempting to get anything out of it? I've seen

recipes for fog reducer, but is that likely to help much if the paper

is so old? I don't even have big enough trays to handle paper of this

size, and with money tight right now I'm cautious about spending $34

for a pack of old paper. But if it's worth its weight in gold or

something I might get it just for the heck of it.

[steve_feldman3]

Jerry,

 

That's exactly right "$34 for a pack of old paper". Too much. I've had both good and bad experiences with out of date papers. Some 20 years out work fine and some 5 years out fail. No way of telling. Your find is already 11 years out of date. I'd offer them $5 per pack and no more.

 

Portriga-Rapid was nice paper. The #118 was a very warm tone image on cream base. Great for selenium toned portraits. #119 was neutral-cold black image on a white base.

 

I have trays that can handle 16x20 paper. But my sink won't. Developer on the left. Stop on the right. Fix on the floor. Wash in the bathtub. The wife gets a bit pissy when I process paper and she wants to shower. Ah well, she knew the job was tough when she took it.

 

Good luck.

 

~Steve

[john_layton]

The original Portriga Rapid paper, at least as I remember from the 70's and 80's, was a

truly astounding paper - with a depth and tone that only needed Dektol and nothing else

to give wonderful results. I loved this paper.

 

I'd heard something about Agfa having to discontinue this version because of some unsafe

ingredient, cadmium if I'm not mistaken, and when it again hit the shelves in its "safer"

rendition it had definitely lost some of this character.

 

If the particular paper you mention is indeed the "old" Portriga - then its definitely worth

the risk that it might have already been adversely affected by age. If you're not interested,

email me and I might just follow up on this!

[francois_gauthier]

A friend of mine is testing old papers these days (6 to 12 years old). Portriga was among them and was unrecoverable. It was a nice paper at that time but i doudbt any is still usable today.

 

If you still take the risk, it should be almost free to acquire.

[mikem77]

Camera Co. in Madison, WI? Because they too have 2 packs of Portriga left exactly as you describe! If so, offer half that. They'll take it but I passed anyways because of the age.

[john_layton]

Francois - my heart is broken!

[jerry thirsty]

Hi Mike,

 

Yeah, the one on Odana. Good call. I do believe I will pass as well. Although I did google up an old press release about the discontinuation that was dated June 2001, so maybe it's only 4 or 5 years old. There was a thread on APUG a while back about Agfa papers tending to fog:

 

http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20983&highlight=fotohuis

 

Anyway, it sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth to me.

 

Thanks everybody.

[philip_glass]

I use some Agfa paper that is as much as 30 years old, there is somewhat of a contrast reduction, but the paper is not fogged. You do need to use benzotriazole however. Good luck.