Varicon RC Paper

[jerry_cunningham]

Has anyone tried Varicon RC paper? If so how did it look?

Thanks for any tips.

Sincerely,

Jerry Cunningham

[ole_tjugen]

I've had a few fights with it over the years...

 

First of all, all my Varycon was bought at least ten years ago. At that time I never managed to figure it out, and put it in a drawer and forgot about it. The problem was that it had very soft shadows at all filtrations, so that it was impossible to get good blacks without the whole print turning a dark, murky grey.

 

Then I pulled it out again recently, since I was testing everything I could lay my hands on. With the right developer, the shadows were no longer a problem. I'm (mostly) using Gevaert G262, but I believe most developers will be good. If you get poor blacks, try another developer. If you mix your own, put more hydroquinone in it.

 

It also gives some interesting effects in lith developer, but the most interesting one to me is that it is EXTREMELY prone to pepper fogging.

 

But of course, the formula has probably changed and all my advice is useless...

[leslie_wall]

I have the glossy finish. Good paper at great price. I payed $50.00 for 250 sheets. I gave an oppionion on the printing fourm about the stuff. I like it. I siad it's not muesum quality but then again neither are my pictures. If using variable contrast, it looked best to me at grade 3. I have a 4X5 Durst Pro enlarger with a CLS 500 Head. I develope in Dassonvile D-1 developer that I mix my self. Great blacks.