Topic: Fujifilm 利根 TONE WP/Gaslight Contact Printing Paper

[Japan Exposures]

Hello -

I hope you find this small review informative:

I have only recently "graduated" to 8x10 large format and had been struggling with how to bring those negatives to life. I have set up an improvised darkroom in the bath for contact printing, consisting of an IKEA lamp with a 10W bulb connected to an enlarger timer. Two weeks ago I have discovered the Fuji TONE WP printing paper, which is specialised for contact printing, so I thought I'd share my experiences with it as I had never heard of paper dedicated for contact printing. I also have to add that I have not wet printed for a long time and especially never with the Fuji materials (paper developer today was Fuji Super-Korectol-L).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/megaperls/2565631929/

First things first: it is an RC paper, medium weight and it is glossy. That probably violates several commandments of the fine art photography world. This is probably a disappointment for some people, but not for me. Here's why:

Like meeting a rude person, what first strikes you is the lack of sensitivity of this paper. My other stock (Fuji Bromide, RC, graded) had exposures between 1-2s with my setup, which is why I have a darkroom timer hooked up to the bulb. With this paper I exposed for 100-150 seconds! Yes, that is very long but I found it gives me amazing precision for exposure (no fractions of seconds to worry about) and even a kitchen timer will do. The lack of sensitivity should also be beneficial for people with makeshift darkrooms that are not totally light tight (within reason).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/megaperls/2565631935/

So for me this paper will become my new standard stock at least for work prints and proofing. It helped me already making better prints because of the longer exposures. You can dodge as much as you want in that time period and really look at the negative in the contact printer while thinking what to do with it.

The prints themselves show a very pleasant tonality as far as I am concerned. Contrast just right for me at grade 3 (a matter of taste and how your negatives look like; I have seen last stocks of grade 2 version, but going forward it will only be made in 3). The image is crisp and blacks are rich and deep where you want them. Overall the grey is nice and neutral. This is a very user-friendly paper for contact printing and I am very pleased with it. Unfortunately I was told earlier this week that Fuji paper prices will go up by 10-20% in summer so I will stock up a bit.

Note that this is an Japan-only product and generally not available anywhere else. See my web site for details.

[LT]

fomatone MG is a slow warm paper made for contact printing, although it can be used for enlarging too and is a multigrade paper so you can use filters to correct contrast issues in the negative. Also there was Kodak's Azo, but sadly no longer available, but there was talk of a replacement being made ... not sure how far down the line that is?

Your comments about the tonality of the paper you're using are only really relevent to your negative exposure/ development technique - other people's negatives fine tuned for other papers/ contrast ranges may not show the same tonality in the mids and highs at least.

with respect to printing times with your other papers ... have you tried lengthening the distance between your lamp and the negative - you should be able to slow it down a bit that way.  1 or 2 seconds does seem ridiculously fast for only a 10 wat bulb.

[Japan Exposures]

Hi there,

thanks - yes, when contact printing on graded paper you should ideally always end up with a negative matching the paper grade. I believe that this is one of the points of the Zone System: you adjust exposure and development for each photograph to end up with the same contrast in the negative and can use the same paper continuously. As you correctly say, in this case the grade suits my negatives, other people may not be so lucky but can then adjust exposure and development accordingly.

I have reservations using multigrade paper at this point because I don't have grade filters large enough to cover the light source and secondly the bulb is a household bulb and I am not sure whether its own colour temperature will introduce a shift a contrast (which could probably be compensated for and in absolute terms is not important as long as it produces the results I like).

In terms of exposure for the other paper I could probably double the distance to the bulb and paper to quadruple the time, but it is already 1.5 meters away and it is practically difficult in a confined space to extend this. I could of course obtain a weaker light source or use ND filters.

Nonetheless, with the Fuji TONE WP paper my setup does what I want it to do and there is no real need for me to change anything. Once I master the RC paper I will switch to fibre-based paper again which will probably require some of the adjustments. The only graded fibre based paper out of Japan is the Oriental GF range.

Best regards

Dirk

[LT]

 I suspect you'll be having the same difficulties with short exposure times when you stop using the plastic contact paper - Oriental is reasonable fast compared to contact papers.  how about some ND filter gel sheets?  Lee make sheets of Neutral density material for use with studio lighting.  It comes in various strengths but if you're getting an average of about 2 seconds with the bulb bare, then adding some 1.2 ND sheet over it will mean you'll get about 32 seconds - much more manageable for those wrist twisting dodge and burns.

You should be fine with a household bulb and MG filters - all bulbs deteriorate and colour temps change anyway so you'll never get the exact perfect result unless you;re using a manufacturers MG head (like the Ilford ones for Deveres) and brand new bulbs each time. Ilford make their mg filters in sizes up to 30 cm square - for those who are interested in trying this out.

[Japan Exposures]

Thanks, did not know about the large filters. The 30cm x 30m ones must be bought sheet by sheet it seems. There is also a 15cm x 15 cm set with all filters which may do the trick. As a side effect they may swallow some light as well and also contribute to longer exposure times.