I've been having a blast with Panalure paper and my aged C-41 negatives. However, it is only available from Kodak in RC glossy. Fine for some applications, but inappropriate for others (esp. selective hand-coloring!). I can't find any references to alternative papers to Panalure for B/W printing from color negs -- other than regular VC papers -- which are really not the same for this purpose. Am I missing a paper somewhere or is RC glossy my only option????

Thanks in advance, Eric Pederson

-- Eric Pederson (epederso@darkwing.uoregon.edu), April 10, 2001

Answers

The only other panchromatic paper I know of is ORIENTAL Panchro, also a RC paper.

-- Marc Leest (mmm@n2photography.com), April 10, 2001.

Hmmmm, I can live with RC, but not with just RC glossy. No mention of Oriental panchromatic (at least not in the main title description) at B&H. Does panchromatic imply this paper gives similar tonal renditions of the color negative as Panalure (i.e. is balanced for color negative contrasts) or is it simply sensitive to full spectrum?

-- Eric Pederson (epederso@darkwing.uoregon.edu), April 10, 2001.

the oriental panchrome comes in rolls for roller processors and/or minilab use. it is beautiful, though!

-- MR (reynard75@hotmail.com), April 10, 2001.

Eric, Sometimes, when pressed by color negatives that will never translate well into B&W papers, panchromatic or not, the best solution is creating a real B&W negative. How? Reproducing a well-done color print, reproducing the negative with positive T-Max or duplicating film. On the first two cases one can even use b&w filter to adjust tones. It can be somewhat expensive and time consuming, but it may save the day. Good luck.

Cesar B.

-- Cesar Barreto (cesarb@infolink.com.br), April 10, 2001.

You could try a two-step duplicate negative. The first step is to make a flat, dark positive on a panchromatic film, like T-Max 100. The next step is to make a negative from this positive. Obtaining the enough contrast can be a problem, because after you have compressed the tonal range present in the colour negative to fit the panchromatic film, you must then expand it so that the range is adequate for B&W papers.

I have used Kodak Professional Copy film to make the negative, which works well, but is available only in sheets. The attached link will give you more info: http://www.kodak.com/cluster/global/en/professional/support/tec hPubs/f17/f17.shtml.

Unfortunately, it looks like Professional Copy film will soon be discontinued. Although I have never gone this route, for the negative you could try T-Max 100 developed in a developer which produces higher than normal contrast, like D-19.

Good luck!

-- Terrence Brennan (tbrennan13@hotmail.com), April 25, 2001.