HEy, I was told that Agfa is no longer producing Portriga in the Matte surface. Is this true? I usually love to print on the 118 surface. If true has anyone found a decent substitute? Ilford Warm, Forte etc...

-- Tony Mastres (mastres@id.ucsb.edu), December 02, 1997

Answers

I'm printing quite a bit with Forte Polywarmtone; I think it comes closer in color and response to toners to Portriga than anything else. I tried the new Ilford Multigrade Warm Tone and found it to be pretty good, though less warm and far less responsive to toners. Then I called Ilford for a pamphlet on toning their new paper, which I received but haven't followed up on. One thing about the Forte: Its slow as molasass, about 3-4 stops slower than normal multigrade paper when printing with cold light! (maybe its faster with tungsten). I have an 8x10 Durst enlarger with a very powerful 440 watt Aristo head, so the slow speed isn't much of a problem for me. But with a normal countertop enlarger, I dread to think how many days it could take to expose a print.

-- Joel Pickford (pickimage@csufresno.edu), March 16, 1998.