I am an experienced black and white photographer and printer but have only printed (religiously) on Ilford papers. I have been interested in trying something new and saw that Luminos had cool finishes such as Charcoal R and Tapestry X. I have been searching the net for some advise on the paper but all I've come up with is that it's warmtone. Does anyone know where I can see examples of the texture on this paper? Or can tell me the grades the paper comes in? Or if it can be developed in dektol (or what it develops in)? Thanks for any help!

-- Heather Anderson (hlanderson@erols.com), June 01, 1999

Answers

Hi Heather! For approx $28 (i think) you can order a sampler pack of luminos papers from B&H - I ordered mine originally from Luminos which included mambership in the Luminos guild and a free newsletter (don't know if they have that anymore). www.luminos.com is their site. The paper can be developed in dektol as normal although I have recently ordered some of their Fotospeed VC developer as I have seen very good things with it. Good luck!

-- Hap (Hap2go@aol.com), June 01, 1999.

Heather,

Hello, I've been using Charcoal R for a couple of years and I really like it, it's one of my favorite warmtone papers. I've used Dektol and Ilford's Multigrade Paper Developer with no problems. Luminos says it has the texture of a watercolor paper and I'd say it does, very nice. Generally I tone it in Kodak Polytoner mixed 1:50 and get very warm images, the paperbase is a cream color. The contrast grade is approx 2 to 2.5, I've not had any trouble keeping good detail throughout the tones, white to black, when printing normally exposed and processed negatives. Give it a shot, it's good stuff! Bob

-- Bob Tipton (btip487@msn.com), June 02, 1999.

Heather,

Both Charcoal R and Tapestry X are excellent papers. Believe it or not, they are the same paper. One side of the paper, the smooth side, is Charcoal R. It does have a nice watercolor look to it. Luminos merely flips the paper over and lays the emulsion down on the rougher side and calls this Tapestry X. So which ever type you try first, just flip it over and check the other side to see if it's something you want to try. Personally I like the Charcoal R better. The Tapestry X's surface sort of looks like morse code. There are little dash-like perforations throughout making it look as though it has been woven. This works well with some images, but may be a little much for portraits and such. My advice to you would be to try the Charcoal R first. It's really nice and tones beautifully with either sepia or selenium toners. It's only available in grade 2 1/2, so it's been my experience that a somewhat contrasty negative works best. Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed.

Walter

-- Walter Massa (Massacam@aol.com), June 03, 1999.