Digital BW, The Print

Robert wrote:

>... Neutral-Warm and Selenium
>Piezotones across about 10 different matte papers.
>... the range of tone across these papers is staggering ...
> I've always viewed this as similar to the darkroom where different
>papers and conditions will give different results and
>everyone has their preferred configurations.
>Of course it would be great to be able to get any
>tone on any paper...but that is certainly not how BW
>photography has traditionally been.

Well, I just looked at a 300 hour fade test with about 12 samples in it.  At
this point I may revert to my 4.3 formula and abandon the even tone formula
for now.  The pigments that I was using to get the even tone included the
Epson Archival color pigs along with the MIS UC clone pigs.  However,
although the Epson color pigments do not show any signs of incompatibility
or presence of dyes, they appear to be fading and warming more than the MIS
UC clone pigs.  Frankly, it's hard to believe.

The UC VM 4.3 formula - both neutral and warm curves -- is looking like the
PiezoTone NW, which means my tests just don't phase the stuff much.  The
PT-S and straight, full Epson Archival color inksets appear to be a bit less
stable, although all of these inks are so good that 300 hours in my fader
may be too short to be very conclusive.

The neutral 2200 test strip is also looking solid -- arguably better than
the Epson Archival inkset.

Sadly, the Wei T'o sprayed/deacidified print yellowed a bit more than the
un-treated test strip. It's minimal, but if it continues, it might be too
much.  The Wei To principal thought that he could come up with an even
better spray for this use.  I think the pH of the magnesium oxide buffer may
be too basic/high.

UltraSmooth is solid.  The paper actually gets a bit less yellow with light
exposure.  So, there are clearly no brighteners in it.

The UC VM 4.3 showed no fade on Eclipse Satine Bright White, but the 50%
patch yellowed significantly more than EEM and UltraSmooth.

I may need to test a lot longer to be able to draw much in the way of
conclusive comparative results.  However, at this point I'd say the UC Vm
4.3 is so good that it may not make sense for MIS to sit on it waiting for
further improvement.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com