RE: Cot 320

[Dan Haygood <dan@haygoods.org>]

I use a Crane stationary paper that gets black dots as well.  Before
exposure, a close examination of the back of the sheet shows that those
specks are places where the solution has soaked all the way through the
sheet.  I have not pulled out my microscope, but I imagine this is due to
pinholes or air bubbles in the fiber of the paper.  There is more solution,
so even in less exposed areas, there is a larger, thicker reaction to light,
leaving black dots in white and gray areas.

Do you have black dots, or larger spots?  Can you see them (in the
solution's color, not black) on the back of the sheet before exposure?
After a large-ish run, I'm ready to give up on the Crane's stationary I'm
using, and switch to something equally cheap like Masa.  In the mean time,
I'm trying to position the negative so the black spots end up in highly
textured dark areas where they don't have to be curated out.  (For curating,
I remove fibers by scraping with an xacto, and hope I don't go all the way
through the paper.)

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Moore [mailto:jeremydmoore@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 11:48 AM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Re: Cot 320


Yes, I recently noticed this, too on the 16x20 sheets I was printing
on. I was also surprised to get some black spots which only appeared
upon development. Switched to a new brush, mixed up new chemicals,
changed trays... same problem.

-Jeremy-

On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 1:33 PM,  <Ender100@aol.com> wrote:
> Diana,
>
>  I also noticed the graininess—especially in the pure blacks.  It was more
> pronounced where the coating was thinner along the edges of the paper.
>
>
> Best Wishes,
>  Mark Nelson
>
>  Precision Digital Negatives
>  PDNPrint Forum @ Yahoo Groups
>  Mark I. Nelson Photography
>
>  In a message dated 4/24/08 1:28:48 PM, dhbloomfield@bellsouth.net writes:
>
>
>
> Hi Mark,
>
>  Yes,  I was just printing with some COT320 paper last week, and I
wondered
> if they-- like everybody else-- had somehow changed the make-up of the
> paper.  I usually order it from 2 different places-- depending on who has
> it-- although it should all originate from the same central place
(right?)--
> but, yes, I did notice a difference.  I have some bigger paper that I
> haven't opened and was going to try that today to see if there was a
> difference.  I was using a batch of 11x14 before.  I had to keep brushing
> over the same spots to get over the beading/  I also noticed that  I was
> getting this grainy look which I had never before seen with that paper.  I
> switched to a brand new brush, a brand new tray, and I even made up some
new
> developer-- wondering if one or the other had been contaminated in some
way.
> I was also using negatives I'd used before-- with no problem-- and still,
I
> got this graininess.  I'm hoping that doesn't happen with this different
> size-- and was thinking I just got  bad batch or something-- who knows.  I
> do wish paper/film manufacturers would simply leave a good thing alone.
Too
> much to ask, I guess.
>
>  Diana
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> **************
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