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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Darkroom / April 2005

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Expiration date for photo paper

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David Nebenzahl - 27 Mar 2005 22:27 GMT
Anyone know how to figure out the expiration[1] date for photo paper?

There's a box of Kodak Polymax RC paper for sale, cheap, at one of my favorite
recycled-goods stores. It's apparently from a shop which went out of business,
and from the looks of the sticker seems to be maybe a decade or so old.

Annoyingly, there's no expiration date to be seen on the package! Film has it:
why wouldn't there be a date stamped there somewhere?

There are some numbers which *might* contain coded date information. I'd like
to know if this is worth bothering with or not. (The next question, of course,
is "how old can such paper be before it's no good?".)

And then there's the question of filtration; can I use my Ilford multicontrast
filters with this stuff?

[1] OK, "expiry" for you Brits.

Signature

"I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon."

- Former President Gerald Ford to his golf partners, as related by
the late Hunter S. Thompson

Scott W - 28 Mar 2005 04:14 GMT
> Anyone know how to figure out the expiration[1] date for photo paper?
>
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> - Former President Gerald Ford to his golf partners, as related by
> the late Hunter S. Thompson
How long the paper will last depends greatly on the temperature that it
is stored at.  If the price it right why not try it, after all it is
not like using old film in your camera, they if the film is bad you
have lost the shot, if the paper is bad you can always reprint with
newer paper.

Scott
Bernie - 30 Mar 2005 01:54 GMT
David, if this is Polymax RC Paper, it is definitely old as Kodak made
Polymax II RC for the past 6 years or so (I forget when they changed, it may
be closer to 10 years). Developer incorporated B&W papers like this do not
have the long shelf life the older fiber base and early RC papers had.

Even if this paper was stored in a freezer, my guess is you will see
unacceptable results, with age related mottle and fog on the paper. The fact
that there is no expiration date also shows the age as Kodak has been
printing a "use by" date on their B&W papers for the past trhee or so years.

> Anyone know how to figure out the expiration[1] date for photo paper?
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> [1] OK, "expiry" for you Brits.
John - 13 Apr 2005 08:15 GMT
>David, if this is Polymax RC Paper, it is definitely old as Kodak made
>Polymax II RC for the past 6 years or so (I forget when they changed, it may
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>that there is no expiration date also shows the age as Kodak has been
>printing a "use by" date on their B&W papers for the past trhee or so years.

    Well said and I can certainly validate all of this as I had some PolyMax II RC go
bad still in its original box. It was about 5 years old and as fogged as could be. Not
even good for photograms.

JD - www.puresilver.org
Nicholas O. Lindan - 13 Apr 2005 18:32 GMT
> I had some PolyMax II RC go
> bad still in its original box. It was about 5 years old and as fogged as could be. Not
> even good for photograms.

Graded may last longer than VC, ALIME.

I have packets of 15 year old Oriental Seagull (whoever that was
15 years ago...) and a packet of Agfa Portiga graded fiber paper
that are still good.

All the old VC fiber bit the dust long ago.

All the new RC VC is biting the dust as we speak.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer:  Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix  . netcom . com
psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/
 
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