phr@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Paul Rubin) (12/18/85)
According to December's Modern Photography, Agfachrome Speed enlarging paper is being discontinued. They suggest that you stock up now. This is a color enlarging paper that requires only one processing bath, and no special machinery like Ektaflex needs. Anyone know why it is being discontinued? I was hoping to play around with some sometime (I've never done any color darkroom work) but the Student Union here at UCB had a fire and the studio I'd been using will be closed for a while.
howard@sfmag.UUCP (H.M.Moskovitz) (12/19/85)
> According to December's Modern Photography, Agfachrome Speed enlarging paper > is being discontinued. They suggest that you stock up now. > This is a color enlarging paper that requires only one processing bath, > and no special machinery like Ektaflex needs. > > Anyone know why it is being discontinued? I was hoping to play > around with some sometime (I've never done any color darkroom work) > but the Student Union here at UCB had a fire and the studio I'd been > using will be closed for a while. There are a number of good reasons why Agfa is discontinuing Agfachrome Speed. 1) The paper was hard to work with. There was no reliable way to tell which was the emulsion side in the dark. 2) The paper had a TERRIBLE tendency to curl into a tube. This curl couldn't be straightened. 3) The competition came out with chemistry for regular papers (such as Ektachrome 22) that was simple and easy to use with temperature considerations. 4) Agfa Speed was VERY costly. I was buying it in quantities of 10 sheets and it worked out with chemistry to about $2.25 per 8x10 sheet. Compare this to Ektachrome 22 in Besseler 3-step for $0.52 per sheet. Add all these factors up and it becomes apparent why the product didn't sell very well. Besides, I've heard runors that Agfa intends to REPLACE Speed with something much better. Keep your fingers crossed. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Howard Moskovitz AT&T Info. Systems attunix!howard