Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Fri, 12 Feb 1999 23:05:11 -0500 (EST)
On Fri, 12 Feb 1999, Liam Lawless wrote:
>
> Kodak figures prominently in the history of popular photography, and I think
> it's a shame that they're not more aware of their past contributions, though
> I believe they've published many formulae as alternatives to their
> commercial products, and for products that they never actually sold. Years
> ago, their Tech. Support department was a mine of useful information, but,
> apparently, no longer. Some time ago I wanted to talk to someone about
> their published selenium recipe (T-56, or was it T-55?), and despite my
> listing a number of Kodak publications that contained it, the guy I spoke to
> refused to accept that it was one of theirs.
Liam,
Approximately 1962, or possibly 1965, Kodak shipped all their old timers
who knew about toning out on an icefloe, and replaced them with RIT
graduates who'd been taught by F64-ites that toning is kitsch.
By circa 1980, when I began making toners, nobody at Kodak that I could
get to knew anything on the topic at all. In fact if they looked up "tone"
in their reference material, they got *photographic tone,* meaning gray
scale.
At that time, however, there were still old-timers who knew other photo
facts from experience, and occasionally you got a lucky strike with
someone who spilled facts about the subject you were researching faster
than you could take notes.
No more. My last few calls to 1/800/242-2424 were relayed to kids with
computers, and the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing. If
it didn't punch up on the screen right away, they were blank. I went
through several divisions, looking for sensitivity guides, finally got one
or two product numbers, but there were several more nobody knew about,
could locate, or find in their data base -- maybe out on the ice floe by
now, too ....
They have a new division supposedly for graphics for imagesetting and
offset materials, apparently a new venture with Sun Graphics, which was
going to have its own phone line, but didn't yet at the time, & few of the
people I spoke to knew anything about it. (As reported in "Info" bottom of
page 51, Issue #2, P-F.)
But Liam, I have T-55 and also I believe T-56 formulas... if you don't
have them. They made a beautiful tone on the Brovira #6, sort of a purply
black, reminiscent of gold-toned albumen (I thought, at least they looked
that way to me, not being an albumen printer). They didn't keep well after
mixing, however, so I probably should have used them more or mixed less.
I assume, though, that you have the formulas & were seeking fine points?
Judy
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