Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => The Wet Darkroom => Topic started by: pflower on March 05, 2007, 05:07:12 pm
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I live in the UK. I will admit to a terrible infidelity by spending the last 5 years out of the darkroom and in front of the computer. This may have contributed to the dearth of papers on the market. But now I want to go back into my darkroom. But where are the papers? What is left? Kodak appears to have gone. Agfa has gone. Silverprint no longer stocks my favourite paper - Oriental Seagull. What is left?
Are there any really good neutral or cold b&w papers available out there? Or is it all Ilford and RC?
What does anyone use?
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You really can't go wrong with Ilford papers. I would recommend not using Multigrade developer, though, as it's hard to get an over-the-top max-black with it. I've personally found that the Perfecta paper/developer combination is quite good, but not readily available.
Given your location, I'd just stick with Ilford. Honestly, it's good stuff. There is a user-forum over at ilford.com which is quite helpful too. The best part of using Ilford is the consistancy between different surface-types. An exposure that works on one paper will almost always work on another without having to reinvent the wheel.
Also, Ilford's pearl-surfaced RC paper is most-excellent and capable of giving fiber-glossy a run for its money. For those who hand-tint photographs, the RC-pearl is now the preferred paper.
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I live in the UK. I will admit to a terrible infidelity by spending the last 5 years out of the darkroom and in front of the computer. This may have contributed to the dearth of papers on the market. But now I want to go back into my darkroom. But where are the papers? What is left? Kodak appears to have gone. Agfa has gone. Silverprint no longer stocks my favourite paper - Oriental Seagull. What is left?
Are there any really good neutral or cold b&w papers available out there? Or is it all Ilford and RC?
What does anyone use?
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Silverprint carries Forte, tis the only paper I use. The FB poly warm tone is splendid! - Enjoy
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Silverprint carries Forte, tis the only paper I use. The FB poly warm tone is splendid! - Enjoy
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I remember using only white, smooth glossy (WSG) as single weight or double weight by Kodak (mainly) or Ilford, which was always a semi-grade softer, making that horrid all-grades-in-one stuff totally unnecessary. Much as with the introduction of resin coated, it was more to do with simplification of production lines (choices? why?) I´d suspect, than anything else. Let´s face it, if you can print and know how to expose/develop film properly, then you don´t really need more than two grades of material at the best of times.
With respect of the WSG: I used to hate matt paper in the wet, but I just love it in digital guise, possibly because it is easier to understand how it will look dry than it did as wet; also, there was no commercial demand for it (matt) in my particular scene. Now, being my own best client, I can do as I wish (if it doesn´t cost much) and the digital matt under glass is just fantastic.
However, my retiral from the darkroom was more logistics-based than anything else and I would probably still enjoy producing a nice print of something interesting. But, that´s all in the past and part of very fond memory.
Cheers - Rob C
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What is left?
Agfa, Arista, Bergger, Cachet/Maco, Emaks/Fotokemika, Foma, Forte, Fotospeed, Ilford, Kentmere, Oriental, and Slavich. Lots of paper still out there.
Regards, Art.
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I've just realised the date on this thread, but the information is still valid.
The German brand Adox have recently released a range of new FB and RC papers amost identical to the old Agfa papers. Foma also have a wide range of papers and are still releasing new papers. There are also plans to re-release the Forte papers.
Currently, the black and white paper market is in a healthy state.
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I've just realised the date on this thread, but the information is still valid.
The German brand Adox have recently released a range of new FB and RC papers amost identical to the old Agfa papers. Foma also have a wide range of papers and are still releasing new papers. There are also plans to re-release the Forte papers.
Currently, the black and white paper market is in a healthy state.
Kentmere make some really nice black and white papers in various guises. I used them a lot during my degree programme with beautiful results.
Silverprint in London offers some of the best advice in the UK on papers.
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Ilfrod Galerie, the fibre based & individually graded paper is till, IMO, one of the best out there. Other papers are easier and quicker to work with, but I like Galerie the best.
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It will be interesting to see what effect the Ilford takeover of Kentmere has on the market...
Still, it's nice to have a British company dominating a market, after Agfa's demise, and Kodak's desertion of traditional B/W.