Paper review: Moab Somerset Museum Rag

[neile]

Moab has a new rag paper coming out at the end of this month and they were kind enough to send me some samples to play with. I've written up a review on my blog and thought folks here might be interested. It's a mighty fine paper!

http://www.danecreekfolios.com/blog/2010/7...per-review.html

Neil

[Josh-H]

Moab has a new rag paper coming out at the end of this month and they were kind enough to send me some samples to play with. I've written up a review on my blog and thought folks here might be interested. It's a mighty fine paper!

http://www.danecreekfolios.com/blog/2010/7...per-review.html

Neil

Thanks for the write up Neil - sounds like a great paper.

By chance did u compare the Moab against Hahnemuhle PhotoRag Baryta? I realise this is a semi-gloss Baryta paper.. but its personally my favourite paper out there (and I have tried quite a lot papers) as it has the look and feel of a fine art paper, but with the Baryta coating has wonderful depth, great dmax etc. Not really a fair comparison as the Hahny is going to have the edge for dmax because of the Baryta coating, but you specifically mention Baryta papers in your notes - hence the question.

You mention Baryta papers having a 'plastic' feel and I would agree to some extent for the Ilford GFS and more so for the Harman papers - but definitely not the Hahnemuhle PhotoRay Baryta in my experience.

Like you I dont print on matt papers very often - but its good to have a great matt paper option at times - so thanks again for the write up.

[natas]

Moab has a new rag paper coming out at the end of this month and they were kind enough to send me some samples to play with. I've written up a review on my blog and thought folks here might be interested. It's a mighty fine paper!

http://www.danecreekfolios.com/blog/2010/7...per-review.html

Neil

Thanks for the review, this maybe the paper i am after if they come out with rolls soon.

[neile]

By chance did u compare the Moab against Hahnemuhle PhotoRag Baryta?

I certainly can, I have a test print on the Photo Rag Baryta (PRB) right beside me. Sometimes it's nice to put the stack of 100 test prints to use...

There's really no comparison on the hand feel standpoint. The back of the PRB feels pretty good but the front just doesn't feel right. Of all the baryta papers I have (HFA, Epson Exhibition, Canson Infinity, Harman Gloss) it's the least pastic feeling, but it's still not the same as a matte feel.

I have to admit I was pleasntly suprised at how the toned B&W image turned out. dMax is totally different, but as Michael likes to say "horses for courses".

Neil

[neile]

Thanks for the review, this maybe the paper i am after if they come out with rolls soon.

According to their press release they'll have 17, 22, 44, and 60" rolls available. I was given a list price of $96 for the 17"x33' roll and $144 for 17"x50'. Street price will certainly be below that.

By comparison Epson Hot Press rolls are now available for pre-order from Shades of Paper with a list price of $119 for 17"x50', and I suspect if you call SOP they'll give you an even better deal.

Neil

[Paul Sumi]

Moab has a new rag paper coming out at the end of this month and they were kind enough to send me some samples to play with. I've written up a review on my blog and thought folks here might be interested. It's a mighty fine paper!

I've been using their Entrada Rag for my matte stock and I was wondering if you have any thoughts comparing the new paper to the Entrada.

Thanks,

Paul

[neile]

I've been using their Entrada Rag for my matte stock and I was wondering if you have any thoughts comparing the new paper to the Entrada.

They're quite similar. I looked at the Entrada Rag Bright 300gsm and Natural 300gsm side-by-side with the Museum Rag. The Museum Rag tone is slightly cooler than the Entrada Natural, but still in the warm tone family of papers. Measured dMax in my tests is essentially identical. Visually I see slightly better black separation on the test print with the Entrada Rag, but that is usually due to the quality of the profile rather than the paper itself (I haven't done custom profiles for either paper at this point).

There is a difference in the texture of the paper. While they are the same roughness to the touch the pattern to the texture on the Entrada Rag appears random, while on the Museum Rag it definitely has a direction to it. I find the visual look of the texture more pleasing on the Museum Rag, but that's very much a personal preference I think.

Even though the papers are both listed at 300gsm the Entrada Rag feels thicker than the Museum Rag in the hand.

Neil

[abiggs]

Great review, Neil. Good stuff. The paper is available on moabpaper.com, and in a few weeks at Adorama, B&H and Glazers Camera.

[Mr. A]

Hello Neile,

Thank you for the great post & review.

Do you have an opinion on what cotton / rag paper you think has the smoothest surface or the least noticeable pattern? I am trying to achieve the sharpest image on a cotton / rag paper. I use an Epson 9800 printer generally printing on 44" rolls. I have tried Moab Entrada Rag and have been very impressed as well as Epson Hotpress Natural, but have not done as much testing as you.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

JA

[Sven W]

Canson Rag Photographique is smooth as baby skin.

/Sven

[neile]

I don't really use matte papers and my sample stack isn't handy, but Sven's description of Rag Photographique sounds promising Looking at my inkjet spreadsheet (www.danecreekfolios.com/inkjet-paper-list/) will give you several other options if you filter by finish = matte and texture = smooth:

Canson Rag Photographique
Epson Hot Press Bright
Epson Hot Press Natural
Hahnemuhle FineArt Photo Rag Ultra Smooth
Hahnemuhle Natural Art Duo
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth
Harman Hi Matte Fiber Base
Harman Warmtone Fiber Base Matte
Moab Lasal Photo Matte

Plus 11 papers from Red River (basically their premium matte in whatever weight you want).

Neil

[Mr. A]

Thanks Sven & Neile. Any thoughts on what rag paper yields the sharpest looking photographs. I realize that is related to contrast which is related to Dmax. Any opinions would be appreciated.

JA

[neile]

Perhaps Sven has some comments on that. I don't generally print on matte papers because I don't like how the blacks look, so... I don't really have thoughts on your question

Neil

[Sven W]

Thanks Sven & Neile. Any thoughts on what rag paper yields the sharpest looking photographs. I realize that is related to contrast which is related to Dmax. Any opinions would be appreciated.

JA

Canson Rag Photo is still my suggestion.
For me, sharpness in a certain paper, comes from the ability to avoid bleeding and dot gain.
The overall contrast certainly play a role, but more important is local contrast in the middle tones.
I usually apply a "HIRALOAM" (Hi-Radius-Low-Amount) unsharp mask adjustment, prior printing on matte papers.

/Sven

[artobest]

Innova Smooth Cotton has an impeccably smooth surface - virtually no tooth at all.

[AaronPhotog]

Neil,

Take a look at the inking test results in the technical section of my website.  Here's a link that will take you to this paper: http://www.dygartphotography.com/papertestcharts/019moabsomermusrag2880.html

Use the right and left arrows to take you to the same paper at the 1440 dpi setting and back to 2880 for comparison.  Note that I had two sheets that measured different whites from the same box.

I find that at 2880, the paper levels off at about step 9 out of 20.  You can compare it, again with the left and right arrows, with other papers I've tested.  There is also a page about the test methodology.

Aloha,

Aaron

[pindman]

Interesting, Aaron.  I find the resolution in the JPG's of your graphs too low to read.  Would it be possible to post some higher res images or the spreadsheet?  And for those of us just trying to decide on whether to print at 1440 or 2880 dpi can you put your suggestion into simple words?

Thanks.

Paul

[AaronPhotog]

Sorry about the small graphs.  In my next iteration of the website, I'll make the charts more legible, or have a link to the spreadsheets.  Meanwhile, these charts can be compared visually pretty well without the numbers.  They are all the same scale.  What they show is simply how well a paper takes ink.  The steps are in 5% increments for each black or gray ink.  At first, I only tested the papers at 2880, but I found that some papers actually had better response curves at 1440, especially the newer papers.  That doesn't mean that you can't make a good linearization or profile at either setting, but you may stand a better chance where the paper starts with a decent slope on the top black ink curve, and continues to increase to some place near the end of the curve.  If the curve flattens out too close to the beginning, or even declines near the end of the curve, you need to take care to limit the ink.  You can actually get the appearance of lighter blacks or reversal with more ink.

Again, in these comparisons I'm not commenting on the personalities of the papers, or my visual impressions of them, though I do talk a little about the paper textures at times, and other issues.

Lets compare some graphs, so you can see what I'm doing.  From my link, take a look at the curves to the left that represent the Epson hot press papers.  You can see that they achieve very decent blacks by comparison with the Moab Somerset Museum Rag (the top curves go higher with the Epson papers).  That's easily seen.

Now, go left some more to the chart of Epson Velvet Fine Art paper.  I only have the test for that paper at 2880 dpi.  You will see the black ink curve has a nice smooth rise (except for a slight bump that may be a reading error), and reaches a dMax of 1.77 at step 17.  The difference on VFA between paper white and dMax is 1.74.  With the Somerset Museum Rag at 2880, dMax of 1.64 is reached early at step 12, and actually declines to 1.6 at steps 19 and 20.  The difference between paper white and dMax is 1.62.  Not as much contrast is available with this paper.  Because black and white are relative, the visual impression of white will likely be better with the VFA, even though it's not quite as white as SMR.  With respect to printing at 1440 vs. 2880, here is my take on it:  If you are printing on matte paper that has some texture, you may be better off anyway with 1440 than 2880, unless you get better blacks at 2880.  The detail should be just fine, and you'll have a better likelihood of getting a profile that separates the lower tones without a lot of fuss.

Aloha,
Aaron

[pindman]

Thanks, Aaron!
I printed out a standard Northlight B&W print on a number of matte papers on my Epson 9900, and liked the Somerset best.  From your charts it looks like this is best printed at 1440 dpi.  The Epson Cold Press seem to have a more even curve.  I'm wondering how all this translates in real world printing.

Paul

[AaronPhotog]

Paul,

Yes, in the real world of printing images you won't get quite the same dMax as with these inking tests.  Still, they give a very good indication of what you can expect.  The test sheets can be compared directly for such things as bronzing and gloss differential (most evident in glossy papers), surface texture, paper color, presence of brighteners, and just plain "depth."  It's useful to keep the test sheets in a three ring binder for later reference and comparison with new papers.  Once these tests have weeded out the bad papers, then you can forget about those and move directly on to making some real images on the good ones.

Aloha,
Aaron