For years, Canson Inf. Photographique Baryta was my favourite paper and one on which I printed many exhibitions. I loved everything about the paper and was very upset when it was discontinued. Therefore, I could not wait to get my hands on the new version, Canson Inf. Photographique Baryta II, which I did this past week from Vistek here in Toronto (now also available from B&H in NYC).
I print on an Epson SC P-9000 and started doing my testing in the past couple of days. I am also testing Epson Legacy Baryta at the same time. My initial impressions of Canson Baryta II are, unfortunately, somewhat disappointing. I have made some test prints using Canson's supplied profile for the new paper and Epson's supplied profile for its paper. I also have printed targets for custom profiling which I will do in the next couple of days. My previous custom profile for the original Canson Baryta was slightly better than the Canson supplied profile, especially giving better yellows, but otherwise very similar. I must stress that though I have the Xrite i1Pro2 for monitor calibration and paper profiling, I have been a colour darkroom printer and now inkjet printer for more than forty years and therefore my most important evaluation is by eye.
In terms of tonality and contrast and overall colour reproduction, the original Canson Baryta and the Canson Baryta II are very similar and cannot be distinguished on that basis. That's the good news. However, the new Canson Bayta II is disappointing in two ways. The first is surface characteristics. The former Canson Baryta had a very fine stipple that was only visible at an angle to a strong light source and otherwise appeared smooth and felt smooth to the touch. There was no apparent texture, and the paper held its deep contrast at any angle to the light. The new Canson Baryta II has no stipple and a very subtle texture but at an angle to a light source the surface has veiling which significantly diminishes contrast. This veiling is reminiscent of the veiling in early generation resin-coated black and white darkroom papers, though perhaps not quite as strong. The veiling appears gradually which means it is partly present more than it should be at various angles to the light source. This is very disturbing.
The second issue with the new Canson Baryta is ink absorption. When the print is wet right after emerging from the printer and even after drying for twelve hours, the ink seems to deform the surface of the paper so that an image surrounded by a large white border appears sunken relative to the overall surface of the paper and appears to have deformed the paper slightly. This will not matter if a print is mounted on a good substratum, but a loose print will definitely show the deformation. This issue and the one mentioned above both mitigate against using this paper for fine art prints that are to be sold or exhibited, which is a problem for me. A third issue is paper brightness. Canson says the new Baryta II is very slightly less bright than the older Baryta. The difference in brightness is barely visible if at all. I perceive a very slight difference in surface colour, which I am not sure of and cannot describe although it appears to me the new Baryta II is very, very slightly cooler in tone which masks any difference in brightness (also due to the texture).
As for Epson Legacy Baryta, it is in virtually all respects, save one, almost identical to the former Canson Baryta, and therefore a plausible substitute for it. The big difference is surface brightness which is significantly darker in the Epson Baryta compared to both the old Canson Baryta and the Canson Baryta II. The Epson Baryta looks more like a colour chromogenic darkroom paper with a slightly darkened white because of the emulsion coatings. It is not clear from Epson as to whether or not they had an issue of production similar to all the other manufacturers of Baryta papers which led to their discontinuance early in this year. So far, Epson Legacy Baryta seems to be available and in adequate supply in all roll sizes and there is no indication it has been reformulated. It is, however, about twenty percent more expensive than the Canson Baryta, which is relatively inexpensive compared to cotton rag papers.
So the choices for me don't look great: Adopt the new Canso Baryta ii with its significant surface issues or use the Epson Legacy Baryta (an d hope that it remains the same) with a visibly less bright surface which will make a difference in both colour and black and white prints. I would be interested in hearing of other Baryta papers, if available, that might compare.
David Kaufman (
www.davidkaufmanphotography.com)
