If you like neutral to warm tones, skip Kentmere (my personal favorite) because it is the coldest paper out there. I agree that all of the papers out there are worth using so I would consider price and availability. Some papers like Berger are really nice but they are quite expensive and good luck finding it in stock. Papers like Arista are inexpensive but they frequently change the manufacturer so it is not a good paper to use if you want to stick with something for awhile. However, on a cynical note, any paper that I settle on becomes extinct not long thereafter anyway. Below I copied a post of mine from earlier this year describing my unscientific paper test:
Current Paper Comparison Test
First, I apologize for being wordy.
Some years ago I decided to standardize on a single paper for most of my printing. At the time, I made a standard straight print on many of the available papers, few of which are available today. I tested Forte, Luminos, Zone VI Brilliant, Kodak Polymax FA, and Ilford MG. After blind comparison, I chose Kodak Polymax as my paper (I was secretly hoping for something more exotic but Kodak won fair and square.) Then, of course, Kodak promptly announced its exit from the paper business. I did a quick test of a few others and went with Kentmere Fineprint VC FB paper.
Some years have passed and I thought it was time to sample the Freestyle catalog and do another paper comparison. For film, I use BTZS methods with good results. I admit that for paper I am a bit more lax and simply print what looks good to me. So this paper test was fairly subjective. I chose a scene of a black lava flow from Hawaii that was abstract and therefore open to interpretation of how the print should look. I printed it straight with just subtle edge burning. I use TMAX film developed in XTOL 1:1. For printing I use a Beseler Dichro 45S light source and a Schneider Apo-Componon 150 mm lens. The developer is Zone VI for 2 minutes. Selenium toning was somewhat arbitrary but I chose a dilution of 1:20 for 2 minutes. I made two prints on each paper, one for selenium toning and the other un-toned. I used the following 8x10 papers:
- Adox MCC 110
- Adox Vario Classic
- Fomabrom variable contrast
- Fomatone MG (a warmtone paper with velvet surface)
- Kentmere Fineprint VC FB
- Ilford MG IV FB
- Oriental Warmtone
- Varycon
I tried to print all of them at the same density and same contrast. The scene required about grade 3 filtration. I used the same filtration on all of the papers except two. Some observations:
Kentmere is the least contrasty and the fastest of the group
Ilford is the contrastiest of the group
The warmtone papers, Oriental Warmtone and Fomatone MG, are by far the slowest
After drying, I laid out the prints on the kitchen table which is well lit. I arranged them in pairs with the untoned version on top and the toned version on the bottom. Then I used a panel of three people (my wife, my 10 year old daughter, and myself) one at a time and blinded to the others to judge the prints on these characteristics:
- Coldest: Kentmere (unanimous), followed by Ilford
- Warmest: Fomabrom (unanimous)
- Flattest: Kentmere
- Curliest: Varycon and Ilford
- Most responsive to selenium toner: Kentmere, Varycon
- Least responsive to selenium toner: Ilford, Fomabrom
- Favorite: Kentmere, Kentmere, Adox MCC 110
- Least Favorite: Adox MCC 110, Fomabrom, Ilford
The two warmtone papers, Oriental and Fomatone MG, were very similar. Each had a yellowish paper base which diminished after drying. Each printed as a rather off-putting greenish-yellow black when untoned. Each was extremely responsive to toner and yielded a very nice brown-black final tone. I think these are both excellent warmtone papers even though I almost always prefer cold tone papers for my prints. I preferred the Oriental because it has a glossy surface rather than the velvet surface of the Fomatone MG which feels a bit like sandpaper and causes a slight loss of snap to the image.
For the other papers, the Varycon, Fomabrom, and Adox Vario Classic were very similar with Fomabrom being the warmest black of the bunch.
I was pleased that I preferred the Kentmere paper because it confirms my previous bias and I recently bought a huge supply! But I also realized that all of the papers were excellent and I felt confident that I could print well with any of them. So these are my verdicts:
- Adox MCC 110 ranked both favorite and least favorite! Slightly warm tone.
- Adox Vario Classic, Fomabrom, Varycon - middle of the road papers. Varycon the cheapest.
- Ilford MG IV FB contrasty, cold toned, most expensive
- Kentmere FP VC unanimous favorite print, coldest when selenium toned, inexpensive
- Fomatone MG great warmtone paper with velvet surface, chocolate black with selenium
- Oriental Warmtone - favorite warmtone paper with glossy surface, chocolate black with selenium
These are just my thoughts from a very un-scientific test. More like a wine tasting than a rigorous comparison but I thought it was fun.