Michel Hardy-Vallée
Membership Council
You large format guys really are the cause for making me feel an inadequate printer! You have bazillions of film developers, sixty different techniques of development, papers from all the over the range, daguerreotype plates, black magic, voodoo and Ansel Adams, but it always come with a caveat: "this procedure will not give optimal results on 35mm because of the tiny negative." Curse you for creating chemical envy among us lithe-shooters!
Anyway, I decided to finetune my printing technique in the recent weeks, and hit on Kentmere Bromide G3 as a standard paper. Nice white base, neutral to cold tone, good blacks, appropriate scale for 35mm, yadda yadda. So I develop it in Polymax because that was so far the developer I was the happiest with, when in comes the itch to try Ansco 130 because of the rave reviews.
Last night I did a printing session and I just couldn't stop spewing 8x10 prints out, and the results are gorgeous, in either Ilford RC or Kentmere G3. I was mostly afraid that the impact of the paper developer would be minimal because of the small format I'm working with (and big enlargement factor, therefore spreading out the gradations). Not the case at all, and a true side-by-side print comparison based on matched high values gave better overall image quality to the 130. Plus, my proof sheets never looked so good and sharp!
Well I have a favorite print developer now, and I intend to work with it for a long time. It gives that extra ege in the shadows, leaving the highlights delicately separated, etc etc. And best of all, it does not come with a "not recommended for small formats" tag!
Anyway, I decided to finetune my printing technique in the recent weeks, and hit on Kentmere Bromide G3 as a standard paper. Nice white base, neutral to cold tone, good blacks, appropriate scale for 35mm, yadda yadda. So I develop it in Polymax because that was so far the developer I was the happiest with, when in comes the itch to try Ansco 130 because of the rave reviews.
Last night I did a printing session and I just couldn't stop spewing 8x10 prints out, and the results are gorgeous, in either Ilford RC or Kentmere G3. I was mostly afraid that the impact of the paper developer would be minimal because of the small format I'm working with (and big enlargement factor, therefore spreading out the gradations). Not the case at all, and a true side-by-side print comparison based on matched high values gave better overall image quality to the 130. Plus, my proof sheets never looked so good and sharp!
Well I have a favorite print developer now, and I intend to work with it for a long time. It gives that extra ege in the shadows, leaving the highlights delicately separated, etc etc. And best of all, it does not come with a "not recommended for small formats" tag!
