Thanks again everyone who joined in in this thread!
Finally got a chance to do a some printing today and did a quick comparison test. Wow, you guys weren't kidding when you said there was a difference in using FB. Here's my quick comparison for what it's worth. Just keep in mind I've only been printing a month and this was my first time with fiber.
Lens Aperture: f/16
Developer: Ilford Multigrade 1+14
Developer Temp: 70F
Developing Time: 3:00 (1:30 for Ilfospeed)
Fixer: Ilford Rapid Fixer 1+9
Fix Time: 2:00
Wash Time: 30:00
Drying: Squeegeed backside and hung back to back for 1 hour when pretty dry, then pressed under a ton of books.
Ilford Ilfospeed Grade 2 Glossy
Overall Exposure: 0:15
Left/Top/Right Burn: +0:10
Bottom Burn: +0:20
Center Burn: +0:15
Fotokemika Emak Grade 2 Glossy
Overall: 0:30
Left/Top/Right Burn: +0:30
Bottom Burn: +0:40
Center Burn: +0:20
Slavich Unibrom Grade 2 Glossy Double Weight
Overall: 0:25
Left/Top/Right Burn: +0:25
Bottom Burn: +0:40
Center Burn: +0:20
Slavich Bromportrait Grade 2 Glossy Embossed Surface Double Weight
Overall: 0:35
Left/Top/Right Burn: +0:30
Bottom Burn: +0:50
Center Burn: +0:30
(Please excuse the funky borders. I have a crappy easel and it's hard to get it perfectly lined up and my scanner also clipped some borders weird for some reason :confused: Anyway, it's too late to mess with correcting them. I also added a scan of an Ilfospeed just as that's what I used to get the basic times and it's what I'm used to printing on.)
I forgot to change over to a red safelight to avoid any possible problems but, didn't notice any issues with the OC safelight which is only about 3 feet from the easel though facing away a bit. I was expecting the Bromportrait to print more on par with the Unibrom. It actually turned out to be softer and slower than the Emaks. For overall image feel, I like the Bromportrait the best hands down for this comparison but, I just can't seem to get past the embossed surface
I didn't know what to expect but, thought I would try it out. I will never, EVER, buy an embossed paper again, just not my cup of tea. When it came to drying, you guys all mentioned about fiber curl and really I had no idea what to expect. The Emaks actually dried fairly flat, at least in comparison to both Slavich papers. Good god, thatsa lotta curl
I'll keep them pressed for another day or so and see if that helps. Would drying on screens help at all? Anyway, all 3 turned out to be excellent papers though unfortunately I think beyond by printing capabilities to really bring out what they're capable of. Based on my one session today, the Emaks was my overall favorite, followed by the Unibrom, and then the Bromportrait. I'm putting the Bromportrait last based SOLELY on the embossed surfaced. If not for that, it would have been easily first. Well, that's my simple comparison. Take it for what it's worth from a virtual newbie. After all the great input you guys gave me I felt the least I could do would be to post some sort of comparison post of my thoughts.
Thanks again everyone and happy shooting
Aaron