Anyone tried Adorama brand RC paper lately?

[tkamiya]

Has anyone tried Adorama brand RC paper lately? If so, I'm interested in hearing your impression of them. I typically use Ilford products. I'm just looking for some alternative for not-so-important prints, but I'd like to hear some user experience first.

Thank you.

 

[Dave Krueger]

Yes. I bought both the pearl and glossy RC paper and found the appearance and toning results to be very similar. I intend to continue to use it. I printed the same negative on both Ilford and Adorama paper and am very pleased.

When I say similar, I mean almost indistinguishable. The Ilford paper was a couple years old which could account for what small differences I noticed.

 

[fschifano]

When it first came out, I bought sample packs of each of the versions of this paper. In RC there's glossy and pearl. In FB, there's glossy and semi-matte. I like them all. They're very good papers, and I wouldn't necessarily restrict using them to "not-so-important" prints. Like the old Kodak Polymax, Polycontrast, and Ilford's current MG IV papers, they don't change noticeably in selenium; and that statement is not to be taken as a criticism. Most times, I'm not looking for a tone change in selenium. When I do want that, I'll use one of Freestyle's Arista.EDU Ultra papers which do change quite a bit in selenium.

 

[tkamiya]

I didn't realize, they are THAT good. I'll have to try one myself then. Thank you for your comments, Dave and Frank!

 

[Dave Krueger]

When it first came out, I bought sample packs of each of the versions of this paper. In RC there's glossy and pearl. In FB, there's glossy and semi-matte. I like them all. They're very good papers, and I wouldn't necessarily restrict using them to "not-so-important" prints. Like the old Kodak Polymax, Polycontrast, and Ilford's current MG IV papers, they don't change noticeably in selenium; and that statement is not to be taken as a criticism. Most times, I'm not looking for a tone change in selenium. When I do want that, I'll use one of Freestyle's Arista.EDU Ultra papers which do change quite a bit in selenium.

I toned both the Ilford and Adorama RC glossy papers (prints from the same negative) in fairly fresh KSRT 1:20 for 6 minutes at 73F and had a noticeable tone change. The Ilford MGIV actually had less change, tending toward a slightly cooler tone with just a hint of maroon. The Adorama had more a maroon shift. Adorama took Kodak brown toner about equally well as the Ilford MGIV. I found them to be of very close contrast as well, although the Ilford was slower (presumably due to its age, which may also have been the reason for the slight difference in toning results).

I prefer not to see a tone change in selenium, but I rarely tone RC prints and would shorten the time to ensure it if I weren't just experimenting. I agree that these papers are not just for unimportant work.

ANd, you have to admit, the price is definitely right.