Are We Really Stuck With Ilford MGFB? Where Are the Magic Papers of the Past?

[koraks]

Fomatone I find doesn't have the highest dmax and low contrast when compared to other papers

That may be a processing problem. Dmax of Fomatone is good, but you'll need to tone it (hence the name). The main limitation IMO is the paper base which is very off-white. That does cut back contrast of course, since you can't make a very bright white on a paper that's not white to begin with.

 

[cirwin2010]

That may be a processing problem. Dmax of Fomatone is good, but you'll need to tone it (hence the name). The main limitation IMO is the paper base which is very off-white. That does cut back contrast of course, since you can't make a very bright white on a paper that's not white to begin with.

I concur with your statement. Dmax is good, but not as great as MGFB when comparing untoned prints. At least I find this with developers such as liquidol and ansco 130. Moersch Se6 I found enhances dmax when compared to those options. It also increases contrast by about a grade bringing it more in like with MGFB in my experience.

The ivory highlights will also raise the dmin thus reducing apparently contrast and punch even if you could achieve the same dmax as MGFB. But that warm paper base is part of the appeal imo

 

[retina_restoration]

There were some great old papers. Anyone who says modern papers are better probably wasn't there or they are having memory issues.

Not better, no. In some cases, definitely not as good as papers from the 1970s/80s.

In the late 80s I printed almost exclusively on Agfa Portriga Rapid. It handled images differently than anything else I tried - you could not replicate the tonality you got on Portriga Rapid on any other paper. I have some Portriga Rapid left and have made prints on it in recent years, and compared it with Ilford’s Warmtone paper, and the Ilford paper doesn’t come close to what Portriga can do, and I’m not talking about the image color - I mean tonal rendering.
Fortunately, Fomatone Classic comes very close to emulating Portriga Rapid, so that’s what I use most of the time.

 

[brian steinberger]

I’m happy with the current Ilford offerings. Warmtone fiber has incredible depth but I prefer cooler images so I stick with classic for the most part, which I prefer to the older MGIV.

I do however miss how MGIV cooled in 1:9 selenium for 3-5min. The newer papers all just go magenta unless you add PMT to the developer or use something like Moersch SE6 Blue.

Some papers I do miss from the past: Forte polygrade V and Oriental VC. RIP

We should be thankful Ilford has continued to produce such fine papers.

 

[Lachlan Young]

The good old days are often the product of a failing memory.

Or fantasies about a past that never existed, fuelled by highly competent duo/tritone offset reproduction that made some prints out to be much more than they ever were in reality.

There was more selection. More choice when it came to image colour and toning properties, more surface types.

Only up to a point - wonder if they'd be so nostalgic if they realised that the variety of surfaces were often rather chintzy impressions of fabrics or high end mouldmade papers - and were often only available on limited (or one grade, if it was a 'portrait' paper) grades, and that some other papers had very drastic characteristic curve differences between some grades (owing to manufacturers trying to fill out the grade range on extant products - cf. Kodabromide). The other half of the mythos was simply that particular manufacturers were the first to achieve universally desirable results, like Agfa delivering a true grade 5 (by today's standards) on an enlarging paper, or Ilfobrom having a much more consistent character across grades (and such a close relationship to Multigrade that I suspect Ilford could very easily do a new Galerie if there was the market).

If @ADOX Fotoimpex can get Polywarmtone into a coating schedule (as a multigrade) that would be a big step to filling the only real gap in the market currently.

 

[Rick A]

I've settled in on Foma papers when I do traditional enlargements. These days about 90% of my darkroom work is alternate methods.

 

[Arthurwg]

Using Fomatone at the moment for prints that I intend to tone. True, contrast is poor, but the one problem I see is that the paper seems to pick up stains and "dirt". Nowhere near as robust as Ilford.