Beginner Paper

[cliveh]

What will keep your costs down while learning to print is making lots of test strips for the highlights, mid-tones and shadows and don't try to assess these under safe-light conditions.

 

[Anon Ymous]

What will keep your costs down while learning to print is making lots of test strips for the highlights, mid-tones and shadows and don't try to assess these under safe-light conditions.

It is also very important to assess test strips when dry, definitely not when wet. A hair dryer is a handy tool for this purpose. The difference can be huge, especially for matte paper surface and particularly for the shadows. Shadows detail might look nice when the print is wet, only to become dull/muddy when dry.

Regardless of cost savings, try the same negative with different contrast grades, in order to get a sense of the differences between them. It will be paper well spent, which will later save you much more.

 

[John Koehrer]

Regardless of cost savings, try the same negative with different contrast grades, in order to get a sense of the differences between them. It will be paper well spent, which will later save you much more.

If you're on a budget. It's easier and far less expensive to use a variable contrast paper with VC filters than it is several
boxes of different grades. Ilford says that with their VC product exposure times remain constant and need no adjustment
between grades.
Graded paper may be fine once you can make a good print but you'll never know what a good print is
until you're seen some. I've seen some doozies that the printer thinks are great in their own mind but lack a WHOLE lot.
Got a handy museum to visit?
Or a library? Many books on basic photography to learn from. My favorites are David Vestals, The Adams books are the driest
I've ever tried to read.

You can also use a microwave to dry work prints, think in terms of a few seconds, not minutes.

 

[Anon Ymous]

If you're on a budget. It's easier and far less expensive to use a variable contrast paper with VC filters than it is several
boxes of different grades. Ilford says that with their VC product exposure times remain constant and need no adjustment
between grades.

Yes, I was talking about filter grades and variable contrast paper.

Its also true that exposure between grades can remain the same for grades 00 to 3,5. 4 to 5 need about twice the exposure time for the same midtone value.

 

[John51]

Hi John51,

Are you talking about this?

4-in-1 Enlarging Easel Darkroom Photo Processing Photography Prints

That's the sort of thing. Let's you make 2, 4 or 8 prints from a 10x8 sheet. Some have a test strip printer included. If not, you can make one from black card and tape.

 

[davedm]

John, are you sure you are not referring to the likes of Jobo varioformat / Durst comask?

I think, the above easel allows you to print 3 different sizes on one paper and no more (although I have not used that easel or any other). On Jobo/Durst, you can do four 4x5 or two 5x7 or two 4x5 and one 5x7 size prints on one sheet. They both had paper strip versions/ attachments as well.

 

[jsmithphoto1]

adorama has great low-budget paper in RCVC and FBVC. ultrafineonline.com has super affordable paper as well!

 

[John51]

John, are you sure you are not referring to the likes of Jobo varioformat / Durst comask?

I think, the above easel allows you to print 3 different sizes on one paper and no more (although I have not used that easel or any other). On Jobo/Durst, you can do four 4x5 or two 5x7 or two 4x5 and one 5x7 size prints on one sheet. They both had paper strip versions/ attachments as well.

I think you're right. First glance I assumed that the frames could be moved to give the 2, 4 , 8 variations but with a proper look, I can't see how that could work. Maybe it's for fancy portrait display?

Mine is a Premier Model 61, the only one I've ever seen. Will give 2, 4, 8, up to 20 test strips, and 10x7 as well as 10x8.


ivanlow, apologies for the misinformation.

 

[davedm]

John, it would be nice to see a photo of your easel if you have time. I could not find anything online. Thanks

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[John51]

Can't find my dodgical camera, been a year since I last used it.

Here's a couple on UK ebay:

[Mods: If against the rules, apologies.]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quadrimas...371788?hash=item2ca5cf104c:g:6IwAAOSw1vlUunad

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Durst-COM...hash=item235d9716b8:m:mpjYG4NcIVmNCBlsCJm3XyA

The 2nd one is a Durst Comask. I lusted over one of those in the 70s. Way expensive back then, 2 or 3 days wages for a labourer iirc. Made of metal. One side gives you 10x8 with a fixed border, like the Paterson easels. Other side gives you either four 5x4 or two 8x5.

Been a while since I've seen an easel on ebay that gives 8 prints to a sheet. The extra masks can be made if you can cut (black) card in a straight line. You'll only need 2.

Seems the type you posted are not for getting multiple sizes from a 10x8, they are 3 easels in one. You need to have the correct sized paper for each.

 

[nworth]

There is an argument that you should use quality paper even when learning. As you get experience, you tend to grow into whatever paper you are using. But that can be expensive. You want something with decent quality but with a price that allows you to make a lot of mistakes. I would look at Kentmere. Freestyle Arista EDU papers are a possibility, but they change from time to time, and I don't know whether the quality of the current offering is up to snuff.

 

[John51]

I was on the Ilford site and one of their products is a sample pack of each of their papers printed with the same neg. Costs about £20, not a justifiable expense for a beginner. Would be cool if retailers bought a pack for their customers to look at. Maybe some do?

 

[MattKrull]

I was on the Ilford site and one of their products is a sample pack of each of their papers printed with the same neg. Costs about £20, not a justifiable expense for a beginner. Would be cool if retailers bought a pack for their customers to look at. Maybe some do?

My local photo finisher has a sample book of all their paper options. It's limited to inkjet rag, inkjet paper, and RA-4 paper, as those are all they print on, but it is interesting to look at and see the differences. Unforunately, none of the local brick and mortar stores seem to take darkroom stuff seriously enough to keep a paper sameple around.

 

[AgX]

I was on the Ilford site and one of their products is a sample pack of each of their papers printed with the same neg. Costs about £20, not a justifiable expense for a beginner. Would be cool if retailers bought a pack for their customers to look at. Maybe some do?

Good to know. I was unaware of that.
(And I can't remember a photo store ever having a paper-sample booklet to show. Likely I'm too young for that to know...)

 

[Roger Cole]

John, are you sure you are not referring to the likes of Jobo varioformat / Durst comask?

I think, the above easel allows you to print 3 different sizes on one paper and no more (although I have not used that easel or any other). On Jobo/Durst, you can do four 4x5 or two 5x7 or two 4x5 and one 5x7 size prints on one sheet. They both had paper strip versions/ attachments as well.

I think you're right. First glance I assumed that the frames could be moved to give the 2, 4 , 8 variations but with a proper look, I can't see how that could work. Maybe it's for fancy portrait display?

Mine is a Premier Model 61, the only one I've ever seen. Will give 2, 4, 8, up to 20 test strips, and 10x7 as well as 10x8.


ivanlow, apologies for the misinformation.

I have something similar made by Unicolor back in the day. I forget the name of it but can look later. It holds an 8x10 sheet (and can be used as such to make a 7x10 or so full frame print from 35mm with just top and bottom borders on 8x10. It has multiple different sized blocks you can put into the easel over the paper, a white side and a black side on each block. You put the blocks in white side up, compose on the one you want to print on, turn off the enlarger, remove the block and expose, then replace the block black side up. It allows two 5x7s, or a 5x7 and two 3.5x5s, or four 3.5x5s or eight wallets (half of 3.5x5 so I guess 2.5x3.5 or so) and so on. It actually works great and is very easy to use. There will be small black lines between the prints assuming light spills over there, but that's fine and makes them easy to cut apart. I used it mainly for color way back. Now I never print smaller than 5x7 and can (and do) buy paper in 5x7 size.

 

[John51]

With mine, there are 2 sliders. You focus on the white block and for exposing, push the sliders, which raises the easel to keep focus. No borders with mine though.

Those small black lines confused me the first time I used it. I was trying to find the exposure for maximum black. Instead of counting, I reset the timer for each strip. Did 20 test strips from 0.5 to 10 seconds on MGIV. The 5 strips from 8 to 10 seconds were the same level of black but those small black lines, which had received all of the exposures, were even blacker.