Difference between kentona fixed grade & VC paper

Hi,

I made a print on kentmere fineprint glossy and another one on kentona (fixed grade). The difference between these 2 baryta papers is large.

I made a 30x30cm landscape enlargment from a 6x6 negative.
When compairing, the kentona has lots of detail in a tree which is positioned before a darker area and light grass along the waterside. The VC paper is more soft at these areas.

My question:
Is there something to say about fixed grade paper being more detailed(sharper) than a VC paper?

I am very interested in the outcome of this.
The only time I get less sharp images with VC papers is when I split grade print them. Sometimes when I switch filters the enlarger moves just a hair, and that is enough to introduce softness.
I have to say, however, that prints I've made on Kentmere's Kentona paper have looked really nice and full of detail impact.

- Thomas

It's like comparing Chalk & Cheese.

Kentona is a warmtone Chloro-bromide paper, like most warmtone papers it gives different results to a Bromide paper. There shouldn't be any difference in sharpness but Kentona does give superb shadow details. The only reason I stopped using it was the limited grades available - 2 when I used it now just one.

Ian

Willie Jan said:

Hi,
The VC paper is more soft at these areas.

Is there something to say about fixed grade paper being
more detailed(sharper) than a VC paper?

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Perhaps it is an illusion. As a general rule VC paper's
do not hold well to A contrast through dense to little
dense areas. Less contrast less apparent sharpness.
VC papers are known to lose contrast in highlight
areas of the print but do well in the more dense
areas. VC papers, in short, do vary in contrast,
same sheet, same filtration, same etc. Dan

I use arista fixed grade papers, and find I get better results than when I use kentmere VC, and Kentmere is the more expensive of the two.

I'm not sure though, if the increase in quality might also have something to do with my not putting a less than perfect plastic filter in the light path. Not knowing why doesn't bother me though. Fixed grade arista paper is the cheapest paper I can buy so it's a moot point.

I intend on purchasing a ream of each of the expensive papers to test just which ones give the best results, once I build up a more substantial portfolio of suitable negatives (I've been shooting only about a year), and the smell of burnt plastic dissapates from my wallet(univ. student).

Bobby Ironsights said:

I use arista fixed grade papers, and find I get better results than when I use kentmere VC, and Kentmere is the more expensive of the two.

Click to expand...

I often buy stuff from freestylephoto, so I could get a test pack of arista.
I also used the arista 4x5 film, and it's as good as any other 4x5 film.
I will certainly test it out in the future.

Thanks.