I really like Foma Variant a lot, and while it does share some similarities with Ilford MGIV, I do feel it is quite a different paper. It has a slightly colder tone, (in Dektol), and I think it has more inherent contrast. I've never done a direct comparison, but I was doing a workshop recently in Norway and to show how different papers react, switched from Ilford to Foma giving the same exposure, processing in Moersch Blue developer. I knew both papers required similar exposure times, and the Variant was certainly a little bit too dark, but the extra contrast gave the print a lot more atmosphere. Can't remember exactly what it is like in warmer developer though I think it was a bit more of a neutral tone. Variant seems to give prints a slight 'edge' though I don't know if this is really an adjacency effect or the result of more contrast. I love colder papers, and with the right developer, this has just the right tone for me. It has a similarity to the much missed Oriental Seagull in tone though the gloss surface is not as super smooth as the old Oriental graded paper used to be. It has been said, and not just by me, that it has quite a 'retro' feel to it, like a high quality paper from the 60s. The blue and red box looks quite retro and groovy too! I haven't tried the Matt surface, (I really should), but the gloss is on a slightly lighter base than Ilford weight wise. It is very good with Thio toning and gives a similar range of browns as Ilford MGIV, though I usually bleach it quite subtly to keep strong shadows. Have read some people on APUG complain that MGIV is no good for toning. Don't understand this myself as I think it's one of the most versatile papers, (like Foma), to get all shades from a cold purple brown to a warm yellow brown. Especially the Matt Ilford multigrade FB. Anyway, back to Foma. It also reacts in a similar manner as Ilford to selenium. It doesn't give a strong colour like Fomatone warm paper or even Ilford Warmtone, but moves to a slightly, purple / blue black but with an even stronger D max. Absolutely beautiful. Did try it in Fotospeed Lith dev but did not get a very good result, (blotchy), though have been using Moersch Lith dev recently with Fomatone in the same workshop as above and was very impressed with the results. I think Wolfgang mentions Variant in his instructions so it may well work better with his dev. Something else to try when I get some more developer. Thumbs up from me and it is also relatively cheap, at least in the UK, so is certainly worth getting some in to try. Hope it works for you too.
All the best
Mike
