Since we're all just piling on anecdotal reports here, I'll add mine: my experience with Ilford paper is that consistency in speed between boxes of same type and comparable vintage is excellent. I run test prints anyway, but I can't recall ever having exposures shift when I finished one box of a given Ilford paper and opened the next in the middle of a darkroom session.
If one wants to be a skilled potter, there is simply no substitute for more time handling wet clay itself. Confidence in the actual medium has to be built rather than deferred.
Hi Guys,
If I do test strip printers and decide the base time of the print (Dodging and Burning) using a RC paper, the result will be the same for a final print by FB paper? Maintaining same brand and, of course, same kind of paper (classic, cooltone or warmtone).
I didn't experimented that, have you tried it?
Thank you.
I use Ilford MGIV RC deluxe glossy for most prints, but often (hundreds) make a fiber-based print using Ilford MGFB Classic glossy of the same negative. I have correction curves for each, and can use the exposure time and filter for the RC paper as a basis for the FB paper. Sometimes, depending on the contrast, a lower contrast filter is needed (about 1/2 step), and the FB paper has a slightly different look than the RC, but other than that, they have very consistent exposure and contrast relations, and look the same.
I have the curves plotted, including Ilford's published standards and can post them if anyone is interested. . I use an RH Designs Analyzer Pro that has the calibrated curves built-in, and that saves a lot of time. I used to use tabled values to make the corrections -- slower, but still works well.
a fair point but, f/stop timing can be used to test RC and apply to FB paper without question; done it numerous times; it's the essence of f/stop-timing benefits.If you want to know how a chicken sandwich will taste, do you start with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Instead, use test strips of exactly the same kind of paper you want for your endpoint, or you'll be going around in circles with just too many variables to realistically juggle.
a fair point but, f/stop timing can be used to test RC and apply to FB paper without question; done it numerous times; it's the essence of f/stop-timing benefits.If you want to know how a chicken sandwich will taste, do you start with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Instead, use test strips of exactly the same kind of paper you want for your endpoint, or you'll be going around in circles with just too many variables to realistically juggle.
Interesting point about the RH Designs Analyser Pro. When you say the calibrated curves are built in, are you saying that there are curves for both RC glossy and MGFB Classic Glossy that you have built into separate paper channels from your calibrations such that when you switch to the FB paper for the final print the right input is there to give you the right output
What might be useful and certainly will be for my education is an explanation of how you did.
Thanks
pentaxuser
That’s exactly what the Heiland Controller does. Recognizes the enlarger when switched on, the papers are pre installed and at least it gives a good working print which you can adapt to your taste. When you change papers, just change the paper in the controller and grade and time are adapted to that paper.In a word, yes. I went through the calibration procedure for three different papers, and the exposure and contrast values are stored in the instrument's memory. The usual process is to meter the negative (highlights, shadow, mid-tones), and use the time and filter indicated (or tweek it based on judgement). Make the print, let it dry, and if it looks good, switch to the other paper setting (channel) and print that paper. The instrument makes the adjustment in exposure time and filter.
The meter reading needs to be held in machine memory for a proper conversion. That is, you cannot clear the exposure/filter setting, manually re-set it later, and switch to a different paper, as it won't make the conversion -- the same time and filter settings will remain. But if the reading is cleared (like printing the next day, after turning off the meter), you just have to meter the negative again, then switch paper channels. One reading is enough, even a sloppy one, and then re-set the time and filter from last time, if written down. I usually write down all of my readings for the RC paper and on the margin of the dried RC print that I keep as a reference.
Maybe it sounds complicated, but it becomes second-nature after a day or so. It also helps to have traditional test-strip experience before using the RH AP.
The RH Analyzer Pro comes with printed data on various papers that a user can input into the instrument's memory. These could be good starting values, and could even work fine on their own. Out of the box, it comes with one set of inputs for Ilford MGIV RC with a diffusion-halogen light source. My enlarger has a condensor and frosted tungsten lamp, and my calibrated values were significantly different than the ones RH Designs provided (e.g., about a 1/2 stop off at grade 2, higher or lower at other grades, and contrast values were offset too, for Ilford MGIV RC Deluxe glossy).
And when reading an article from 2007, keep in mind that Ilford has changed their RC and their FB in the time since that was written.
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