High Silver Content Photo Papers.......Questions

[harlequin]

Hello Team,

Back in the 90s really enjoyed using fiber based paper like Oriental G series, Ilford Galerie graded double weight
Papers had rich blacks, clean whites and a thick bayarta base....Fast forward to 2021, are similar quality papers available today? I recently saw some prints on ADOX fiber base that were quite impressive, but now those papers are elusive.

What do you use today for photo paper, and why?

Graded or variable contrast?

Looking for high quality paper that is Dektol friendly, appreciate your opinions and feedback, any photo samples greatly appreciated!

Harlequin

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

Honestly, I love Ilford MG warm tone, in either Dektol or Ilford MG developer. It tones beautifully in selenium around 1:15, or you can go 1:20 to just barely change the color. I think it's as nice as anything I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot.

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

Sorry, folks. There is nothing comparable to Oriental G-3 or Galerie G-3, or even 4 for lith. Nothing. If there was, I would find it and buy it. I would trade for it. Hock something for it. But alas, it does not exist. (Got maybe 50-60 sheets in the freezer, for a special occasion.)

 

[mshchem]

First off, don’t be misled by the silver content nonsense. It has little to do with tonality or blacks.

Although the options are significantly more limited than they once were, the papers available today have all the quality of the papers of yesteryear. There aren’t very many graded papers around these days (although Ilford still makes a few grades of Galerie), but this is because variable contrast papers are every bit as good as graded papers. While I miss some of the papers I once used from Kodak, Agfa, and Oriental, there are still some wonderful choices. Ilford makes an excellent line of variable contrast papers from warm to cool. While not available right now (hopefully this is temporary), MCC 110 by Fotoimpex is another current favourite of mine.

Personally, I left graded papers behind long ago. I really only used them when I first learnt to print, and even then, not for long because there were already very good variable contrast papers. The graded paper I used most was Kodak Elite Fine Art, but also some Agfa Brovira and Agfa Portriga. Once I switched to variable contrast, I used several types from Oriental, Kodak, Ilford, Agfa, but eventually I was basically only using Kodak Polymax Fine Art. I used that almost exclusively until Kodak stopped making paper in 2005. Since then I’ve mostly used Ilford papers.

All current papers are Dektol friendly.

I agree 100%. The latest versions of Ilford VC papers are outstanding. I also life Fomatone DW paper. Like the Ilford warmtone papers it tones in everything.

 

[Vaughn]

A camera mag had an article about this subject. The author looked at the silver content and the max black of each paper. Graphed, it was easy to see there was no correlation between the two variables. It was not a recent article when I saw it and copied it back in the early 90s.

 

[koraks]

Sorry, folks. There is nothing comparable to Oriental G-3 or Galerie G-3, or even 4 for lith. (Got maybe 50-60 sheets in the freezer, for a special occasion.)

(emphasis added). That's a rather specific scenario. For general purpose printing, there are many excellent papers out there, and like others said, there's fortunately no need whatsoever to fuss about silver content. The only B&W paper I have ever come across that I doubted in this respect was Adox Easyprint RC, but I don't think it's still being made. More good news for OP: all FB papers currently being made are double weight. Bad news of course for those of us who actually did like using a single weight paper once in a while.

What do you use today for photo paper, and why?

Graded or variable contrast?

Mostly Adox MCC and Fomabrom, both VC. Both excellent papers. The surface finish on Ilford Multigrade is just a tiny bit nicer though, I think.

 

[pentaxuser]

Sorry, folks. There is nothing comparable to Oriental G-3 or Galerie G-3, or even 4 for lith. Nothing.

Just for clarification purposes does the above statement only apply to lith or was there something special about those three papers that applied to other aspects of printing, look, weight etc ?

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[removedacct1]

As others have said, there’s no meaningful relationship between silver content and performance in regards to D-max, etc.

My favorite papers are, in order: Fomatone Classic FB, Bergger Warmtone FB, and Ilford Warmtone FB. The Fomatone is a standout for me because it comes closest to Agfa”s Portriga Rapid, which was an astonishing paper.

 

[Lachlan Young]

Just for clarification purposes does the above statement only apply to lith or was there something special about those three papers that applied to other aspects of printing, look, weight etc ?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Even for lith, if you sank enough cash into the project, they could probably be replicated/ bettered. The problems come when people expect/ demand more than one grade - and the time it'll take to amortise the R&D.

 

[jpohara]

With ParkerSmithPhoto, I am a great fan of Ilford MG Warmtone Fiber. I use a version of D-72 with much of the KBr replaced by benzotriazole, for a cooler tone. Toned in selenium, I am making prints that are very pleasing to me at least. I decided to give it a try after making a few thousand prints on MG Classic Fiber and never looked back.

The ability to expose areas of the print at different contrast levels is critical to getting the results I want. I can't see much reason to use graded paper, unless they bring Agfa "super 6" back for those negatives I should have developed longer.

The value of picking one paper (or film or developer) and using it extensively, making small changes one at a time, cannot be overemphasized. I would not consider it an advantage to have 3 or 4 or more papers in stock and have to decide which one to use with a given negative. (On the other hand, I buy only black socks so that I don't have to pair them up after doing the wash, so it might be just me trying to keep things simple enough to be manageable...)