Ilford Galerie - Any recommendation is welcome!

[Colin Corneau]

I've just made my first few prints on Galerie (Gr. 3) recently. Used Dektol 1:2 FWIW.

I'm thrilled. A very rich, deep print and for a negative with lots of darker midtones and detailed shadows, this paper's wonderful.

Can Simon or anyone else say if this is useable with Ilford's Warmtone developer? Seems that product is meant for VC papers but would like to try it with the Galerie I have left.

 

[Simon R Galley]

Dear Colin,

You certainly can use HARMAN warmtone developer with it. I do not, as I prefer a cooler image tone, if I want a Warmtone print I use MGFBWT.

Simon. ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited.

 

[eddym]

Can Simon or anyone else say if this is useable with Ilford's Warmtone developer? Seems that product is meant for VC papers but would like to try it with the Galerie I have left.

I use it with Warmtone developer for portraits. It's beautiful!

 

[Colin Corneau]

Thanks, guys!

Simon, I do use your company's Warmtone paper and love it also. The fact it's VC is icing on the cake, in my mind. But it's great to know I have another option, as well. Just perfect...many thanks.

Colin

 

[ChuckP]

Gallerie also looks good with Ilford Bromophen. Does anyone know if the current Gallerie has changed much from the product sold in the past? I'm still using some 10 year old Gallerie from the deep freeze and it seems to work fine. Wondering if the current paper is the same or close.

 

[Simon R Galley]

Dear Chuck,

Virtually identical, some required raw material changes but other than that no.

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology limited :

 

[Martin Aislabie]

Gallerie also looks good with Ilford Bromophen. Does anyone know if the current Gallerie has changed much from the product sold in the past? I'm still using some 10 year old Gallerie from the deep freeze and it seems to work fine. Wondering if the current paper is the same or close.

I had some very old Galerie (20+ years - don't ask :confused and it printed exactly the same as some recently purchased paper.

If I hadn't made notes on the back I would not have been able to tell the 2 prints apart

What ever changes Ilford have had to make to the paper over the last 20 years it hasn’t affected the results

Martin

 

[Bob Carnie]

This is why I love Ilford products.

I had some very old Galerie (20+ years - don't ask :confused and it printed exactly the same as some recently purchased paper.

If I hadn't made notes on the back I would not have been able to tell the 2 prints apart

What ever changes Ilford have had to make to the paper over the last 20 years it hasn’t affected the results

Martin

 

[Mahler_one]

Dear Ed,

Very balanced question that deserves an honest answer, its purely volume :

Firstly, yes the raw materials are more expensive but thats not the main reason.

Make lots of sq metres in one production run price per sq mtr is x

Make a very few sq metres per production run price per sq mtr is x times y

Y = Time per m2 / emulsion waste / paper waste / QC waste as a percentage of production /
time to hold on inventory / part finishing parent rolls / holding in controlled temperature store
all these add up to the significantly higher cost.

Simon. ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

Thanks Simon. Pretty much as I expected. As always, the response is much appreciated.

Regarding the Ilford Gallerie: I will be doing my own paper tests of course, but I wonder if you have any information about use of the graded Gallerie paper for contact printing.

Anyone on the current thread ever use the Gallerie for contact printing of LF negatives, and if so, comments?

Thanks

 

[Peter Schrager]

galerie

I've contact printed on galerie numerous times; any paper including /vc paper will contact...just try it!
Best, Peter

 

[Mahler_one]

Hi Peter: Using the PQ developer when you contact print, or the "Old Reliable" Zone vi? Do you note any difference in the tones you achieve using one developer vs. the other?

 

[Richard Jepsen]

In hand is a fresh dried print on Galerie #3 developed in Arista Premium paper developer toned in KRST 1:10 for 5 min. The image color is neutral. Prior to toning, the print color was slightly warm from neutral. This paper does not split tone like some WT papers will. My impression is Galerie has great adjacent tonal separation in zone 3 to 5.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Richard,

Do you feel that ILFORD Galerie will give results distinct from those possible with a good variable contrast paper?

Tom

 

[Richard Jepsen]

Tom

In a three year span I printed maybe 75 shts of Galerie; I'm still learning what it can do. Galerie won't turn a bad image into a good one. To answer your question one should do direct comparisons and maybe step wedge tests. I have printed on Bergger WT, Oriental WT, Ilford WT, Forte Polywarmtone Plus, Agfa Classic, Ilford MG IV, Foma Brom 111, EMAKS #2/3, Polymax, Kentmere Fineprint and a few others.

From my experience papers tend to be different, not necessarily better than each other. Specifically where tones are placed on the paper curve and response to toners are a big deal. I like Galerie's paper surface better than Fineprint which for my taste is too glossy. Galerie has clean white highlights which add to the print sparkle. Galerie's low to mid tones seem to have a richer tonality than Fineprint or Fomabrom III and perhaps other papers. The image on Galerie is sharper than Foma's Classic WT.

Printers need to try Galerie and see for themselves. Wish Galerie printers would post their experience concerning it's characteristics. Their comments would shorten my learning curve.

 

[Mahler_one]

[

< Wish Galerie printers would post their experience concerning it's characteristics. Their comments would shorten my learning curve.[/QUOTE]>

I agree!

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Richard,

I've made prints on Galerie and like you have found the tonal distribution and white base particularly attractive. Even the grade 3 responds with subtlety to exposure and development control.

Tom

 

[Richard Jepsen]

I will mention a unique Galerie quality. One can expose and develop the paper and the print will hit the point where the tones are right, say 105s, and the print continues to develop and change as the seconds click away to 120s. Most papers almost stop developing when exposed correctly. But Galerie continues to darken. When printing on Galerie I use a stop bath to stop development on the dot. That quality seems to make dodging and burning more responsive.

 

[Colin Corneau]

I'm a rookie, fully admit. But I noticed the white base a lot off the bat...maybe that's because my main paper before was Ilford's WT fibre base VC.

I noticed the dark midtones and shadows were quite rich. I used Dektol 1:2 FWIW. Have not toned in selenium yet but can't help but think it would add a whole other dimension.

 

[Richard Jepsen]

Colin, another characteristic of Galerie is toning will not shift color as much as with WT papers. Toning in KRST 1:10 will shift the color from slightly warm of neutral. I use a condenser light source for my recent Galerie printing to increase contrast on Galerie grade 3. I have been able to avoid using a harder developer. I carefully select my negatives to match up with the paper curve and light source.

 

[Richard Jepsen]

I came across 1983 comments by Richard Henry. He authored the classic book, Controls in Black-and-White Photography. One topic Henry researched was the relationship of silver content to reflective density (RD) of max black. All papers tested are no longer produced in their original emulsions except for Galerie. Galerie developed in Dektol and untoned achieved a 2.48 RD vs 2.2 RD for Kodabromide; a paper with much higher silver content.

Henry writes; "The silver content of the papers studied was not related to the maximum black obtainable."

Per Henry's research blacks should be strong even with light selenium toning.

 

[studioARC]

cooler tones with galerie fbd

Dear Colin,

You certainly can use HARMAN warmtone developer with it. I do not, as I prefer a cooler image tone, if I want a Warmtone print I use MGFBWT.

Simon. ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited.

Simon, what do you use for the cooler tone developer when printing on Galerie FB?
Collins

 

[Simon R Galley]

I dev in multigrade dev ! lazy I know, but thats what is always in the darkrooms at HARMAN, it works fine for me.

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Simon,

There is always the interesting question on when exactly should one consider using the Multigrade developer rather than PQ Universal...

Tom

 

[Richard Jepsen]

Last night I developed Galerie in PQ and toned in KRST at 1:30 for 5 min. The image color was was mushroomy/silvery with cooler shadows vs the previous Oriental WT emulsion or Bergger WT cooled off in KRST. A different image was developed in Arista Premium and toned in KRST 1:10 for 5 min. There is a meaningful cooler difference in tone. Silvergrain Products http://www.digitaltruth.com/products/silvergrain_tektol.php has a chart with developer tone characteristics. You can locate Multigrade and PQ on the chart. Hope this helps folks.

 

[Richard Jepsen]

I have been working through 50 shts of 11x14 Galerie Grade 3. I found EMAKS Grade 3 has maybe 1/2 grade more contrast. Both papers are excellent. If I need more contrast to print a specific negative, EMAKS G3 would be an excellent choice. Who says you need filters (smile).