ILFORD Multigrade Cooltone RC

Tom Kershaw · Dec 12, 2009

In 6 1/2 years of practicing darkroom photography with varying levels of dedication I had never used the ILFORD MG Cooltone RC paper. However, curiosity won over and yesterday I printed on this paper for the first time; '645 format' FP4 Plus / XTOL negatives, and D-72 1+1 paper developer. First impressions are that this is a very good paper for negatives that match the paper's response. Tone colour in D-72 is noticeably cooler than MGIV papers; and although I've not selenium toned the prints yet, I imagine they would respond well.

My attempts at getting a near 'out-of-the-box' (without gold toning) cooltone with fibre base papers have not been particularly successful apart from Adox Fineprint Vario Classic in D-72 1+1, however that paper does seem to have a rather "flat" response; but I don't suppose Harman would see a large enough market for a cooltone fibre base glossy paper...

Any other APUGers use this paper?

Tom

keithwms · Dec 12, 2009

I haven't used it but thanks for your comments, I'll have to give it a try. I have been using slavich as a way to get cool tones- to my eye the cooler tone is a good match for IR in particular. A big concern I have with warmtone papers is the tendency to get that 'olde tyme' nostalgic look, which is just far too common IMHO.

Tom Kershaw · Dec 12, 2009

Keith,

I have some Slavich Unibrom paper in grades 2, 3, and 4, however one pack has serious issues with coating or manufacturing quality. I did buy the Unibrom in the first place as a potential cold tone paper but if quality or consistency is variable then the paper becomes a less attractive option.

Tom

pentaxuser · Dec 12, 2009

Tom Yes I used the pack that we were given on the Harman 2006 tour along with the CT dev that was also graciously given out. It is appreciably rather than marginally cooler than MGIV. To put this into context and let you judge my meaning of appreciably cooler, I'd say that WT paper was by comparison only marginally warmer than MGIV.

I can't compare CT paper in CT dev with CT paper in MG dev as I never took the opportunity to compare the CT in both developers. It suits certain things very well, one of them being machinery, motorbikes for instance and landscape scenes in which you want to convey an element of rawness and foreboding but it wouldn't be my standard paper. WT paper might be if it wasn't for the massive difference in price between it and MGIV.

pentaxuser

Oren Grad · Dec 12, 2009

Yes, CT is one of the papers I always keep on hand. I don't care much about the color. The main benefit is that between MGIVRC, MGRCWT and MGRCCT one has a choice of three distinctly different curve shapes, which makes it easier to find a good fit to a range of negatives.

If you do care about color, CT does seem to be somewhat dependent on developer, so experiment a bit. I'm currently working through a jug of Ilford PQ Universal paper developer, which by itself doesn't produce a tone I'd call "cool", but following with selenium toner moves it in that direction a bit. More generally, selenium toning does give a bit more depth in the dark tones, though CT isn't hyperreactive to selenium the way WT is.

Tom Kershaw · Dec 12, 2009

Oren Grad said:
Yes, CT is one of the papers I always keep on hand. I don't care much about the color. The main benefit is that between MGIVRC, MGRCWT and MGRCCT one has a choice of three distinctly different curve shapes, which makes it easier to find a good fit to a range of negatives.

If you do care about color, CT does seem to be somewhat dependent on developer, so experiment a bit. I'm currently working through a jug of Ilford PQ Universal paper developer, which by itself doesn't produce a tone I'd call "cool", but following with selenium toner moves it in that direction a bit. More generally, selenium toning does give a bit more depth in the dark tones, though CT isn't hyperreactive to selenium the way WT is.

Oren,

An interesting response on developers and tone colour. Do you use resin coated paper for final prints or more for proofs?

Tom

Oren Grad · Dec 12, 2009

Tom -

Final prints.

...Oren

Tom Kershaw · Dec 12, 2009

Oren Grad said:
Tom -

Final prints.

...Oren

Contact prints from your ultra large format negatives?

Tom

Oren Grad · Dec 12, 2009

A mix of enlargements from 35mm or medium format and contact prints from sheet film negatives of various sizes. I do use some FB paper as well, mostly for enlargements from 35 or MF.

Martin Aislabie · Dec 12, 2009

Tom, I'm very keen on Cooltone Pearl finish dev'd in regular MG Dev for 3 mins.

I settled on 3 mins as a good balance between tone and process time.

At 3 mins - it comes out a little harder in grade than regular MGRC

The coolness of the tone to me is pleasant without ever going OTT and gives a decent black.

I have produced both some trial/working prints as well as some final prints with it

It is well on the way to becoming my standard RC paper.

If it were made in paper sizes larger than 12x16 I might be tempted to use it for everything and give up Selenium then Gold Toning of MGFB Matt

Martin

Tom Kershaw · Dec 12, 2009

Martin,

I very much appreciate the advantages and aesthetic of fibre base papers, so it would be most welcome if Harman did release a cold tone FB paper.

Tom

Vincent Brady · Dec 12, 2009

I used a box of CT RC Glossy for a season and I was very happy with it. I developed it in CT Dev. I was asked several time by other people what paper I was using. I liked it with my IR shots.

MattKing · Dec 13, 2009

I like this paper as well, although my supply came from a discount bin and is old enough to be pre-Harman. I developed it in Kodak Polymax developer at 1:10.

It tones well in selenium.

Recently, as an experiment, I tried toning it in Kodak warm sepia toner instead. That experiment yielded an interesting cold brown tone that I'd like to experiment further with (depending on time).

Matt

sidearm613 · Dec 13, 2009

What I wonder is, where's the FB version? as convenient as RC is, I feel that fiber brings out the best in a negative, and as such I find it very bizarre that Ilford doesn't make a Cooltone FB. Is it a chemistry thing? Or is it something else?

Tom Kershaw · Dec 13, 2009

David,

I'm not sure if we've read anything from Harman on this topic, but I agree that fibre base is where attention to print quality is perhaps best placed, and as such it does seem odd that a cooltone FB paper is not available from ILFORD.

Tom

Martin Aislabie · Dec 14, 2009

Tom Kershaw said:
Martin,

I very much appreciate the advantages and aesthetic of fibre base papers, so it would be most welcome if Harman did release a cold tone FB paper.

Tom

Tom, I totally agree

However, I think I have more chance of falling pregnant

I asked Simon Galley about this very subject at the 2007 Ilford visit and the answer was no, it would not be economical.

Cooltone is a very small volume take in RC and an FB version would not support the necessary R&D spend to develop it

For a few months last summer the RC version was unavailable, so perhaps we should count our blessings that we still have a RC version, rather than mourn the absence of a FB

Martin

Tom Kershaw · Dec 14, 2009

Martin,

It looks as though we are back to gold toning then for fibre base prints. Additionally, Cooltone RC only seems to be available in 5x7, 8x10, 9.5x12, 11x14, and 12x16, no 16x20. I wonder why ILFORD decided to make 'Cooltone' a resin coated paper...

Tom

keithwms · Dec 15, 2009

Well, given the ridiculous price of gold, Ilford might now find that coldtone FB is a lot more financially attractive.... anyway, what other options are there for cold toning? I guess I will stick to slavich.

Jeff Kubach · Dec 15, 2009

I have used Cooltone RC over the years. I like it and like others have said, it works good with IR.

Jeff

Sal Santamaura · Apr 29, 2014

Tom Kershaw said:
Martin,

I very much appreciate the advantages and aesthetic of fibre base papers, so it would be most welcome if Harman did release a cold tone FB paper.

Tom

Martin Aislabie said:
Tom, I totally agree

However, I think I have more chance of falling pregnant ...

I came upon this thread while searching the archive and feel compelled to ask. How's youre pregnancy coming along, Martin?

ILFORD Multigrade Cooltone RC

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