Kentmere Fineprint VC FB vs. Ilford MGIV FB

I've been in the hunt for a neutral toned paper for the past few years to add along side of my favorite paper, MGWT. I've been bouncing back and forth between Ilford MGIV and Kentmere Fineprint. I don't have too much expereince with the Kentmere paper since Ilford took over. This is what I have determined so far:

Kentmere Fineprint is a beautiful paper, tones wonderfully in selenium and I believe is colder than MGIV, has a better glossy surface too.

Ilford MGIV has a greater Dmax

The Kentmere paper seems to not be able to handle the higher grades (4 &5) and still produce true Dmax, which sucks for split grade printing which I do sometimes.

I'm not crazy about Ilford MGIV's glossy finish surface. It seems to dull, definitely not like MGWT glossy finish, which I love.

What are others users thoughts and opinions? Particularly about Kentmere's low Dmax, and problems with higher contrast settings. I'm currently using LPD 1:4 and developing for 2 minutes. Would a stronger dilution and maybe 3 minutes of time in the developer give me any better luck with the blacks on the Kentmere? Basically I want the Kentmere paper, but with MGIV's blacks.

from experience i can say that the kentmere is too cold for my taste. the MGIV is cold IMO and its about as far cold as id like to go, and thats without toning. have you thought about adox's new MC110 paper? its modeled almost exactly after agfa's old paper and is beautiful. i used MGIV exclusively until i found this paper, its the perfect neutral base paper, not too cold, not too warm.

but if your sticking to kentmere and ilford, id reccomend the MGIV all the way.

Thanks, I actually heard that the MC110 was a great paper. I certainly want to try it!

What type of enlarger head are you using? I ask because in Kentmere's pdf they admit that Fineprint will not work too well at high number filters with a cold light. I use a 12x12 cold light on a Durst 138S 8x10 conversion. I develop 8x10 and 7x17 TMax 400 and HP5 a little contrasty with rollo pyro in a Jobo and the problem is solved for me. I only use a #3 filter if it is a foggy day, rain or snow, in other words very poor low dynamic range light. Even then the result seems on the upper end of contrast for my taste. It is all about one’s taste.

Besides the look of Kentmere I also like the fact that it dries flatter than MGIV between two screens. It makes final flattening much easier.

John Powers

John, I use a Beseler 45s Dichro head. It's quartz halogen I believe. I'm going to continue to work with the Kentmere as I believe it's a wonderful paper, and you're right about it drying flat.

MGIV has no substitute when you want max contrast and neutral tones, but I hate the surface too. Not even close to MGWT's glow and juiciness!

Fineprint is super with high contrast negs but terrible at the top end as you say. Its very fast which can be handy. The base is very brigth and this can cause problems with displaying images together matted such that the paper base shows as a border... when you have images from various papers. The fineprint looks stark/harsh in comparison. Certainly I have some images that have printed on this paper like no other.

MCC is IMHO second only to the MGWT. The surface is better than MGIV but not quite as luscious as MGWT. The base is pretty neutral and not too stark and the image tone, though slightly warm, is neutral compared to MGWT. Its only next to MGIV or FP that you see how it is a little warm. This makes it a marvellous paper as it can nestle with MGIV AND MGWT and not look out of place. It is also fast. About half a stop faster than MGIV. You really should try it. My 25 sheets of 20x16 seem very much like the Agfa I remember, though the former had a warmer base and somewhat glossier finish. In its more neutral form it is arguably even more flexible than it was under the Agfa banner.

very well put tom. i still dont think theres a paper that pops like MGWT

My preference is for the Ilford MG papers for normal B&W printing. The Kentmere Fineprint VC FB does not print harder than grade 3 for me. I only use the Kentmere FP WT FB paper for lith printing which it does an excellent job...

Well that would explain why I'm really struggling with flat highlights on the Kentmere! Grumble. It's pretty awesome in some other ways.

Kentmere Fineprint is not really the same since it is produced by Harmann. So take any description based on the "original" Kentmere with some grain of salt.

Georg