Kentmere Fineprint VC Versus Ilford MG-IV FB.

[smithy17]

Are there any major differences between these two papers?

 

[brianmquinn]

IIRC Kentmere is faster, colder tone, has less of a contrast range and reacts to toners differently then does the Ilford Paper. Neither of these papers is better then the other. They are both nice just different.

The subject matter you print and the developer and toners and your personal taste will decide on witch you like best. At one point in my life I wanted the most neutral tone possible so I chose a kodak paper. Later I decided I wanted cold tones and started using Forte PG V along with my Kodak. Then they both were discontued and it forced me to try some other papers.

Buy a small pack of each and test them out.

 

[jp80874]

Agreed with all of the above.

In the US Ilford is a bit more expensive of the two. At B&H Photo as I write a 50 sheet pack of 16x20 Ilford is $155.99 vs. $124.95 for Kentmere.

Kentmere seems to dry much flatter on screens than Ilford. The larger the print the more important this is. My highest volume size is 16x20, either cut for 7x17 contacts or enlarging 8x10 negatives to 16x20.

I started using Kentmere as a replacement for Kodak Polymax when ever Kodak stopped making paper, maybe 4-5 years ago, and I have been very happy with the results.

John

 

[brian steinberger]

I have experience with both papers. To me Kentmere is a more beautiful paper, with a nice cold tone. Ilford is a better all around paper though. The contrast range on Kentmere is too limited, making it useless to me as I like to split-grade print sometimes. The Kentmere graded papers are beautiful too though.

For my neutral tone work, I've found Oriental VC FB to be in between MGIV and the Kentmere paper in terms of tones. It's wonderful in 130 and tones beautifully in selenium.

 

[23mjm]

Humm interesting--I have not noticed the Kentmere limited contrast range in my paper test, which involve printing the same negative on different papers. The Kentmere paper is a much colder and appearers to have deeper blacks.

 

[Dave Krueger]

I've used Polymax, Ilford MG IV, and Kentmere and liked the Kentmere the least mainly because it has a duller sheen when viewing it a an angle. The sheen seems to reduce the Dmax (which may account for some people thinking it has a lower contrast range (just a guess). Just my opinion. I liked their RC paper ok, though.

 

[smithy17]

Thanks for the feed back. Will the 'duller sheen' be noticeable when the print is framed behind glass?

 

[jp80874]

Do you use a cold light head on your enlarger? The Kentmere pdf says that Kentmere may not respond to variable contrast filters above #3 when using a cold light head. For me this was not a problem because I simply increased the contrast of my negatives. I do split grade printing and have not found the limited range a problem. Having fairly consistent negatives certainly helps.

I use Ilford multigrade developer.

John Powers

 

[Bertil]

The Kentmere Fineprint VC Fiber Glossy paper is a very nice paper, try it! Quite easy to get a neutral to cold tone and the glossy surface is pleasing; in my experience very close to Kodaks PolyFiber which was my favorite all purpose paper as long as it was produced. Haven't noticed any problem with contrast range, but haven't made systematic tests; the glossy surface on Ilford MGIV is, in my experience, dull compared to Ilford FB Warmtone Glossy, Kentmere VC FB Glossy and Fomatone 131, all nice papers – I don't use MGIV any more, just don't like it! Curiously, I would rather say that the dull sheen belongs to MGIV!! Could these difference depend on different used chemicals and different processing, washing, habits?
Will be interesting to try the Oriental VC paper and the new Adox (Agfa) papers.
/Bertil

 

[Dave Krueger]

Thanks for the feed back. Will the 'duller sheen' be noticeable when the print is framed behind glass?

I don't know since I have never framed one up. It's not a noticeable problem even without glass. It's just something I noticed and didn't particularly care for.

 

[23mjm]

As with most things in life you need to test the paper for yourself---buy a few 25 packs and print a few negs and see which one you like the best or better yet note the characteristics of each and tailor your paper to the subject. I recently purchased a pack of Arista.EDU Ultra, printed a few photos and it seems real nice.