New black and white fibre-based papers from Ilford

JW PHOTO · Dec 4, 2013

Dave Krueger said:
Cost is not a big criteria when I'm doing exhibition prints. The amount of darkroom work involved and the low volume (for me) swamp out the paper cost considerations. I'm probably going to use whatever paper I think looks the best.

But... The bulk of my printing is just meant for scanning to put on my website or flickr page. I do almost all the dodging, burning, and pre-flashing that I do for an exhibition print, but I don't tone them and I am not as concerned about squeezing that last tiny bit of Dmax out of them. For this stuff, I use budget paper. Usually RC, but sometimes FB.

I see these new products as something I would use for exhibition prints and I particularly like the straight curve with low contrast filters. I hope that finds its way into Ilford's RC papers at some point. I like the idea of being able to experiment on RC paper and then shift to FB for the final print. The more similar they are, the easier that is to do.

Yes, I don't think cost means much if quality/output is more to your liking. I'm just saying that that is usually how new products go. I'll be watching the reviews from folks here and am curious to see what they think. It is nice to have a company like Ilford in your corner. To bad the big yellow guy got knocked out of the ring! JohnW

miha · Dec 4, 2013

This is great news!

I wonder how did Ilford manage to reduce the washing time for their new Classic paper.

brian steinberger · Dec 4, 2013

miha said:
This is great news!

I wonder how did Ilford manage to reduce the washing time for their new Classic paper.

I too am wondering this...

Shawn Dougherty · Dec 4, 2013

John Sexton posted the following on Facebook regarding the new Ilford papers:

"Exciting news for users of fiber base silver gelatin photographic paper! Anne and I have done some preliminary testing of the papers, and the results look very promising. Look for more detailed information in an upcoming installment of my eNewsletter. You can subscribe at my web site: www.johnsexton.com."

john_s · Dec 4, 2013

miha said:
This is great news!

I wonder how did Ilford manage to reduce the washing time for their new Classic paper.

Very interesting. I hope there isn't any downside to whatever they have done to either stop fixer being absorbed (a barrier?) or to accelerate washing.

R.Gould · Dec 4, 2013

This is very good news indeed, shows that Harman have confidence in the future of silver printing, and according to the newsletter I have just recieved from Silverprint the prices of both new papers are the same as the MGIVFB paper, both the Cooltone and classic paper is the same, which is even better news

adelorenzo · Dec 4, 2013

This is awesome news. I just stocked up last month on various sizes of MG IV FB so I won't be in the market for a while but I can't wait to give them a shot.

Would love to see an introductory combo pack (say 10 sheets of each type) for people to try the new papers without a big investment.

Shawn Dougherty · Dec 4, 2013

adelorenzo said:
Would love to see an introductory combo pack (say 10 sheets of each type) for people to try the new papers without a big investment.

That would be very nice, indeed.

Axle · Dec 4, 2013

I have yet to actually work with any FB papers, may have to give these new ones a shot! I work mostly with Ilford RC papers.

Ken Nadvornick · Dec 4, 2013

Dang. Just bought a box of 250 8x10 MGIV FB. Oh well. My VC head settings are ISO-calibrated to MGIV FB and cross-calibrated to MGIV RC. This makes the two very close to interchangeable for me on the fly. A new paper means recalibrating. Not a bad thing, I suppose. But not now for a while yet.

Nevertheless, way to go Harman!

Ken

VaryaV · Dec 4, 2013

This is fantastic news! Emailed freestyle as soon as I saw this thread regarding the new Ilford Cooltone paper and got this response back from Pablo:

"Our current ETA for the new ILFORD FB line of products is 12/18 and the full line should be live on our website on Monday."

Thank you Ilford!!! With so many papers going by the wayside it's so awesome to see some new offerings. Yippee!

Thomas Bertilsson · Dec 4, 2013

VaryaV said:
This is fantastic news! Emailed freestyle as soon as I saw this thread regarding the new Ilford Cooltone paper and got this response back from Pablo:

"Our current ETA for the new ILFORD FB line of products is 12/18 and the full line should be live on our website on Monday."

Thank you Ilford!!! With so many papers going by the wayside it's so awesome to see some new offerings. Yippee!

Welcome back!

Bruce Robbins · Dec 4, 2013

More good news. Looks like the new FB Classic and Cooltone will be priced the same as MG IV. Well done Ilford!

bdial · Dec 4, 2013

I wonder what the cooltone paper will look like in cooltone dev.
This is the best news since I don't know when.

brian steinberger · Dec 4, 2013

I can't wait to try the cool tone in selenium. I'm hoping for all things cold/blue.

hansformat · Dec 4, 2013

Absolutely incredible news re the cooltone fiber. Fills a gaping hole in the market and leaves Ilford covering warm, neutral, and now cool in a niche market in a dominant position. I hope i can get some to try over my Holiday break...will need to clean the darkroom...i like cool tone and had given up!

So the question...what developer will work best with the cool tone?

Roger Cole · Dec 5, 2013

Awesome news all around (though I'm not sure I don't prefer the older speeds for grade 4 and 5 just because it's an easy one stop difference for midtone matching. But I'll live.)

Claudia Moroni · Dec 5, 2013

Brilliant news, I can hardly contain my excitement about the new cool tone fiber based paper! Go Ilford!

AgX · Dec 5, 2013

miha said:
I wonder how did Ilford manage to reduce the washing time for their new Classic paper.

By reducing the hardening washing time is reduced and max. density cranked up.

JW PHOTO · Dec 5, 2013

Bruce Robbins said:
More good news. Looks like the new FB Classic and Cooltone will be priced the same as MG IV. Well done Ilford!

If that's true then I say very well done Ilford and it makes me want to seriously think about working with more Ilford products compared to what I use now. I'd say they are in it for the long haul and listen to and try to accommodate their customer base. To many other companies are only concerned about their shareholders that they have lost sight of their customers. Very well done Ilford! JohnW

miha · Dec 5, 2013

AgX said:
By reducing the hardening washing time is reduced and max. density cranked up.

If this is so (easy), why then the Cooltone is stuck with the same old washing time?

HARMAN Marketing · Dec 5, 2013

Don't worry Simon will be back. Nothing has changed. We just stepped in while he was away from office for a short while. HM

Thomas Bertilsson · Dec 5, 2013

HARMAN Marketing said:
Don't worry Simon will be back. Nothing has changed. We just stepped in while he was away from office for a short while. HM

We love you all! It's wonderful to see that you care so much about your relationship to your market. Makes good business sense, and it keeps us happy.

pstake · Dec 5, 2013

Any insight as to how these papers will Lith?

Martin Aislabie · Dec 6, 2013

Thanks you Simon & Ilford

Cooltone RC has long been a favourite but I always want to print in FB where possible - so thank you, thank you

And just when I thought Christmas had come early, Cooltone FB is going to be available in a wider range of large sizes.

Now, I just need to write to Santa......

Martin

New black and white fibre-based papers from Ilford

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