New vs. Legacy papers

Okay - let me just background this by saying that I've been printing B&W FB paper since about 1984 (this is not to say "yeah, man... I'm really experienced" - nor is it to say "whoa... I'm really OOOOLLLLLD" - but simply so that my point of comparison can HOPEFULLY be referenced by someone).

I was just perusing freestyle's site (clicked on the banner) - and freestyle CONVENIENTLY is just about TWO blocks away from where I live. Anyway - so I noticed that they have oriental seagull and ilford galerie FB in grades... and, having my first darkroom in AEONS nearly set up... I'm wondering what I should expect from these editions of these legacy papers - are they anything/exactly like the ones I used to use way back then...?

aside: I have to admit though - I was more of a fan of galerie than seagull. there was just something a bit less intimate about my seagull prints. I'm sure it's just me - but whatever works, right? But hell - I'd take the oriental over RC. or even MG fb.

oops!

also - I SHOULDA mentioned... I DO remember SEEING this topic broached in the past - but cannot now find it for the life of me... so if someone could please humour me... it'd be great. thanks again.

For what it's worth, in the late '70s or early '80s, the price of sliver went through the roof due to a couple of guys trying to corner the sliver market. In response - so it was rumored - paper manufacturers, seeing a huge rise in raw-material cost, reduced the amount of silver in their papers. Also the early RC papers were not that good. In response they came out with premium papers like Galerie.

While I never used Galerie I was a big fan of the old Agfa Brovira. Lately I find that the Kentmere bromide, a graded paper, seems to be every bit as good as the old Brovira. The flip side of this is that I don't think that it is significantly better than the good VC paper like Forte.

It will be interesting to hear how people think the Galerie compares.

Mike D

You will find Oriental verysimilar in tonal range as the paper with the same name from the 80's. I see a little bit of difference in print surface. Actually I have in my freezer 3 generations of Oriental paper and like them all.

Ilford MG has changed during the past 20 years. I find it more contrasty.

My suggestionis that you buy a small package of eachand decide which you like best with your negatives.

I used Galerie when it first came out, and loved it. Then I fell under the influence of Fred Picker and switched to his Brilliant. Then when Brilliant became unavailable for a while, I panicked for a few days, then settled down and tried Galerie again and also Seagull (the older version, not the current one). Using Galerie was like meeting an old friend again, and I don't know why I ever left it. It's wonderful! Seagull was nice, but Galerie was and still is my favorite paper.

That said, I also used to use Agfa Portriga for portraits, and still have a few sheets left. I tried Bergger warm tone graded paper, and it is just wonderful. Even better than Portriga, and at least as good as the old Ektalure.

thanks for the input thus far.

good to note all these things... yes - the darkroom is a few scant months away from completion... and I'm excited to try out all the new papers. Galerie was totally a friend to me... nice paper. I made the best prints on that and Portriga... though the portriga much later - RIGHT before it went out of production. Seagull was DECENT - but I had a hard time coaxing any soul out of that or Brilliant. Don't know why. Perhaps because of my devs. I used to two-bath it - dektol and selectol-soft (whatever happened to THAT stuff BTW...?)

Selecto; soft

Sparky-I'm not sure if the selectol soft is still available but a far superior mix is
Ansco 120. Make sure you get the right formulation and if you can't find it shoot me a PM. Right now for graded paper I'm using Amidol and a waterbath. Making some of the best prints I ever have and it's just so simple....there is also a WT developer listed in the Formula section here as ID78. Made with Phenidine it also makes very nice prints with Gallerie. Try it and see for yourself.
Best, Peter