Oooops!

I have been printing B&W and made quite fundamental mistake that I should have avoided. I made a print (A4) on the new Ilford Multigrade 5, First hit with a test strip and it was good enough. This was a trial before I made a full size 16x12. I made another test strip with the images cropped and adjusted to fit a 12x16 piece of paper and again it was just right.

I removed the piece of 12x16 from the packet and used the test strip time for exposure, but this time print was quite flat and under exposed. I then remembered the 12x16 paper I used was the last of my MG4 that I have. But the significant difference in grade and difference in speed puts this paper in a totally different class. I had used Grade 2 for the A4 print with MG5 but the 12x16 needed grade 3 to 3.5 to get the same contrast and another 14 seconds to get the exposure more or less correct.

From what I have read about MGV it certainly sounds as if we are getting more for our money. Wouldn't it be nice if we could say that about all materials that are offered to us? I have an example in mind but wild horses will not drag that example from me. TIme I stopped bitching and took more pictures. There I have said it so no need for anyone to remind me

pentaxuser

If I make a mistake often enough I get real good at it. What was the age difference between the two papers? And what percentage increase was the 14 seconds? Seems a big difference!

There is a trick where one makes an exposure with a woman's stocking stretched below the enlarger lens for part or all of the exposure to soften the image. It took me 3 or 4 tries with an overly sharp portrait of my father to realize it does not work when 8x10 contact printing.

Vaughn said:

There is a trick where one makes an exposure with a woman's stocking stretch below the enlarger lens for part or all of the exposure to soften the image. It took me 3 or 4 tries with an overly sharp portrait of my father to realize it does not work when 8x10 contact printing.

Click to expand...

Haha! I have no doubt that I would try something like that!

Vaughn said:

If I make a mistake often enough I get real good at it. What was the age difference between the two papers? And what percentage increase was the 14 seconds? Seems a big difference!

There is a trick where one makes an exposure with a woman's stocking stretched below the enlarger lens for part or all of the exposure to soften the image. It took me 3 or 4 tries with an overly sharp portrait of my father to realize it does not work when 8x10 contact printing.

Click to expand...

The MG5 is new, the MG4 about 6 months old (To me). The percentage increase in time was about 1/3rd taking into account the filtration I had to use. The test print on MG5 was without filtration so it does not surprise me.

Thanks -- so not like a whole stop difference, I have not silver printed much in the last couple decades and have not kept up with the changes in silver papers since 2015 or so.