Paper innit

[Jarvman]

I'm looking into buying some more photo paper since my last box ran out and want to start churning out prints since buying a Splitgrade.They're selling Ilford Multigrade with 20 free sheets from RK Photographic, whch is a bargain if you buy a few boxes. Just one thing though, I've been using AGFA paper for some time now but can't find it now. Is it availiable anywhere else or have the company completely gone under? Should I just forget about it and buy a pile of Ilford paper with feebies? I'm undecided which finish too, whether glossy or pearl. I've been printing on glossy for a while now but still can't make up my mind whether I prefer it to pearl. Is it percieved as being more for tacky, largely produced, commercial work. What are your personal preferences?

 

[Neal]

Dear Jarvman,

You're asking folks to tell you what you would like. Go to your vendor and try a few products that pique your interest. Besides, it's nice to have a bit of an assortment at hand during a printing session.

Neal Wydra

 

[srs5694]

Agfa went under a few months ago. Although a few vendors may have a few boxes of Agfa paper left, it's getting pretty hard to find these days. Thus, you might as well move on to another vendor.

As to what to get, that's very much a personal preference thing. You might want to buy a sampling of products from a few different manufacturers to see what you like, then buy more of whatever product(s) you decide you like.

 

[dbltap]

Agfa went under a few months ago. Although a few vendors may have a few boxes of Agfa paper left, it's getting pretty hard to find these days. Thus, you might as well move on to another vendor.

As to what to get, that's very much a personal preference thing. You might want to buy a sampling of products from a few different manufacturers to see what you like, then buy more of whatever product(s) you decide you like.

Agfa may have gone under, but as I understand it, there is a few years supply of RC paper available, if you can use it. Ultrafineonline has some available iin different sizes. They cut and repackage under their own lable.
Jim

 

[Jarvman]

I think I'll move back to Ilford paper. I can't decide between glossy or pearl though damnit! Which do you prefer, I've never used Ilfords glossy before. How does it compare to the Agfa stuff?

 

[Bob F.]

Glossy is glossy, more or less... Glossy RC almost always looks a bit tacky to me, but as always, YMMV... Once behind glass, the differences are less obvious in any case.

As suggested, get a small pack of each paper you are interested in and try it out. Ultimately, that is the only way you will know which you like. You will probably find you like different papers for different subjects.


Cheers, Bob.

 

[Paul.]

Jarvman, How good is your dust control boy, Pearl is a damn site easier to spot. That is not the only reason I use mainly pearl I just prefer it in the majority of cases though glossy has its place for some subjects.
Regards Paul.

 

[gainer]

In fiber base, I prefer unferrotyped glossy to pearl. I think the pearl was an effort to simulate unferrotyped glossy in the plastic stuff.

 

[pentaxuser]

I think I'll move back to Ilford paper. I can't decide between glossy or pearl though damnit! Which do you prefer, I've never used Ilfords glossy before. How does it compare to the Agfa stuff?

I had two boxes of Agfa Multicontrast Premium RC in my early days of printing via e-bay. The guy selling thought that he had opened his prospective father-in-law's inkjet paper until the latter pointed out to him tha tit was darkroom paper! Only a couple of sheets were fogged and his father-in-law was giving up darkroom. Anyway the gloss was very good. Very white base and deep blacks as I recall. As new, it was expensive compared to Ilford even then. I didn't think the difference in price was justified so switched to Ilford which I had used on a B&W City and Guilds course.

There's also satin which is even more matt and appears to have more of a tooth to it. Less retailers seem to stock satin.If you do borderless prints which are passed around i.e. handled by friends, then fingermarks, yours or your friends, are not so obvious. I haven't tried handcolouring but I'd imagine that Pearl and Satin are probably more receptive to this.

I acquired some remnants of Tetenal paper, both glossy and semi-matt as it's called secondhand and again it was via e-bay. The glossy seems closer to Agfa than Ilford. That isn't to say it's better just different. Certainly it's faster. I had to change half way through a printing session and the Tetenal paper seemed to need about half the exposure. Per se this isn't an advantage.

As other have said, give a few papers a try. Some retailers seem to be able to get Agfa. Mr Cad in Croydon seems to be able to lay his hands on stocks from time to time and advertises it in Amateur Photographer. These days the range of advertisements and the Roger Hicks article at the back are about the only reason for reading AP if you're analogue.

pentaxuser