Papers?

Hello everyone.

I've been trying to find a good paper to print on and learn with. The price is a factor too. I have 3 options. Foma, Kentmere and Ilford. So far I've printed with some of the Fomaspeed 3 paper and I like the results so far. Foma is the cheapest, kentmere is slightly more expensive and Ilford is the most expensive. Should I stick with the Foma or go with the Kentmere or Ilford?

Here in England FOMA is more expensive and Ilford Multigrade is cheapest ! I should stick with the FOMA if you get it for a good price there
PS -- Please send me a stack of Pancakes with Maple Syrup ---

i have had great luck printing with the housebrand of photo warehouse / ultrafine
they are a apug sponsor / advertiser too. when i bought it i bought their rebadged 11x14 fiber paper
and i bought their rebadged 8x10 rc paper. they both have treated me well, my whole portfolio is printed on the fiber ...

I also have been using the Ultrafine Silver Eagle FB paper. It looks very nice and is flexible, VC-wise. One problem with it on my last 3 orders (over the last year and a half). The paper cutting is leaving bits of paper on the edges, like the cutters are dull. They need to fix this before I buy any more. I mount and matte all prints, but the little paper bits come loose and can lay on the paper surface when exposing. I've emailed them twice about this, no response. It's a shame, I really like the paper, and have many prints hanging around the house. Heck, I'll probably still buy more when I get low.

Ultra fine isn't nearly as attractive if, like the OP, you are in Canada, and not close enough to arrange for shipping to an intermediate US address.
All three options listed by the OP are good. As a young printer building experience it makes sense to weigh price heavily when deciding between good quality options.

If you are happy with Foma paper the stick with it, if you want to try something different the by all means try the Kentmere paper, my personal favorite RC paper, but the Kentmere paper is a good stop faster than most others, a lot faster than Ilford,