Review of Ilford MGRC V

tezzasmall

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I ordered and used some A6 sticky labels this time (4 to an A4 sheet) that went though the laser printer with no problems. Just the initial setting up of the DTP page template and then it was dead easy.

What a pleasurable difference it made when applying them to the ordinary RC paper that I cut up to use as postcards, (a 10" x 8" sheet cut into 4) rather than writing them all out by hand and then getting smudged ink on them, no matter what pen I used.

I bought a pack of 100 for a very good price, so 400 labels in total, which will last me a while. Happy days!

Terry S
 

MattKing

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In order to take advantage of the US Postal service's very favourable postcard rates (for US and International mailing) I cut an 8"x10" into one 6"x8" piece, one 4"x6" card and a small piece extra. I then print two postcard images on the 6"x8" by setting the easel up to print one way, spinning the sheet around and then printing the other way. The 4"x6" piece is printed normally.
 

Adrian Bacon

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when I do postcards, I actually make a digital negative of two images on 5x7 then contact print it onto 5x7 paper and cut the 5x7 in half to make 3.5x5 inch post cards. If I have to make a particularly large number of postcards, I scale the size of the digital negative up so I get more usable postcards per print development cycle.
 

images39

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I'm looking at an Ilford "Technical lnformation" sheet titled "New MGRC vs. MGIVRC." It states that "induction time for New Multigrade RC is faster and images will begin to appear quicker in the tray." The table below that lists 1 minute development time in Multigrade developer (1:9) and 2 minutes in PQ Universal (both at 20C). The instruction sheet that comes in boxes of MGIVRC and Warmtone RC lists the same time for both (1 minute).

My only experience with the new MGRC is with LPD developer (1:4). When I put the first print in the developer tray, it took much longer for the image to appear. I developed it for 1 minute (my usual time with the MGIVRC and Warmtone RC). The image was faint, not anywhere close to being fully developed. I thought that I had done something wrong in mixing the developer. I then tried developing for 2 minutes, and problem solved! The print looked great, and I liked it much better than MGIVRC. I liked the slight hint of warmth, and what appeared to be slightly higher contrast. I mostly print on Warmtone RC, but I'll be using this new paper for some of my negatives.

I'm still puzzled by Ilford's statement that images will appear faster in the tray. My experience is the exact opposite, at least in LPD. Regardless, I like the paper.

Dale
 

Lachlan Young

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images39 said:
I'm still puzzled by Ilford's statement that images will appear faster in the tray. My experience is the exact opposite, at least in LPD. Regardless, I like the paper.
Click to expand...

My suspicion is that the emulsions are very high percentage AgCl & a faster emergence time shouldn't be a surprise - at least in Ilford's developers. The exact make up/ quantity of LPD's restrainers etc may have this different effect - are you using the powder or concentrate?
 

MattKing

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Has anyone actually drawn this observation to Harman's attention.
You could do that using the contact form on the Ilford website, or start a Conversation with Harman Tech Service here on Photrio.
 

images39

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I'm using the LPD concentrate. I also used Dektol, but haven't tried it with the new paper yet. Note also the Ilford table calling for two minutes in Ilford's PQ Universal, so apparently there's some aspect of that combination that also requires longer development.

Dale
 

pentaxuser

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Yes there is clearly something different in MG developer, requiring only 1 min compared to both PQ Universal and Bromophen requiring 2 mins Whatever that difference(s) is/are, MG developer also has a bigger development capacity in terms of sheets per litre than either Bromophen or PQ Universal The difference in capacity may be unrelated to time for development. I just don't know.

pentaxuser
 

dkonigs

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That's my experience too, as I've repeatedly said in this thread. Makes me wonder if anyone has tried to bring this to Ilford's attention, and what response they've gotten.
 

MattKing

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dkonigs said:
That's my experience too, as I've repeatedly said in this thread. Makes me wonder if anyone has tried to bring this to Ilford's attention, and what response they've gotten.
Click to expand...
I just "Started a Conversation" on this subject with Harman Tech Service here on Photrio. Given what is happening in the world, I won't be too concerned if they take a while to respond. Most likely any response will be in this thread.
 

MattKing

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And now I've had a response.

This is what I sent via Photrio Conversation to Harman Tech Service:

Hello everyone,
I hope that you are well in these extremely challenging times.
I thought I would bring to your attention a disparity between the information supplied by you with respect to the new MGRC and the experience of users as reported in this Photrio thread: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/review-of-ilford-mgrc-v.170874/
Apparently many people are noting that the new paper exhibits a slower emergence time than the older version. This directly contradicts the information from Harman.
Hope this assists, and that you can stay safe and well.

Matt

And this is what I received in response from Neil there:

Thanks for the heads up Matt. Occasionally we secretly hide things just to make sure you lot are paying attention !
No, seriously this is a mistake in the document I'll get it fixed. New Multigrade is slower to induct and to get to full development. (but still within the 1Min we advise for MG Dev)
We have done quite a big study on different developers and time ranges etc.. At some point I'll make this available. Some interesting differences. Quite a notable Dmax increase particularly in Bromophen for MGV (sorry MG Deluxe ;-) )

Thanks for the concern also, its a dynamic situation and something different seems to get announced every day!
Hopefully you are ok too.

Feel free to copy and paste any of this.

Kind regards,

Neil
 

brian steinberger

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I tried the new MGRC paper the other evening after running out of MGIV RC. The new paper is about a stop faster. I developed in LPD 1:3, MGIV would take 10 seconds for the image to appear. The new paper took 15 seconds to appear. So just a hair slower in that regard. I developed for a minute and everything looks fine. I’m sure the temperature of developer has a lot to do with emergence time. Mine is usually around 68-70F.
 

images39

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Interesting difference in results (for me it takes 2 minutes in LPD 1:4), but no matter. We just do what works. It's a nice paper. You have some very nice work posted on your website!

Dale
 

markbau

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Printed some MG V 5x7's last night. Prints had a total wet time of approx 1 hour, were squeegeed and then air-dried on a towel. I never thought I'd have problems getting RC paper flat. On a positive note, it is a superb paper reaching a DMAX of 2.35 in Dektol.
 

MattKing

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One hour is really long for a wet time for RC.
 

markbau

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MattKing said:
One hour is really long for a wet time for RC.
Click to expand...
One hour wet time with any other RC paper has never been an issue. Even out of the box, dry, this paper curls.
 

miha

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Harman is quite clear on this: Prolonged immersion in water can cause edge penetration and print curl with resin coated papers; for this reason, avoid wet times longer than 15 minutes.
 

pentaxuser

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I have certainly never experienced a curl like this but I am referring to MGIV and we in the U.K. have a relative humidity of may be 2x that of most of Australia However I cannot see any advantage in 1 hour for RC and can see risks and is there not a likelihood that unless the 1 hour is in the same amount of water that you would use for normal wet time for RC then it wastes water in a country that as I understand matters can ill afford it?

pentaxuser
 

markbau

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I'm not washing them for one hour, I print, accumulate prints in an archival washer, which is turned on for about 5 mins in an hour, after I have about 6 prints I fish them out, squeegee them and lay them on a towel or print rack. I'm printing tomorrow, I will measure the RH and make sure they have no more than a 10 minute wet time and report back. Actually, I'll make sure I do one with a wet time of one hour and the others for no more than 10 minutes.
 

radiant

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Same here, I posted about previously. I contacted Harman and they inspected the issue right away on their own papers and didn't notice anything. Provided them picture & video of curling on two different batches of paper. Curling on a paper that I opened from fresh batch. Got no answer. Replied again, they promised to answer again on "thursday". No response on thursday. I asked again. No response. Waiting for the "thursday".

Either they are overloaded with work or don't care to answer even if they promise or they have some bigger problem with the paper and they are just trying to postpone the answer. First email with them was 12.2. and last response 18.2. - then just silence.

There is certainly some kind of problem with the curling.

Edit: these papers have not been developed and have not seen any kind of water at all. The darkroom photo is taken just after removing paper from a fresh box. I'm holding with my fingers from the center of the paper from so small area as I could.



 

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markbau

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I printed today, RH was 40%, total wet time was under 5 minutes and the prints were quite flat, the prints were squeegeed and put on a towel. So the new V does not like long wet times, quite different to IV and earlier Ilford RC papers. I’ll just have to adjust my workflow when printing RC.
 

brian steinberger

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images39 said:
Interesting difference in results (for me it takes 2 minutes in LPD 1:4), but no matter. We just do what works. It's a nice paper. You have some very nice work posted on your website!

Dale
Click to expand...

Thanks Dale! I did try to develop the paper for 2 minutes and saw no difference from the 1 min so just stuck with the shorter time.

As to the paper curling, I did see just a bit of curl right after the paper dried but this went away after a few hours. Just gotta keep wash times to a minimum. I wash the prints as I do them and if I plan on toning I let them dry and tone later. I see no reason to not wash prints as you go with RC. It’s only 2 minutes.
 

Brian Stater

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Hi...I'm having a bit of a struggle with the new Ilford MGRC V darkrom paper and would welcome some advice if anyone can offer it.
I'm what you might describe as an enthusiatic amateur; not greatly gifted in the darkroom but a reasonably competent printer.

Up until now I've used the MGIV Pearl paper, to good effect. I'm trying out the new product with the following difficulties:
1 I find the blacks are now much harsher, with washed-out greys
2 After making test strips in the conventional manner, I find I'm printing at much reduced exposures, even at f16 and f22, which limits the amount of dodging and burning I can do.

I have a Kaiser VP 350 enlarger and use Ilford MG filters under the enlarger lens. I only print from 35mm negs.
For reasons of cost and very limited darkroom space I only use 5inch x 7inch paper.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I'd be most grateful!

Best wishes

Brian
 
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