Ultrafine Premium Varigrade

Their stuff was Ilford re-packs over the years but after the word that Ilford wasn't going to sell to the re-brand market, I'm not so sure the new stuff still is.

 

They're switched over to god knows what. I've only used the RC stuff, which was pretty good. You're probably not going to get stuck with crap.

 

You need to find a quality paper whose qualities are consistent from month to month and year to year. If you are going to use funky, cheap paper you might as well be d*****l...EC

 

i used it often, both rc and fiber, when IT was rebranded ilford.
can't say i have used it recently ...

have fun
john

 

I don't know. If I were producing exhibition quality work, then I'd agree with you. But, for the most part, I'm not and economy is important. There are a number of house brand papers available and all of them are made by known manufacturers. There is a lot of competition for sales in a relatively small but savvy market. Any truly crappy paper would not have a ice cube's chance in hell of surviving. I can honestly say that some of them are quite good, and that I've never come across one that was truly bad. It is simply a question of learning the paper's characteristics and knowing how to work with them. That's not hard. A couple of speed tests, done with a step wedge and with different filter settings for VC papers, can tell you pretty much everything you need to know. A dozen 1x8 inch strips of paper is all you need. Considering the batch to batch variances that are found with any paper, this is something that should be done anyway.

 

I use it for making working prints and contact sheets, no issues so far, have not toned it yet. I am not sure who makes it, base seems different than Forma, closest seems to tone and speed seems to Kodak Polycontrast III, but it is make in 6X8 as well as 5X7 so who knows. I use Salvich for most of my final prints.

 

Paul, all the Kodak paper made before they ceased production had the corporate watermark on the reverse. If there's no watermark, chances are it's not Kodak.

 

Thats true, the only water mark I have seen is paper distubuited (sp?) by Pro Master, has a black and white paper on the back. No country of orgin on the box so I dont know who made it.

 

All the paper manufacturers are known, and they all produce good products. The fact that it is cheap just means they got a deal, not that the paper is bad.