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What fiber based B/W paper are you using?

hspluta

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Feb 28, 2010
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Chicago Area
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Medium Format
So I am slowly putting my darkroom back together after many years of no time for wet printing. Today I began thinking about paper. I was suprised to see quite a selection, particularly a lot of Ilford paper.

I will print anywhere from 5x7 to 20x24 from MF and 4x5 negatives. I will want both a warm tone paper as well as a standard (cold) paper. Multigrade of course. And it will be developed in a pan not a drum.

Anyhow I thought I would see what combination of paper and developers folks here are using.

Thanks, -Harry
 
At least twice as many combinations as there are people printing black and white here. You're new here aren't you.


An assortment of Ilford and some coveted Agfa paper, mostly souped in Dektol.
 
Kentmere fineprint VC and Ilford Multigrade developer. Also Ilford paper depending on my mood or the price of either.
 
Using:

Ilford Warmtone FB glossy (my favorite paper all around, but ridiculously overpriced)

Oriental VCFB (my favorite neutral/cold paper, also expensive)

Fotokemika Emaks (graded warm, mostly for when I have the time to perfect negative contrast, reasonably priced and available in three grades, unlike Galerie and Oriental G, which give you only two!!!)

Oriental G (graded neutral/cold, same application as above, expensive!)

Ilford RC Pearl for contact sheets and proof/quick prints (used to be reasonable, but is not so much so any more)

Want to try:

MC 110 (because I like the examples on the wall at Freestyle...a LOT!)
Kentmere (various products, just for the heck of it)
Fotkemika Varycon (as a possible Ilford replacement, because Ilford products are getting too bloody expensive for me)
Slavich (various types, as a possible Oriental replacement, for the same reason as above)

Developers:

Ilford PQ Universal (normal contrast, cleaner whites, usually use for Ilford warmtone and Emaks)
Ilford Multigrade (lower contrast, seems more tweakable with dilution, foggier whites, usually use for Oriental)
 
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First runner up....ADOX MCC-110...Awesome paper! I also like ILFORD's papers....
 
not doing much B+W printing these days because I'm doing Platinum; but you all should try the Varycon(to me a throwback to older looking emulsions) and the Slavich single weight graded papers; also a second emotion for Ilford WT; cost is totally secondary...use and support these mfg of fine paper...did I mention the range of Foma papers; lots more to explore
Best, Peter
 
Kentmere Fineprint VC because it's good and affordable. As I get better and more efficient at printing, Adox MCC-110 will likely replace it.
 
I'd urge you to pick a paper & developer, get to know it, and not make yourself *too* crazy with the myriad of options out there.

That said: Ilford's warm tone FB VC paper is terrific...tones well and has a unique character. I know it's personal taste but it looks 'right' for most things I shoot.

Close runner up and maybe champ is Oriental VC-FB warmtone -- nice unique character also and for some reason negatives seem to print a lot easier on it. Haven't toned with it yet, though so I can't speak to that.

I almost always use Ilford's WT developer. Started using Dektol lately and like it also.
 
faux ilford mgfb ( rebranded by photo warehouse years ago )
ilford fbmg
seagull ( grades 1-4 as well as vc )
ilford warm tone
kodak ( azo, fbmb, polymax / fine art )
old agfa ( grades 1-3 )
old forte ( grades 2-5 )


i have a few developers on hand
but only use ansco 130 for positive prints and paper negatives.
 
Lodima and amidol

Ilford FB MG in Ilford Multigrade or PQ

I am still trying to master and understand all that can be accomplished with the above combinations. Trying to winnow the list down.
 
Favorites have been Ilford and Forte in the past. With Forte gone, I hope to do some testing on the Adox MCC-110 when I get some time in the darkroom.
 
have tried:
-Ilford MGIV FB Glossy
-Ilford MGWT FB Glossy
-Arista EDU FB Glossy
-Adox MC110 FB Glossy
-Adox Variotone WT FB Glossy

Continue to use
-Ilford MGWT FB Glossy
-Adox MC110 FB Glossy

i also use some left over arista for contact sheets and i have about 30 or so sheets of 8x10 MGIV that i use when i know im going to waste paper on a negative but other than that Ilford WT and Adox MC110 are the ones for me. if the ilford warm tone wasnt so damn beautiful id probably only use mc110
 

What developer do you use with the Ilford WT?
 
Adox Variotone WT FB Glossy in Ilford WarmTone developer.
 
Ilford MGIV matte
Ilford MGWT semimatte
Foma Fomabrom Variant 112

Some other odds and ends for lith printing.
 
Mahler_one said:
What developer do you use with the Ilford WT?
Click to expand...

to be honest im not sure. i do all my printing at the local college darkroom because i only have enough space to develop film at home. i know its not WT dev., im gona make a guess and say Ilford MG or Dektol, i will find out and report back. me being obsessed with everything technical im surprised i havent looked into the paper dev. at school.
 
I just completed two major printing projects where I went through six packages of Adox MCC 110 souped in "Print WA" developer. Excellent combination!

Otherwise, I seem to live on Ilford products. You can't go wrong with Ilford--it's very consistent and easy to work with.

For the Ilford papers, my all-time favorite developer is "Perfecta-D" which can be purchased from Photographers Formulary in Montana. Ilford papers sometimes have an issue with attaining a clean and inky DMax, and Perfecta-D is able to pull that without the crazy tonal response rollercoaster that some developers give. Also, another nifty feature of Perfecta-D is that as long as you develop for the minimum time, you don't get density/contrast changes by altering development time. This means that you totally control your exposure and contrast at the enlarger and you don't need to worry about the variability during processing. If you leave a print in for 15 extra seconds, nothing changes.
 
I cannot really say I have my favourite paper.
As i do a lot of lith printing, I mainly use foma papers (131,132,532..)but I have a stach of kentona paper when I want to lith print in different hues.
For traditional printing, I also use Foma but I could also use Ilford Warmtone, only it is very expensive and I do not want to keep dozens of boxes.
Last I plan to try the MCC110 FB as I hear so many good things about it..
 
Got my four boxes of Lodima FA a couple of weeks ago, and am looking forward to souping it up in some Ansco 130 from the Formulary.
 
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