This being said with Ilford MG ART 300 one has to concede that if you want to keep the same contrast in the light tones as the ones given by the Fomabrom Matt then you loose a bit the dark tones. I might be totally smoking this one out so click to enlarge to make your own opinion (never quite the same thing than the real thing I know):įomatone MG Classic Matt, Ilford MG ART 300 Here under a reference to appreciate the difference between warm tones with the advantage of underlining a bit more the slight violet tint couterbalanced by an even lighter green one in the shadows. Regarding tones, we notice that baryta papers are a touch more warm than the colder (more neutral actually) RC print, with a touch of “violet” (to my eyes) or magenta in the highlights and light tones on the Ilford MG ART 300 which to my surprise ends up being very pleasing indeed (piggy-bank beware!). As a matter of fact I could have increased the contrast by half a grade to get even closer to the RC paper contrast.įomabrom Variant Matt, Fomatone MG Classic Matt All are in the same ball parck regrading contrast apart of course from the Fomatone paper which is a paper with very low sensitivity and low contrast that allows for a great tonal range. Paper sensitivity differences appear clearly. Ilford MG ART 300: exposed for 18 seconds under a Grade 2 filter.Fomatone MG Classic Matt: exposed for 30 seconds under a Grade 3 filter.Fomabrom Variant Matt: exposed for 7 seconds under a Grade 2 filter.Ilford MG IV RC DELUXE PEARL: exposed for 9 seconds under a Grade 2 filter.Other prints were made to match this first one as close as possible and in doing so gave me a reference exposure and contrast compensation when going from one paper to the other in this situation of medium contrast. The reference for this comparison is the RC paper print done under an Ilford Multigrade filter of Grade 2. The negative used for this frame was a Kodak Tri-X exposed at EI 200 and developed in HC110 dilution B for 5min. I could have anticipated that from it generous base thickness. A very good point on the practical side of things then. The RC paper as usual, remains flat, but what’s interesting with Ilford MG ART 300 paper is that it dries pretty flat all by itself. Regarding the drying behavior: Foma papers are not different than any other Fiber Based or Baryta paper in this regard, they become curly when they dry. Stacking Fiber Based prints under a pile of books when already bone dry is not the best way to get nice flat prints, but I’ll come back to that another time.įomabrom Variant Matt, Fomatone MG Classic Matt, Ilford MG ART 300 Then, apart from the RC paper, pressed under a pile of books when dry. No glossy paper because I did bet on a matt rendering of the Ilford MG ART 300, and anyway I’ve always had an inclination towards the matt finish.Īll prints are direct prints ~10x15cm (~4×6″) no masking dodge/burn or other manipulations, papers are exposed, developed (Ilford Multigrade 1+9), stopped (Ilfostop 1+19), fixed (Ilford Rapid Fixer 1+4) and hung to dry that’s all. The Fomatone however is a bit more peculiar but It will give us a warm tone reference. Why compare Foma papers with Ilford ones? Well simply because my darkroom supplier was out of stock on both Ilford FB Classic and Ilford FB Warmtone… For the comparison I want to make it’s not much of an issue: the Fomabrom is comparable to its Ilford counterpart. Ilford MG IV RC DELUXE, Fomabrom Variant Matt, Fomatone MG Classic Matt, Ilford MG ART 300 For ease of image reading I Ianded on the Pearl finish as it limits to some extent the most adverse reflections. So I chose for reference Ilford MG IV RC DELUXE photographic paper that is certainly the most widespread and available. It’s relatively cheap and it’s quick to process. Generally speaking I use RC paper for all sorts of tests. I was tempted to try Ilford MG ART 300 photographic paper but knowing my inclination towards textured papers, which I blame on my passion for historic processes, and my flamboyant enthousiasm when making a print, I wanted to have an objective reference to temper my passion before once again breaking the piggy-bank. Wet prints are therefore done under the enlarger in a darkroom. Today I’m proposing a comparison between several silver gelatin paper or true photographic papers.
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