Deon Rey olds
Member
Greetings Everyone,
What kind/brand of graded fiber base darkroom papers do you use? Any thoughts on how the grade fall (contrast)? Overall working with the material?
I'm looking for museum quality archival graded paper. Thick, almost like cardboard with a glossy slightly textured surface (you know like real paper).
My (print) darkroom was in storage since 2004. Late 2021 I completed an analog darkroom (8x16 ft) with two wall mounted Omega D5XL's one w/Arista cold light head and one with Chromega head. (Schneider Comp "S" 50, 80, 100 and 150 lenses). Eight feet of stainless steel sink water filtration system and instant hot water to archival film and prints washing to 16x20. Eight feet of shelving for all the chemistry and stuff I had in storage all these years. I have hundreds of sheets of Brilliant (brand) graded papers from 8x10 to 16x20 in grades two, three and four all garbage! Barely usable for even a solargram. I had 500 sheets (2 / 250's)of vintage 2004 Ilford Multigrade Pearl that I have been using for contact sheets. I just finished that paper last night and started into a fresh box of the same paper. WoW! What a difference a decade makes. I went from making contacts at the highest contrast the Chromega will go, grade 4.70 to grade 2.5 with a much better overall contrast since the old paper had so much of the base exposed over time. So, last night was also the first time I made a real darkroom print in many years. Printing using Ilford Multigrade Pearl paper, now I want some real fiber base paper to play with! Time to ROCK & ROLL!
What kind/brand of graded fiber base darkroom papers do you use? Any thoughts on how the grade fall (contrast)? Overall working with the material?
I'm looking for museum quality archival graded paper. Thick, almost like cardboard with a glossy slightly textured surface (you know like real paper).
My (print) darkroom was in storage since 2004. Late 2021 I completed an analog darkroom (8x16 ft) with two wall mounted Omega D5XL's one w/Arista cold light head and one with Chromega head. (Schneider Comp "S" 50, 80, 100 and 150 lenses). Eight feet of stainless steel sink water filtration system and instant hot water to archival film and prints washing to 16x20. Eight feet of shelving for all the chemistry and stuff I had in storage all these years. I have hundreds of sheets of Brilliant (brand) graded papers from 8x10 to 16x20 in grades two, three and four all garbage! Barely usable for even a solargram. I had 500 sheets (2 / 250's)of vintage 2004 Ilford Multigrade Pearl that I have been using for contact sheets. I just finished that paper last night and started into a fresh box of the same paper. WoW! What a difference a decade makes. I went from making contacts at the highest contrast the Chromega will go, grade 4.70 to grade 2.5 with a much better overall contrast since the old paper had so much of the base exposed over time. So, last night was also the first time I made a real darkroom print in many years. Printing using Ilford Multigrade Pearl paper, now I want some real fiber base paper to play with! Time to ROCK & ROLL!