For 'regular' (ie. no special effects w/ toners, lith dev., bleaching) printing: Agfa Multicontrast Classic and Premium - real deep blacks, real crips highlights, very punchy, IMHO leagues above Ilford MGIV (I'm probably one of very few people who does not like that paper at all...)
For lith printing: Foma Fomatone MG (in FB and RC versions) - really easy to work with in lith developers, very colorful (reds, oranges, gold tones), relatively little blocking up of shadows & fine grain (fro lith prints).
For toning in gold (-> blueish tones) or selenium (-> brownish/red tones): Forte Polywarmtone.
Roman
I agree and you are certainly not alone!
Although Ilford MG4 looks good wet, it almost always looks awful (IMO) dry...flat lifeless prints even when contrast is high. This is not always evident with a framed image in isolation, but next to an unframed prints off my favourite papers it is glaringly obvious.... I have some negs that print better on this than anything else, but that is normally only where I really need a much macro contrast as possible from a flat neg. IMO Oriental seagul (I still have the old stuff) and AGFA MCC are LEAGUES ahead. In particular I mourn the loss of Agfa MCC which conveyed a far greater richness every time compared to ilford MG. Hard to describe but side by side there really is no comparison. The MCC images have more depth, greater mid tone richness and a generally more agreable scale. I am beginning to like Kentmere Fineprint although it maxes out at about G 4 tops and so requires a more contrasty neg. In some regards it is like the MCC in that it produces a really pleasant gery scale full of contrast but without an unduly harsh overall result. I also like the surface when air dried. It is also excellent value for money compared to MG4. The MG4 surface texture is drab, drab, drab and unlike Finprint/MCC/OS does not dry with a pleasant sheen, but more off a dull off gloss. this is far less noticeable behind glass of course. I have probably printed over 150 sheets of MG4 in the last 2 months so I am not making this up! When I get into a groove with a batch of negs on MG4 (because I am using it up and will only buy it again when I need the contrast) and then switch over to one of my other papers, I frequently look at the prints on MG4 and just wish I had used something else.
I am also shocked at the new prices for Ilford FB WT!!! OMG! Double the price of Foma et al and not that great IMO, although preferable to the neatral MG4 as it seems to have slightly better depth. dont like the base colour though; kinda sickly pinky jaundiced hue. If they changed the base colour to something more neutral it would be far better IMO...something like MCC in fact! It does generate wonderful blacks tho and intensifies nicely in selenium.
One thing I really liked about OS is that you could take a genuinely underesposed print and juice it to hell in selenium. It would pick up so much density that the light and too bright print would actually be perfectly good and a fair match for the well exposed ones given only a taste of selnium for the blacks. The selenium really does hit the highlights hard too, given time. I have not been able to do this with any other paper to the same degree. Its kinda nice to leave a slighly, but critically underexposed print in the toner for 30 mins when I go for a run (afetr 5 mins or intermittent agitation) and come back to find, as if my magic, a pretty spot on print in the tray! not used the new stuff tho.
Forte PWT is now gone, bout Foma I hear has some good replacements. I am going to increase development of my negs and try to stick to Fineprint for all neutral/cold work, however.
I wish MG4 was in my subjective opinion 'better'but sadly it is not for me. It my least favourite of all the papers I have ever used. The difference is just as obvious comparing the RC versions of MCC (premium) and Ilford RC too. Night and day, sadly
🙁 still, thank the heavens for Delta 100.
Cannot really vote for any one of the options in teh poll however, as for me, the best is a fairly scattered selection from various brands. I have a box of the Adox MC FB paper and cannot wait to try it. I think it is teh neatral paper and will be interested to see how it looks. At 280gsm, it certainly int Agfa MCC undetr the Adox banner. I think that must be labelled as something else. If this paper really does come back, it will go nicely along with the Fineprint.
