Beginners Questions: Paper & Developer

[traveller]

About to start with wet printing the usual questions of a beginner pop up in my mind.
One of them is what paper to start with. I want to start with Multigrade PE-Paper and I'm able to lay my hands on Foma, Adox, Maco and Ilford. Thinking about a lot of failures Ilford is to expensive to start with.

Is it easier to start with a paper that contains developing agents or do they only shorten the develping times (no matter to me) and have disadvantages when I want to experiment with toning and bleaching?

About developer: I would like to use a developer also useable when I decide to start with 2-bath developing. The shops have Spur, Paterson, Tetenal, Calbe and Moersch.
What I'm thinking of is a system where I can get a good start and upgrade when my knowledge get's better without having to start testing all over again.

Thank's

 

[Andy K]

I started with Ilford RC papers and Ilford Multigrade paper developer (very cheap if you buy the 5 litre). Ilford RC paper isn't very expensive (less than £20 for 100 sheets of 8x10, about £8.50 for 100 sheets of 4x6).
very easy to learn with. In fact I still use them. I have not tried 2 bath developing, only 2 bath fixing and toning.
You might want to think about finish too. Pearl looks much better than gloss (IMO).

Whatever you decide to use, I am sure you will enjoy yourself, good luck! 🙂

 

[traveller]

20 £ is what I pay for Foma or Adox (8x10/100). Ilford is about 30 £ 😡 . But in Germany and Austria Ilford products get distributed by BonImage and they want to make some money too.

I'm thinking about 2-bath developing since someone showed me some results and I got really impressed. But that's the future, first I have to learn the basics 😉. Glossy or pearl, I'll give both a try because that's a matter of taste.

 

[Solinar]

If you can find one use, Ilford made an EM-10 exposure meter that I have found to cut down on paper costs. You can use either 4 by 6 or 5 x 7's for test prints to save costs. Set the meter to an easy to locate middle gray area on the print and adjust the dial so that the green light comes on.

When you raise the enlarger to make a larger print, place the EM10 so that the light cell is in the same location within the image and open the lens aperture - so that the green light again comes on. Don't worry about click stops on your enlarger's lens. If your lens allows it, disable the the click stops.

 

[pesphoto]

RC papers-go with Pearl / Glossy for Fiber paper. Ilford RC isnt too expensive and its good to learn printing with. Keep things basic when starting out. Cut a few 8x10 pieces of paper into
2-inch strips to test your exposures before making a final print. It will save you lots of those mistakes and you'll use less paper during a printing session.

 

[titrisol]

RC papers are a great way to go.
Forte, Foma, Ilford or Adox strat with one and be consistent.
I prefer the pearl/satin surface myself, but try both and see which one you like.

There is always a difference between bradns in tonality and contrast but as long as you stick to one you'll get good results quick.

I'm an Ilford EM10 user and love that thing! try getting one used ($20 or so) and if you want I can send you instructions, calibrations methods, etc.
It can be used to determine both the exposure time and the contrast # of the paper 😉

Also to determine exposure get a wheel of exposures (Kodak projection print scale), will save you gobs of time!