Mono printing
 

By way of a change from colour I have been printing mono this evening to make a couple of prints to replace some already hanging in my hallway.

I made a couple with Kentmere RC which I bought a month or so ago but, they lacked a certain 'something' so I decided to try my last few remaining sheets of Kentmere fibre based.

The change was dramatic, with punch and quality. But what surprised me more, was the absolute cracking speed of the FB paper which is now at least 3 yrs old. A 12 x16 print on FB from a 35mm negative only took 17 seconds at F8. With the Kentmere branded resin coated (remember it is now made by Ilford) exposing the same negative took 80 seconds at F8, more than 4 times slower. The 2nd print which was from a slightly denser negative took 27 seconds. Nothing else was changed apart from the paper type. No MG filters were used on either print.

Kentmere always was faster than Ilford but this change was quite dramatic. Since Ilford took over the production of the Kentmere brand they seem to have made a lesser quality product than 'real' Kentmere. Sadly I only have 2 sheets of Kentmere FB left in the packet.

Come on Ilford buck your ideas up!

I find it strange John that the kentmere RC lacked punch. I tend to use it if my negs look a bit flat as I find it has to much contrast.

Hi John,
I also find it odd that the Hartman kentmere lacks Punch, |I printed some Kentmere recently and it was very fast, and certainly did not lack any Punch, I find it to be as fast and punchy ans the original Kentmere VC Select
Richard

The only answer I can think of is that Ilford made changes to Kentmere RC which it didn't to FB as clearly Ilford took over the production of Kentmere as far back as 2008. I recall this being a subject of discussion on the last Ilford tour I was on in 2008.

However making changes to RC and not to FB seems strange

Mike