Thread: Mono printing
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Old 6th January 2020, 10:20 PM
John King John King is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: County Durham
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Default 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!

Last edited by John King; 6th January 2020 at 10:28 PM.
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