Digital BW, The Print

Thanks Scott!
very helpfull.
Did you try the Epson Premium luster? and the Oriental fiber glossy?


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@...m, "Scott Jones" <peanutdogs@...> 
wrote:
>
> Hi there,
> 
> My local photo store finally got in many of the new fiber papers and 
> after reading all the very excited discussions of these products 
> online I was very excited to see these new products since everyone 
> was going nuts extolling their virtues online. I am a user of Epson 
> Premium Semigloss (EPSG) which is an RC type paper but has a nice 
> creamy surface that I think is similar to air dried fiber of yore and 
> not as stipply/sparkly as Luster.
> 
> So I thought there was really going to be a revolution in the look of 
> these products. I was amazed at how little a difference there was. 
> Mind you I have always used photo black on a photo type paper and 
> never have used mat papers and mat black ink. So I was already used 
> to deep Dmax and high saturation.
> 
> I looked at Epson Premium Semigloss (EPSG) and Luster, and then 
> compared them to Epson Exhibition, Ilford Gold Silk Fibre, Hahnemühle 
> baryta fiber 325. All the prints were of the same test image with 
> B&W, color, skin tones, and tone ramps. Printed on the same R3800 
> with the K3 inks.
> 
> Surprisingly all the prints to the naked eye looked to have 
> approximately the same nice dense Dmax. Epson Exhibition maybe had a 
> touch deeper black but it was VERY subtle. Colors and B&W all looked 
> great. The only real differences were the base color of the papers 
> which were very subtlely different and would only be noticed when 
> seen side by side. EPSG/Luster slightly blue, Exhibition/baryta very 
> clean white, Ilford gold slightly warm. The surface textures were 
> very subtley different as well. Exhibition looked like air dried 
> fiber but not highly different than EPSG, Baryta fiber looked very 
> stipply like Luster, Ilford gold was also slightly creamy smooth like 
> EPSG and Exhibition.
> 
> The feel of the papers was different with the three new papers 
> feeling hefty and like paper and not like the EPSG/Luster RC feel. 
> BUT, when I put these papers up on a viewing rail in three different 
> types of light nobody could tell the difference between all five 
> papers except for some slight paper base tone doifferences (very 
> slight). If I had to pick a favorite it would be the Exhibition 
> probably because the base was the most neutral and brightest white, 
> but these things are subtle.
> 
> There was some gloss differential on all the papers especially in the 
> highlights and the darket blacks, with again Exhibition maybe having 
> a little less. Had to tilt all the papers just right to see this so 
> again for exhibition purposes nobody is going to notice.
> 
> So bottom line is I was somewhat shocked at how little difference 
> there was between the old "RC" standbys and thee new "suerfiber" 
> papers. I think mounted or framed or matted, there is really no 
> significant difference. If feeling the print in your hand is very 
> important then yes there is a different feel. The local digital 
> expert at my store laughed and said he really thought there was so 
> much hype about the new papers and felt that most of it was marketing 
> push. He by the way is quite experienced and not your usual camera 
> store sales guy.
> 
> Now, if you have been printing on mat paper with mat black ink, you 
> are going to notice a huge change. But if you have been using EPSG or 
> Luster, then this is not a revolution IMHO, unless the feel of these 
> photo papers in the hand just drives you nuts for some reason. With a 
> 13x19 piece of Exhibition being 2.5X more expensive that a sheet of 
> EPSG (Atlex), I am really not sure it makes sense. Perhaps I will use 
> some for special projects. Or perhaps I will keep using the EPSG 
> until I know I absolutely want a high grade exhibition print of a 
> given image and then use the EEF paper. I am just not sure anybody 
> except me or one of my super picky photo/tech friends would ever 
> notice.
> 
> I have not seen Harmon Fibre Gloss yet and will order a sample pack 
> in that my local place will not be carrying that one.
> 
> Hopefully some will find my experience helpful. Obviously these are 
> very opinionated reactions coming from a certain working perspective.
> 
> http://www.scottjonesphoto.com
>