Ilford vs kentmere paper

Ben johns

Ben johns

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I’ve always used ilford mg Pearl (not into glossy prints) but I’ve just seen Kentmere is a bit cheaper. Is there any reason or is it just in the name? I’m just starting darkroom printing again so it’s taking me a good few test strips/prints to get 1 done.
 
It’s not going to be the same cos it’s not the same paper/ brand!

Tbh the only way to see if it suits your style is to try it.
I think I will be staying with ilford , not least of all as it’s readily available just about everywhere,, however going on the decent results I usually get with fomapan film , I’m going to try a pack of Foma paper when I next place an order .
 
:plus1:

I know this section is very helpful so maybe there's a member here who uses Kentmere pearl (or whatever their name for that finish might be) who could slip a couple of sheets in the post to you.
 
They both do the same job, but they're definately not the same paper. In my experience , the Kentmere lustre has marginally less dmax (especially compared to the latest ilford mg), is slightly faster (ie, requires less expsoure time), and responds slightly differently to mg filters. However, if you compared final prints on each i doubt you'd see huge differences - the difference would be in the exposures / filtrations / dodging burning etc required to create them. I'll be honest though, there's very little price difference really (10x8 100 sheets: Ilford V Deluxe is £53, Kentmere Lustre is £47 currently) and I find it easier to keep all my paper the same stock so just stick with Ilford nowadays as its available everywhere.
 
Simon Tickle said:
They both do the same job, but they're definately not the same paper. In my experience , the Kentmere lustre has marginally less dmax (especially compared to the latest ilford mg), is slightly faster (ie, requires less expsoure time), and responds slightly differently to mg filters. However, if you compared final prints on each i doubt you'd see huge differences - the difference would be in the exposures / filtrations / dodging burning etc required to create them. I'll be honest though, there's very little price difference really (10x8 100 sheets: Ilford V Deluxe is £53, Kentmere Lustre is £47 currently) and I find it easier to keep all my paper the same stock so just stick with Ilford nowadays as its available everywhere.
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Ah fair play, I thought the price difference was bigger than that
 
Always has been!

Still hoping to get back into using film but don't yet have the attention span or patience for it. Got a TLR ready for when my brane can cope with waiting for the prints/trannies to come back.

Used film for many years before the quality of DSLR files reached 35mm film levels then used film alongside digital until I could afford an FF DSLR. Still got most of my older lenses from AF film days but traded in the film SLRs against digital bodies when the deals were too good to resist.
 
Nod said:
Always has been!

Still hoping to get back into using film but don't yet have the attention span or patience for it. Got a TLR ready for when my brane can cope with waiting for the prints/trannies to come back.

Used film for many years before the quality of DSLR files reached 35mm film levels then used film alongside digital until I could afford an FF DSLR. Still got most of my older lenses from AF film days but traded in the film SLRs against digital bodies when the deals were too good to resist.
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It could potentially be a lovely nostalgie trip then.:)

You know that you'll get nothing but p*** taking support from us lot in here so go for it ;)
 
I remember back in the late 50's that Kentmere bromide was far cheaper than Kodak or Ilford , ( there were no acceptable multi contrast papers at that time.
I some times bought Kentmere in boxes of 250 10x8 sheets to do proofs, we just dunk washed them after fixing to shorten their life. (which may or may not have worked)
I never used it for finished prints. in those days they had a tiny production compared to kodak. Today all papers are made in relatively extremely small batches, so the costs must be very similar.

In those days I was regularly ordering paper in several thousand sheets at a time. in sizes from whole plate up to 20x30. which came, even then, in ten sheet packs if you wanted them.
 
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