What is the closest to Kodak Elite?

[Michael Graves]

A few years back, Kodak produced a graded paper called Elite. It was a fabulous paper. Does anyone here remember that paper well enough to suggest any that might come closest to its character?

[Daniel Grenier]

John Sexton consulted with Kodak and played a large part in the final look and feel of this too-short-lived paper. I own a Sexton print done on Elite and I suspect that the closest (existing) paper might be Ilford Multigrade but I know of no other paper with the unique "color" of Elite. It was indeed a really good looking paper but the cardboard-like feel of the triple weight needed some getting used to in the darkroom.

[Mark Sampson]

I haven't seen anything similar. It was introduced about the time I got really serious about b/w printing, and it was a very good paper. It was farr better than Kodak's other papers and I preferred it to Ilford Galerie. I loved the triple-weight base and learned to deal with the dry-down. The only paper I liked better was Oriental Seagull, (which didn't look the same) but was hard to get and more expensive. But then I live in Rochester and worked for EK in those days. The funny thing was that when EK brought out Polymax Fine-Art... I tried it and printing just became easier. Where Elite was a struggle, my negs printed quickly on PFA, and they looked just beautiful. I *wanted* the Elite to be better, but it didn't show up in the final prints. So I switched over, and didn't even bother to stock up on Elite when it was discontinued. (I don't miss the two-developer method for contrast control, either.) I suppose it was just a matter of the paper's curve shape vs. my negatives and printing style; I wish both of those papers were still around.