New Ilford FB Family of Papers

[Eric Biggerstaff]

It is not rebadged Kentmere as far as I can tell. Should be fun!

[dsphotog]

Great to see new b&w silver based products.
Cheers to Ilford!

[Ginette]

Read about the new papers and found some prices on silverprint.co.uk who list the 2 new papers at the same price as the MG4FB. This will be a very good news if the new papers doesn't fetch the high price of the Ilford FB Warmtone. Any other input on pricing?

[dave_whatever]

The introduction of these papers confirms that there's still R&D going on in silver materials for more than just maintaining QC on existing products.

Of course it could be the case that the introduction of the new papers and the pulling of FB MGIV could actually be related to some insurmountable raw material supply problem. They didn't mention these new papers on the recent tour but given what they did say bout the amount of R&D required just to tread water with existing products I wouldn't be surprised.

[Oren Grad]

Of course it could be the case that the introduction of the new papers and the pulling of FB MGIV could actually be related to some insurmountable raw material supply problem. They didn't mention these new papers on the recent tour but given what they did say bout the amount of R&D required just to tread water with existing products I wouldn't be surprised.

Could be, as far as FB Classic. The FB Cooltone paper is a new item, though we don't know how close a cousin it is to the existing RC Cooltone emulsion.

[Keith Tapscott.]

I wonder if it isn't Kentmere rebranded at a higher price point?

I expect the new Ilford papers to be a different coating altogether.

I hope that Ilford introduce a new film soon, even if it is an improvement to an existing established film such as FP4 Plus.

How about FP4 Super/FP5?

[jeroldharter]

It seems that every time a new product is introduced on this forum, someone immediately slaps it down. It might make more sense to test the new Ilford paper and then post an evaluation based on actual experience.

I was just asking a question that seems pretty reasonable. Ilford buys Kentmere, they retire its best product which was a relatively inexpensive a cold tone paper that is responsive to selenium and then announce a new product that is a cold tone paper responsive to selenium.

Kentmere FP VC FB was my favorite paper so I would hardly consider my question a slap down. Hard to test a new product that is not yet available.

[Oren Grad]

I was just asking a question that seems pretty reasonable. Ilford buys Kentmere, they retire its best product which was a relatively inexpensive a cold tone paper that is responsive to selenium and then announce a new product that is a cold tone paper responsive to selenium.

Kentmere FP VC FB was my favorite paper so I would hardly consider my question a slap down. Hard to test a new product that is not yet available.

Do take a look at the respective data sheets - the sensitometric specifications are quite different. I've used the Kentmere, still have some left. FWIW, the existing Ilford MG RC Cooltone, which is probably the RC paper I use most, is radically different from the Kentmere. If the new FB Cooltone behaves anything like the RC, it too will be very different.

[Ginette]

Read about the new papers and found some prices on silverprint.co.uk who list the 2 new papers at the same price as the MG4FB. This will be a very good news if the new papers doesn't fetch the high price of the Ilford FB Warmtone. Any other input on pricing?

I have a feedback today from Canada distributor (Amplis Foto), both papers will be available very soon and both Classic and Cooltone pricing close to the MG4.

[Sal Santamaura]

Do take a look at the respective data sheets - the sensitometric specifications are quite different...

Agreed, they don't seem at all similar. Comparing curves and dmax:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/...1220152705.pdf

http://www.kentmere.co.uk/Webfiles/2...1412372020.pdf

Multigrade FB Cooltone seems to top out at 2.0 and exhibits much less toe compared to Fineprint VC FB, which goes to 2.2.

ISO contrast ranges by numbered filter aren't close, nor are their ISO speeds. While HARMAN might have incorporated aspects of Fineprint's characteristics into Cooltone, it seems very unlikely that this new paper is simply Fineprint re-packaged.