I'm just a hack with a recently purchased 3800 and the standard inkset. I ordered some "regular" Harman FB Al and some warm. The first three prints I made were all the same shot, with those two papers and the Epson Premium Luster that came with the machine. The Epson seemed cool, the warm Harman too warm, and the regular Harman just right. All to my neophyte eye, that is!
I'm sorry but it's blue, here are some paper base measurements I made of some available photo surface papers well over a year ago-
---
Hahnemuhle FineArt Baryta- 99.9, 1.2, -3.7
Hahnemuhle PhotoRag Pearl- 98.5, 0.1, 1.6
Harman Glossy FB AI- 99.9, 0.2, -3.0
Innova FibaPrint Ultra Smooth Gloss- 97.7, 1.2, -5.4
Innova FibaPrint F-Type White Semi-Matte- 97.7, 0.8, -3.6
Ilford Gold Fiber Silk- 99.8, 0.1, -0.6
These are LAB numbers. No paper is "virtually" white, so the 1st number
will always be less than 100. The second two would be 0 if the paper were
dead neutral. A negative last number indicates blue, so you can see that
GFS is quite neutral compared to the others. Also, the Innova semi matte
is a bit less blue than the gloss.
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Since then several other papers of interest have come along, I have not done a similar comparison, or added the Harman Warm.
Again, please don't take offense, I'm sure those who use it are making wonderful prints because they have an affinity for it, but it is to the blue side of neutral.
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Whew, have I presented the facts while covering my a** at the same time adequately? Or just angered more people here?
Tyler
My visual assesment matches Tyler's numbers. Ilford Gold Silk is not "warm". It just is not as "cool" as some others.Originally Posted by Tyler Boley
Shilesh Jani
Tyler
I'm not "angry"! My opinion was just a visual assessment which was so dramatically different to yours, I added it... I haven't waved a measuring tool near it; my observations were simply that and based around a comparison with a genuine wet print on the paper that the Harman was designed to replicate, of the same images.
No offense taken by me. You have many orders of magnitude more experience and knowledge than I do. I was just saying that somehow the Harmon Gloss gave images that looked like what expected/wanted them to look like, in comparison to just two other papers. What is that place where you can order a package of several different ones to try? I know I've seen posts about it...
Bamboo does it for me. Fantastic paper. You do have to bump the highlights a bit higher than normal to get a bit of glow due to the lack of base brightness.
A significant problem is evaluating papers is the ambient light. What is blue to some may be warm to another, especially with these #$#%# high-efficiency pigtail bulbs we are all going to be forced to use. Genuine God's Sunlight is hard to beat.
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
I've had a chance to work with the Canson Platine Fibre Rag now, and I'd say if tucks in there amidst the others. The paper base hue is pretty neutral, measuring closest to IGFS. It seems to have a bit more gloss differential than Silver Rag and HPR Baryta, as does IGFS, and is a bit smoother. Since the surface texture is very similar to IGFS, I have to think that the addition of a little more gloss and slight tooth to HPRB and Silver Rag help solve the appearance of gloss differential. With the UCK3pk, the inked areas are glossier than the highlights. I'd assume on an HP the use of glop would address this.
To be fair to the thread, the PLatine Fibre is not a baryta paper, nor is Silver Rag and a few of the others mentioned so far. Recently I notice 2 new Canson papers on the web site with the baryta designation, so perhaps there will be others to look at soon. I am impressed with the matte papers from them, so their offerings are worth attention.
Tyler
http://www.custom-digital.com/
Two more papers worth mentioning to add to this thread for PK papers.
Pictorico Gekko Green-
http://diamond-jet.com/gekkogreen.aspx
Despite some serious drawbacks this paper may have considerable appeal to people on this list. To my eye it has the most successful surface of the majority of papers out there looking to carry some of the inherent attractive qualities of darkroom papers. It has very slightly more texture than Harman Gloss, and it is random and natural looking, similar to gelatin over paper. It is smoother than the other offerings with more texture or stipple, but doesn't have the RC too smooth shine of the Harman. Seems like someone finally nailed it. Very little apparent gloss differential, and no bronzing I can see.
The cons- Available sizes way too limited and small, and no rolls. But those here liking the classic large format/ little enlarged look, with a desktop printer, may have no problem with that. Secondly, despite the unbelievable claim of a warm base, it is very blue to the eye and measurement. Obviously heavy OBAs here. But, with a cold or neutral ink look, it's convincing.
Also, not Baryta, but as they say- baryta-like. OK then.
JonCone Studio Paper Type 5
http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c....egory.28018/.f
I like this stuff, I like the warmer base papers in general. This is right in there with Silver Rag, Ilford Gold Fiber Silk, Canson Platine Fibre Rag, etc. But again, the surface is nicer. More texture than the Ilford, but not as mechanically stippled as Silver Rag, and possibley very slightly less gloss than Silver Rag. So, a more natural texture like air dried fiber. Takes a tremendous amount of ink, very minimal Gloss differential or bronzing.
Even though I like it as is, I suspect an HP with it's GO would take it one notch up, and Cone's double pass gloss K7 setups probably look great. I'm just using it with x800 Epsons and it looks great as is. I finally nailed a look and hue that can sit next to my old developer-cooled, selenium toned, Portriga prints without shame with this paper. Color is great too.
I constantly try new things as they come along, and as I can afford to, so might as well put the results up here and elsewhere even if I don't wind up using the stuff myself.
Tyler
http://www.custom-digital.com/
I have done a test with some of the current Baryta papers - Hahnamhule, Ilford Gallery Gold, Epson Exhibition, and the Harmon. For both B&W and Color I prefer the Hahnemhule the best. My second favorite is the Epson and the Ilford. The Ilford a is slightly warm but not brown at all, and I like that for B&W. I printed a 40 image show last spring and all of the B&W was on the Ilford (also due to it being much cheaper than the Hahnemhule), and I had some color images that I did on the Hahnemhule.
I recently got a good deal on the Epson Exhibition through Atlex and ordered a pretty big quantity.
Of all the papers I tested, the Harmon was my least favorite. It was too dark in the shadows for me, and I really didn't like the feel of the paper. With that said I had no custom made profiles, just using the supplied profiles for each paper, so maybe better results could be had with the Harmon...
but my vote for the best is the Hahnemhule.
By the way I have used the Museo Silver Rag in the past, and though it was pretty good, these baryta papers I feel are even better.
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