Originally Posted by
Oren Grad
For me it doesn't make sense to think of a "best" or "favorite" paper, because what works best depends on the match between the paper's characteristic curve and the negative's characteristic curve. So pictures taken on different films and/or recording scenes with very different tonal scales will do best on different papers.
I try to keep in stock all of the current Ilford Multigrade emulsions - MG IV RC Deluxe, MG RC Warmtone, and MG RC Cooltone, MG FB Classic, MG FB Warmtone and MG FB Cooltone - since each has a different characteristic curve and so is best suited to different negatives. That's a lot of emulsions and so I don't have all of them in all sizes at all times, but that's the basic idea. An important point is that the Ilford RC and FB emulsions are not clones of each other. The RC and FB emulsions within each "pair" - RC Deluxe and FB Classic, RC and FB Cooltone, and RC and FB Warmtone - have quite different tonal scales.
EDIT: Forgot to add, I don't care that much about paper developers. Generally it's either Ilford PQ Universal or Ilford Multigrade, whichever I can get cheaper in the big 5 L jug.
Bookmarks