What 5x7 fibre (fiber) based paper?

**dimento** · 2-Sep-2016, 07:59

Have had the makings of a darkroom for the last few months and keen to do some contact printing, aside from Ilford are there any other brands of fibre-based paper i should look at? I have some ideas for print sales and expect lots of failures so price is key. Preferable something that can be bought online

cheers

D

**koraks** · 2-Sep-2016, 08:36

Adox and Foma both make affordable papers, including fiber-based. For testing, you may consider using RC. 5x7" seems to be the most attractive in terms of price/surface area.

**Willie** · 2-Sep-2016, 17:25

Why not go with the best? Lodima, from http://www.michaelandpaula.com website

It is a silver chloride contact printing paper. Very good to work with. Makes for fewer mistakes and has an excellent tonal range. If you are going to print why not od a good job of it from the start?

**koraks** · 3-Sep-2016, 01:28

Well, price is key he said and Lodima isn't necessarily very cheap. Especially if you also want to have it shipped to Europe. I'd love to try that paper though.

**dimento** · 3-Sep-2016, 04:05

thanks guys, good info to be going on with

**Willie** · 3-Sep-2016, 04:28

Originally Posted by koraks

Well, price is key he said and Lodima isn't necessarily very cheap. Especially if you also want to have it shipped to Europe. I'd love to try that paper though.

I read the price information. But, why not use a better paper so you know what quality results look like?
He says he expects a lot of failures. The Lodima, like Azo makes it easier to get good results so you have fewer failures. Ends up costing less as a result.

**Greg Y** · 3-Sep-2016, 06:51

What Willie said. The tonal range of Lodima (& Azo) is amazing.

**koraks** · 3-Sep-2016, 07:58

Originally Posted by Willie

I read the price information. But,
He says he expects a lot of failures. The Lodima, like Azo makes it easier to get good results so you have fewer failures. Ends up costing less as a result.

Well, who knows, but I'm skeptical that the amount of waste will magically go down by 50%-75% (justifying the price difference) just by using a graded silver chloride paper. But again, I'd love to give it a try to see what you and some others (but not all) say about it looking much nicer than enlarger papers.

**dimento** · 4-Sep-2016, 00:19

I imagine that once I've done a few I might look at the Lodima paper or similar, any touch of quality to set work apart is always welcome. I guess the price issue is also related to all the other bits n pieces I'm gathering to get started. I sold my darkroom (for a song) about 4 years ago (yeah I know).

Which or whether I'm looking forward to it, thanks for all the input fellas- appreciated as always