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The old Multigrade 4 FB. |
Ilford
have launched an upgrade to its popular Multigrade 4 FB darkroom
papers called Multigrade FB classic suggesting that this is the best
light sensitive paper they have produced so far. If you judge it on
sales alone and the fact it has sold out you maybe right or they
could have simply under estimated it's popularity. It comes in gloss
and matt surfaces offering greater sharpness, shorter development
times and improved Max D – could this mean less time in the wash?
Available at all the usual sizes. The classic paper has a white base
tint, neutral image colour, good mid tone range and deep blacks. It
has also been made more sensitive to traditional toning techniques
but then I didn't find the original that difficult, even with toning
developers. As part of the changes a cool tone FB paper has been
introduced to complement the warm tone FB papers. This has crisp
whites and nicely separated midtones. One of the surprising things
about this paper is that Ilford has kept the price of the paper at
multigrade 4 FB prices so far.
Technical
sheets from Ilford: