whats the difference of papers?

[Blackbelt93]

whats the difference between graded and multi-graded photo papers?
i was looking and ilford paper also is that good a brand?

thxs
naveen

 

[Alpha]

9 out of 10 people I know hate Ilford Multigrade. Ilfobrom is another story.

Anyway, graded papers have a single contrast "grade" which is generally some number between 1 and 5 (though sometimes 5). The higher the grade, the higher the contrast. As such, you need a very contrasty neg to print grade 1 well, but grade 4 will print a thin neg well. You expose these papers without a filter on the enlarger. As you might guess, you need to keep several grades around for dealing with different negatives.

Multi-grade, or variable contrast papers as they're often called (the VC designation), can print any grade simply by using filters on the enlarger.

 

[Blackbelt93]

thanks but which one should i get this is for highschool photography

 

[ann]

for a beginning class i would recommend RC papers.

Check Freestyle , they have a variety to pick from, many of my students use Ilford RC papers and are happy with the results.

I would suggest you pick one paper and stick with it until you have a real sense of what it will do for you.