After a bit of a hiatus in tests of new papers, it's time to begin anew. Thanks to various list members and friends at a few paper companies, I've got some new samples to test. Actually, I have more than are listed here to test, but can't fit them all in my ozone test chamber at one time. So here's round one, and round two will follow later. No ozone test results yet (keep watching), but I've written my desciptions of paper characteristics and image quality, for your amusment.
I've started tests on 5 papers. One glossy, two "fine art", and two matte papers. Check them out, below.
Epson Watercolor: I've generally preffered smooth finish papers for my photographs. Either glossy, or a smooth semi-gloss (like Ilford semi-matte). But after trying this paper, and a few others, I'm beginning to re-think things. The paper has a nice wieght, and fairly strong "tooth". I printed using the HWM setting on my 1270. Colors are bright and rich. Compared to PGPP, colors are not quite as saturated, but they're really not that far behind. It's a bit warm compared to PGPP, which makes it warmer than I like, but not unpleasently so. Reds are a bit more orangely than with PGPP, though, which isn't good. Different paper settings, of course, may change this. On the positive side, the texture does not interfere with apparent sharpness, at least viewed with the naked eye. I'm very curious to see how this does in the ozone test.
Ilford Fine Art: A truly remarkable paper! Printed with the PQGF setting, colors are noticeably brighter and more saturated than with the Epson watercolor. Still not quite as bright as PGPP, but closer. And color balance is more neutral, much closer to the balance of PGPP. It's got a little bit more "tooth" that the Epson Watercolor, but that still doesn't seem to interfere wtih apparent sharpenss. I like it a great deal, and can't wait to see how it does with fade and shift.
Red River Premium Matte: I'm truly surprised. I guess I just wasn't aware at how much better matte papers (and Epson inks and drivers) have gotten. The output on this paper is very impressive. Using the PQIP setting, the print is a fair bit warmer than PGPP, which makes it too warm for me. Grays take on a definite warm tone. But that should be easily fixable. Colors are bright and saturated, and very close to the colors of PGPP. A very impressive acheivement for a matte paper. If it resists orange shift, I may be using more of this than I ever expected.
Red River Denali Matte: This is what I expected from matte papers, and the reason I don't normally use them. Compared to the Premium Matte, colors are a bit dull and muted, contrast is low, and the grayscale is even warmer. It's not terrible, but I can't image using it when Premium Matte is so much better.
Kodak ULtima Glossy Paper: Like the other Kodak papers I've tried, this one doesn't absorb the ink very rapidly. The paper isn't quite as smooth as PGPP. It has a subtle texture, but it's the texture of the paper, not of the coating. It's a bit whiter than PGPP, and actually looks quite nice. I used the HWM setting, since it deposits less ink than other settings. Even so, the paper came out of the printer looking very wet. The blacks showed bronzing, and it generally looked horrible. But since I'd received a report that it did take a long time to dry, and was very resistant to orange shift, I set it aside to let it dry. (I must admit, I didn't expect much.)
24 hours later, and what a surprise! Color balance is very close to PGPP, but not as warm. More natural, in my opinion. Red's are still orangey (just like PGPP), but purples look a little better (though not nearly as good as the 2000P). There's a little bit of reticulation in some of the squares of the Bair test target, most notably in the darkest browns and blues. But on the PDI target, and the Adobe version of the Chiquita Banana girl, this isn't visible at all. There's no bronzing, it's sharp, contrast is good, but not too high. Very impressive. If this resists orange shift as well as I've been told, (and if you're willing to wait for it to dry), it could turn out to be an excellent choice.
No orange shift results to report yet, but as soon as I have good information I'll start posting it here.