You speak and we listen... may not always agree, but it was great to hear from our readers once again. See our archives for the complete story if you missed it last month.


From G Gambrose

Tri-x developed with HC-110 will give you more detail and less grain. Your prints appear to have been enlarged with a condenser light head, which make the higher values disappear.
T-max does have a different emulsion surface, but not necessarily a better one. Try both with HC-110. You will still like Tri-X with contact prints or a cold light head enlarger.


From Ted Moody

Kodak Ultima Paper
Having used Ultima paper in conjunction with the Kodak PPM200 printer, at first I was very pleased with the results; but the ppm200 is a right pain, and only gives around half a dozen A4 prints before one or other colour runs out. Time to lash out on a new printer, and came home last week clutching an Epson R200. Prints at first very disappointing (on any paper), but after downloading the colour profile for Ultima paper/R200 combo from the Kodak website (and managing to get the settings right), prints looking a lot more acceptable. Full tonal range, with shadow & highlight detail very good, but this paper still shows a noticable blue cast, which can be quite unpleasant. Tweaking the blue curve in QImage, and using that setting as universal print filter gives a much more neutral print, which matches the colours onscreen very well. In fact, there is more detail now in the print than can be seen on the monitor (an aging Compaq V70).

(Anyone who is serious about prints should get hold of the QImage program).
I must add that I have tried Fuji glossy inkjet paper on the ppm200, and ended up giving most of it away. The colours were absolutely awful - far too garish and 'neon'.