>... claim that the wet plate methods were better matched to the printing technologies of the time (albumen prints) That could well be, and people would have l

>... claim that the wet plate methods were better matched to the printing technologies of the time (albumen prints) That could well be, and people would have legitimate esthetic reasons for their preferences. However silver-gelatin dry plates and papers were both on the rise in the 1880's. Arguably, "much easier" is "technologically better", but naturally it doesn't mean better in every possible way...