50 Yrs to young

[raucousimages]

I have been in the darkroom for 29 years and tonight I printed my first AZO. I feel like I missed the boat. These are some of the best tonal ranges I have ever printed. The paper is Azo 250 sheet 10x10 double weight E 1 expired 9/58 and now kodak stoped making paper. I have not done a lot of contact printing I started 4x5 about 5 years ago and 8x10 a year later. I wish I had used this paper when it was more available.

 

[Dave Miller]

I have been in the darkroom for 29 years .

Did you notice any changes when you came out?

 

[Digidurst]

Did you notice any changes when you came out?

<Applause> Good one, Dave! LMAO

 

[Dan Henderson]

I laughed at Dave's comment too, then thought it might be an interesting turn of thread. What if one went into the darkroom in 1976 and came out now? Of course, the combination of darkness and chemicals would make him or her look like Gollum, but what would he or she see with those big, bulging eyes? What would our hermit think of...the continuing refinement of color film and its prevalence over black and white...the advent of cameras with electronic controls...and, of course, the very idea of being able to form an image by spraying ink onto a piece of paper...

 

[raucousimages]

My children were alot taller. Utah has long winters and I spend days on end printing after work. I shoot more in the summer and do film at night.

Actualy I went a streach of about 38 days in 1980 without seeing the sun. I was printing a large project for a local studio. We started at 6:00 am and printed until late afternoon. With drying and sorting we were finished about 9:00 pm. The job was miserable but the pay was great.

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

I have been in the darkroom for 29 years and tonight I printed my first AZO. I feel like I missed the boat. These are some of the best tonal ranges I have ever printed. The paper is Azo 250 sheet 10x10 double weight E 1 expired 9/58 and now kodak stoped making paper. I have not done a lot of contact printing I started 4x5 about 5 years ago and 8x10 a year later. I wish I had used this paper when it was more available.

What`s it like to be the Rip Van Winkle of the Darkroom?

 

[User Removed]

You can still purchase Kodak AZO from www.MichaelandPaula.com in both G-2 and G-3. It WILL be slighty different then your old paper, but it is still one of the finest papers around today with a beautiful range of tones.

Michael Smith is working on keeping it in production as well, so do not worry about it vanishing completely.

Ryan McIntosh

 

[Jim Chinn]

You can still purchase Kodak AZO from www.MichaelandPaula.com in both G-2 and G-3. It WILL be slighty different then your old paper, but it is still one of the finest papers around today with a beautiful range of tones.

Michael Smith is working on keeping it in production as well, so do not worry about it vanishing completely.

Ryan McIntosh

Just to clarify, AZO is no longer being produced. Michael and Paula have access to the remaining master roll stocks from Kodak for re-sale. They estimate a 3-5 year supply at current consumption levels.

In the meantime, Michael has been working with a manufacturer to produce another chloride contact paper to be a replacement for AZO. I have no doubt that with Michael's persistence and passion for the craft that this will come to fruition.

My advice is to buy AZO and use it. The more people become involved in contact printing with it the greater the market for the new mfg.

 

[Richard Boutwell]

Jay, just how do you know how much Azo is being sold . . . ? I am not one to speak on how much is left in the world, but I do know that there are more Azo users now than there have been in years.

Being Michael's assistant, I am the one who packs and ships the majority of the Azo. Over the past year there has been a steady increase in the amount of Azo that leaves here. A few years ago an Azo order was an occasional thing. Now it is at least a daily occurance.---Saying that is not meant to increase sales at all---some days I wish I didn't have to deal with so much damn paper.

Just this second (literaly) Michael said, "we have a couple more Azo orders going out tomorrow." We sent Azo to at least four new users this past week, one even today.

 

[cjarvis]

Palladio.

 

[Jorge]

Palladio.

Palladio is no longer in business and has not been for years.

 

[c6h6o3]

At the rate Azo has been selling, the remaining stock will probably last quite a while, and there's still a lot of old stuff around gathering dust. Not many contact printers around anymore.

That's changing, and quickly. It hit bottom and now is coming back. Even around here now there is nascent interest in large format contact printing. I think 3 years is a very optimistic estimate for depletion of current master rolls.

 

[dphphoto]

Adox, an enlarging speed paper from Germany available through JandC Photography, gives contact prints with a tonal range close to Azo. I have Azo prints I made in the 80's (not many, but I have a few left). When I print the same negs on Adox and compare prints directly, well, it's pretty close, with Azo having a slight, but very slight, advantage. It's certainly worth trying, and has the added feature of being double weight. Dean

 

[Rlibersky]

I have been in the darkroom for 29 years and tonight I printed my first AZO. I feel like I missed the boat. These are some of the best tonal ranges I have ever printed. The paper is Azo 250 sheet 10x10 double weight E 1 expired 9/58 and now kodak stoped making paper. I have not done a lot of contact printing I started 4x5 about 5 years ago and 8x10 a year later. I wish I had used this paper when it was more available.

Did you get this off ebay? Man I knew I should have bid higher.