Amidol developer andwhichmodern paper?

[JW PHOTO]

I stumbled onto some Amidol and don't really know what to use it on. I read it works best on bromide papers and isn't any better than other developers on most of the rest. I don't want to waste it where it's not going to work it's magic. So, could somebody tell me which modern paper Amidol works best on? JW

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Lodima, if you make contact prints.

For enlargements, I like it on Efke Emaks, which was also marketed as Maco/Cachet Expo, but that isn't made anymore (I have a stash).

Azo, of course, if you can find it, but Lodima is the best substitute for it (and is arguably even better).

Experiment, and I'd say try it on more old-tech papers like Slavich more than, say, Ilford papers, which are more engineered to give relatively consistent results with any developer (or alternately, you might say they are impervious to developer controls).

 

[JW PHOTO]

David,
I'm not doing any contact printing at the moment, but I am going to hall the 8X10 B&J out this summer since I have some Tmax and Tri-X to use. My thoughts on the Amidol were to save it for something special, but didn't want to waste it on a paper where it wasn't any better than LPD or even Dektol. I might try it on some Arista EDU Ultra since I hear it's the Same as Foma Variant III FB and I have it on hand. Plus, I have a few oddball boxes of old Agfa Brovia-Ilford-Luminus-Chemco papers to try. JW

 

[JW PHOTO]

It isn't any better than LPD or Dektol regardless of the paper, but if the particular formula you are making is said to work best with bromide papers, note contact papers such as Azo/Lodima are not bromide but chloride or chloro-bromide.

Micheal,
It's what I remember reading somewhere. They were talking projection, not contact printing and said Amidol worked better with bromide papers. I have absolutely no experience with it(amidol) and just thought I'd try it since I had it. For me, LPD is my favorite and I really don't need anything else. JW

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I think Amidol is better with chloride and chloro-bromide papers, but it might be that some older bromide papers worked well with it.

 

[Adrian Twiss]

Slavich Unibrom and Amidol are a good combination. When using Michael Smith's formula for enlarging papers (see www.michaelandpaula.com) I found it gave good cold rich blacks and clean highlights.