AZO RC

[philbed]

Thanks again Jorge for your kind help.
In fact I use to buy most of my papers and chemicals by internet. There is some good resailers in Paris but for this particular item, I look for a Mexican store which could sell me some box of paper and send it to France. I am aware of all the problems I could encounter but as I told I have bought lenses in Japan and UK, chemicals in US, densitometer in Germany, and so on, all this with internet. I suppose it is also possible in Mexico.

 

[Jorge]

Thanks again Jorge for your kind help.
In fact I use to buy most of my papers and chemicals by internet. There is some good resailers in Paris but for this particular item, I look for a Mexican store which could sell me some box of paper and send it to France. I am aware of all the problems I could encounter but as I told I have bought lenses in Japan and UK, chemicals in US, densitometer in Germany, and so on, all this with internet. I suppose it is also possible in Mexico.

I dont know, I will try to find a store that has internet purchasing. Have to wait until Monday.

jdef, I have no idea if they have fb, I will ask.

 

[Michael A. Smith]

Paula and I would hope that everyone would buy their Azo from us and not get it from Mexico, even if they do have fiber-based paper, which I doubt. We have struggled mightely to keep Azo in production. As many of you know, Kodak had cancelled Grade 3 last year and it is only becasue of our intervention that they reinstated what were defunct catalogue numbers. To my knowledge, this is the first time that Kodak ever did this. it wasn't easy--it took months of discussion and cajoling. And that was just one of our efforts to preserve this paper.

At one time we was asked if we wanted RC Azo in the USA. We declined. There is barely enough usage of Azo to support continued production as is. If the orders were split between another paper (considering the RC as another paper) it could spell the death knoll for Azo, despite any arguments we would raise. Kodak evaluates what products to keep in production based on the amount of each catalogue number sold. Every product, grade, size of packaging, surface, etc., has a different catalogue number. We certainly do not want to split the sales into different products.

 

[Jorge]

Michael, dont panic just yet... I have the feeling that many people want this RC for proofs and for post cards, perhaps mainly in 5x7? As I said, Kodak Mexico will not ship to anybody in the US unless it is a distribuitor, and given that Kodak sells FB Azo in the US it might carry some kind of customs diuties. I dont think you have anything to worry about.

 

[Donald Miller]

*&%

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

AZO is not my territory, but the shop where I buy my photo goods is a Kodak reseller (now you know why I like so much PX :whistle: ), so next week I will ask the owner about the AZO - > Brazil connection.

Jorge O

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

I've taken a look (and done a search) in Kodak's Brazil WEB site.

No AZO whatsoever, but I will ask just in case (they really have/had a graded paper factory over here).

Jorge O

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I don't think Azo RC would really compete with Azo FB. I use Azo FB for fine prints, and Azo RC would just substitute for other RC papers I use for other purposes, like casual snapshots, quick proofs from rollfilm, and postcards.

 

[philbed]

Michael your post sounds strange to me. Everybody knows how you are lobbying to maintain AZO FB paper available. And we are all very grateful for your action.
AZO RC is in an other situation. If it is still in production it is probably because there is significant sales for Kodak. I cannot imagine how AZO RC could compete with AZO FB.
And I do not want to import AZO RC in Usa but only buy a few box to use in France. If you can provide me AZO RC I will be very happy to order it to you.

 

[doughowk]

Instead of viewing the market as of fixed size, I would think that an easy to use photo paper (RC) would encourage more people to explore the benefits of contact printing. In printing thru enlarging, I normally use RC paper for working prints, & FB paper for exhibition quality images.

 

[Michael A. Smith]

philbed: I am aware that you want to use Azo RC in France. No problem. We cannot get it here in the US, so get it in Mexico. Although RC paper has different uses than FB paper, not everyone understands that and so our decision not to stock it was based on not wanting to dilute sales of FB. And some who print on FB would use RC for proofing, which would cut into sales. In addition, the Azo selling "business," as I have said before, is more to save the paper than to make money (of which there is very little to be made). Stocking another product would have entailed higher costs (with money we do not have) and more storage space.

 

[mark]

There an industry in mexico that exports to the US that does not pay customs or anything else. It's an agricultural business that ships their product in unmarked ductaped plastic wrapped packages, usually in the base boards of trucks or other clandestine places. Maybe these nice service minded folks could be asked to bring som AZO RC over the border. According to the news they make regular trips. ;^)

 

[CraigK]

"....ships their product in unmarked ductaped plastic wrapped packages, usually in the base boards of trucks or other clandestine places..."

Ya but if we did get Azo from them would we be able to find the appropriate U.V. powered bong to smoke it in?

I hear they haven't been made since the mid sixties.

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

Funny, the main business in Paraguay is selling imported goods to Brazil - " usually in the base boards of trucks or other clandestine places..."

Jorge O

 

[noseoil]

OK, lets up the ante. A friend came over tonight to use my darkroom for proofs. She brought along an old box (unopened) of 11x14 "Kodak Professional Contact Paper." It is single weight, resin coated and seems to be about a grade 2. She tried printing with my enlarger and I went into the house for dinner. When I came back out, she was looking a bit "determined" because she was up to 60 seconds in room lighting and still having faint prints.

I set up my contact printing lamp and did a test print with 15, 30, 45 and 60 seconds. BINGO! 30 seconds was correct so we printed and the first one came out with a slight greenish hue. Did 4:00 in selenium at 1:9 and got a sepia brownish-red. Backed it down to 1:00 and it is about right. This stuff acts very much like azo, but there is no description on the box about it, no grade, nothing about its makeup.

So, the million dollar question is, what is this stuff? Although the box is old, it prints perfectly. Could this be an older version of RC azo?

Michael, would this be what you started contact printing with many moons ago?

 

[Michael A. Smith]

I never heard of this. When I started contact printing I used Azo. And if it is an RC paper it cannot be that old. To me, all RC paper is a very new development.

 

[mark]

You wouldn't need a UV bong for AZO that's for the Pt/Pd smugglers. With AZO you would have to worry more about getting twinky and ding-dong crumbs on the glass as you switched on the shop light.

 

[tim atherton]

So they are moving Azo production from Canada to Brazil? I wonder if this RC stuff is actually made in Canada?

 

[Michael A. Smith]

To the best of my knowledge, the RC paper was never made in Canada.

 

[Jorge]

Well, I went to a store and typical of Mexican organization, they did not have prices for AZO RC other than the 5x7 box they had there. I have them finding out prices for alternative sizes, but the 100 sheet box of 5x7 is approx $18 for one and $15 for 2 or more. I will let you all know later what other prices I am able to find.

 

[philbed]

Thank you Jorge for your kind help.
This is not typical of Mexican organisation, we have also this kind of answer in France.
It's Latin touch. Someone likes, other don't.
I'm French and I use to deal with this. We have learn to be patient, go out from the store when they call for an information, take a coffee, look at the girl walking in the street, go back to the store and heard the reseller saying"Sorry, it's out of the stock !".
C'est la vie !

 

[marcelwu]

Pls. forgive my ignorance. Shoud anyone tell me the advantages of AZO over other graded paper? I am making a purchasing plan for contact print my 4x5 negs. Where can I buy this paper in internet?

 

[juan]

marcelwu,
Go to http://michaelandpaula.com - there is a lot of information there about Azo. They also sell Azo.

 

[Michael A. Smith]

Marcel,

YOu should read the articles I wrote about Azo, particularly, "How to print on 100-year old paper." It is at www.michaelandpaula.com. then click on Azo. Then click on writing about Azo. You will find it.

 

[Donald Miller]

Pls. forgive my ignorance. Shoud anyone tell me the advantages of AZO over other graded paper? I am making a purchasing plan for contact print my 4x5 negs. Where can I buy this paper in internet?

The characteristics of Azo are a longer scale paper then conventional enlarging paper. Grade two Azo will have an ES of 1.60 whereas conventional enlarging paper will have an ES of about 1.10 (depending on paper). Translated into everyday language that means that Azo will convey about a stop and 2/3 more tonal scale then enlarging paper. The Dmax (deepest black) is 2.05 by my tests and the Dmin (lightest white) is .07.