Contact paper, currently available choices?

[noseoil]

With the demise of azo and subsequent rumors about a substitute, does anyone have any options for a good paper now being produced? I know contact printing can be done on any paper, but there must be some better suited to the task than others. Some favorable qualitites I'm interested in would be....

A single weight paper seems to print with better contact. Better mating of the film and paper is possible than with a double weight or heavy stock.

Neutral tonality is a plus. I tend to like the neutral to cool tones in much of my subject matter over warm tones.

Graded paper seems to yield a nicer tonality than the v/c choices. Just trying to squeeze a bit more life out of the print and match up tonalities for good depth.

Any thoughts on the newer bromide papers? I've used a few older types and they did a good job on tonality. Current candidates out there?

Thanks in advance. tim

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've made prints on the current Oriental Seagull graded that are pretty close to Azo. I also have been using J&C Exposition graded (under various brand names) for some time as an enlarging paper and occasionally for contact prints, and I like that too. Exposition works well in Smith's amidol formula for enlarging papers.

 

[jimgalli]

I've long had a love affair with the J&C Classic Museum weight. It used to be sold by Freestyle as "Europes finest warm tone". In fresh Ansco 135 and a very quick tone in selenium this stuff can trip the densitometer needle at 2.16 to 2.2 which is an extreme black. It is warm though so not for everyone. It's a Forte product I believe. The other thing I like about it is the #2 grade needs a negative as long or longer than what I shoot for Platinum. So a single Pyro neg can double well on both printing mediums.

 

[Jim Noel]

Is this the Jand C Paper

Jand C no longer lists the Bromide paper. They say this will produce a 2.25 black. Is this possibly the same, or very similar paper?

"JandC Expo is a heavy weight graded paper"

Jim

 

[jimgalli]

Jand C no longer lists the Bromide paper. They say this will produce a 2.25 black. Is this possibly the same, or very similar paper?

"JandC Expo is a heavy weight graded paper"

Jim

This is the stuff I've used.

http://www.jandcphoto.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=81

And only in normal grade I might add. The soft and hard seem to be different animals.

 

[User Removed]

Tim,

I might suggest trying some Oriental Seagull graded paper. I been using this paper from enlargments and very pleased with it, but now that AZO is gone for the time being...I will start using it for contact prints as well. It has a nice cool tone and produces very rich blacks. If you have been printing on G2 AZO, I would suggest trying G1 of the oriental. I print almost all my negatives on G3 AZO, and printing them on G3 Oriental is WAY to much contrast.

I don't believe their is ANY single weight paper being made right now, so even though its like using sheets of cardboard...your going to have to deal with double weight.

Anyways, hope all is well! I have not seen you for quite awhile, so I take it you have been keeping busy.

Ryan McIntosh

 

[Mike A]

I just received my order of Kentmere bromide grd 2 and 3. As soon as my metronome arrives I'll report back my findings with this paper (beware this is my first contact printing excursion ouside of 4x5). I started a previous thread on this brand and people seemed to like it for contact printing.
All I used to use when I was enlarging was Seagull, so if the Kentmere doesn't fly I'm ordering up some Seagull.

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I just received my order of Kentmere bromide grd 2 and 3. As soon as my metronome arrives I'll report back my findings with this paper (beware this is my first contact printing excursion ouside of 4x5). I started a previous thread on this brand and people seemed to like it for contact printing.
All I used to use when I was enlarging was Seagull, so if the Kentmere doesn't fly I'm ordering up some Seagull.

Mike

I only got into 8x10 a few months ago and a friend gave me some sheets of old grade 2 Azo to print on. They were great in Nuetol WA. I never used my Amidol so I don't know the look of Amidol/Azo.I hope MAS comes out with the new paper soon because Azo was the best. I got some Grade 3 Kentmere Bromide from Freestyle and it is great paper. I only contact print and it gave me deep blacks developed in LDP 1-4. Toned nicely in Selenium 1-15. A touch on the warm side but I liked the look. The highlights were a nice white and I liked the overall look of this paper. I went back and bought 100 sheets and at .60 a sheet it seems like a good deal. I'm just starting out contact printing and have a lot to learn but I hope this helps. Check it out, I think you will like it.

Jim Fitzgerald

 

[Ole]

I really like Bergger Art Contact. Slow enough to contact print with reasonable control, and just barely fast enough to enlarge on - very long exposure times with "normal" equipment, so a bit difficult to lith print

And it tones "enthusiastically".

 

[Tom Duffy]

I've wanted to try the Bergger Art Contact, but it doesn't seem to available in the US. Does anyone know of a domestic US source?

 

[skillian]

Like other Azo users, I've been looking for a replacement until another silver chloride paper comes along. So far, Kentmere Bromide in Amidol has yielded the best results I've found. This paper has a nice warm color, very good blacks in Amidol, decent tonal range and comes in a grade 4. It's no Azo, but it's the best thing I've found so far.

 

[dphphoto]

I've had great success printing on Adox, available from JandC Photograpahy. Their ads claim that it's especially silver rich, because of the coating.
It's double weight VC, but prints with very good blacks and a long scale. I've made prints on it comparable to ones I did in the '80's with Azo. Dean

 

[dphphoto]

Boy, that "silver-rich" myth is a persistent one!

Jay

Don't know about "myth," but the paper's really nice. Dean

 

[Mike A]

first contact prints

Well I've been printing with this paper for three sessions now and man! What I've been missing with contact printing.

My first two sessions I proofed a considerably large stack of my neglected 11x14 negatives. The third session I couldn't wait, I needed to start making final prints.

I used Michael Smiths Amidol mixture and procedures, I found this whole new process much easier than enlarging. The Kentmere does appear similar to Seagull but a little more cold, and not as soft. The blacks were deep and the whites were some what creamy, and the mid tones were really very nice. A number of the prints I even managed to get the three dimensional effect described by some. Keep in mind, all I have to compare to are my former 4x5 enlargements, so take it for what its worth, I may have fallen under the rookie contact printer spell.

I hope Michael and Paula find an Azo replacement, after my first couple printing sessions the Kentmere is nice but It leaves me wanting to try Azo even more.

 

[Michael A. Smith]

I will soon be annoucing the Azo replacement paper.

 

[DeanC]

I will soon be annoucing the Azo replacement paper.

Now that's the most exciting thing I've heard in a while. Can you tell us if soon is days or weeks?

Dean

 

[photo8x10]

WOW!!! It's a good news... I hope to try it early...

Best

Stefano
Italy

 

[Mike A]

I will soon be annoucing the Azo replacement paper.

Some one announcing the addition of a new traditional darkroom paper, this contrasts sharply with the "doomsday trend" thats been the norm here as of late. Thanks for the update Michael.

Mike A

 

[df cardwell]

Contact print on Ilford MG FB

Pretend it costs 10 dollars a sheet

Lay a piece of white perspex / plexiglass over the glass

Develop it in 130

.

 

[noseoil]

I finally tried the J&C "Neutral" grade fiber which was suggested as a substitute for contact printing. Without a densitometer, I do it by printing known films and comparing the prints to existing papers I use. Talk about contrast! Looks like I need to back down on development a bit to use this stuff properly. It does have quite a range of values, but negatives need to come out of the developer a bit sooner than the grade 2 azo films I normally shoot for. Best guess is about a stop of development to tame this beast. Need to do a little more playing, but it certainly shows potential. tim

 

[noseoil]

DF, curious about the mention of a white translucent material for printing. I have always uesd clear. Any tips on this method? tim

 

[pelesormu]

Contact print paper?

By an inner desicion recently I'm in for LF photography. Excuse me for asking but perhaps someone could explain what is characteristic for contact print paper compared to enlarger use paper. How useless/useful is a 'normal' BW paper in contact print use?

 

[Michael A. Smith]

The new paper that will replace Azo, which we have named "Lodima Fine Art" (see an announcement on the Azo Forum for the reason(s) for that name), has been coated on the coating machines and we will be testing it as soon as it arrives and as soon as we return home from a four-month trip--and both should happen about the same time. We hope the paper arrives in about two weeks so that we can show prints on it at the APUG Conference in Toronto.

 

[michael9793]

My last printing session I used G2 AZO with M&P's amidol for enlarging paper and also Ilford MC IV. I'm happy to say that the Azo produced deeper blacks than normal and matched to the Ilford I'd say the same. I'm not one for densitometers, I do everything by eye and they seem the same.
I have enlarged with Kentimere and loved it. I just got my summer supply of paper in and I'm hoping to try one of my 8x20's with kentimere and the amidol E.P. developer soon. Since I feel the Kentimere is better that Ilford in Enlarging, I'm hoping the same with contact printing.