enlarging Azo

[George Losse]

jdef,

If you read through some of the posts on the AZO forum on Michael's website ( http://www.michaelandpaula.com ) There is some one working on a light source to be able to enlarge onto Azo. But I don't remember the status of the project.

 

[JohnArs]

Hi

I have a Jobo LPL 4551 and I get times from 1-3 minutes to enlarge from 4x5 to 8x10.
I also do it with a color head and I put a bit of blue in, because AZO likes blue!

 

[Loose Gravel]

I don't know that much about AZO, but there is a paper that prints much like Azo called Fomatone. I don't have personal experience with this, but a friend of mine tried it and thought it was amazing. Plus it is a VC paper. And it is faster than Azo. Not as fast as enlarging papers, but maybe fast enough.

As far as enlarging on Azo, there is some talk of it at this site:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003zrb

Aristo could make you a very blue/uv coldlight, but remember that much below 400nm and glass begins absorbing much of the light unless you are using fluorite lenses.

Good luck.

 

[JohnArs]

Sorry forgott to say I works with a 200 watt bulb and in future with a 250 watt!
But I only stop down to f8!

 

[roy]

Loose Gravel,
I've used the Fomatone, and like it very much.

For contact printing or enlarging ?

 

[DrPhil]

jdef,

I don't think it's as simple as it sounds. I too have a 10x10 enlarger; however, mine has a 1000 watt head. At first glance one would think that a higher wattage head would decrease exposure times. However, a number of factors influence the intensity of light reaching the paper. First, light output decreases with distance. It's called the inverse square law. With my durst the bukb is about 2 feet from the negative. My old beseler 45 had the bulb a few inches from the negative. In addition, every enlarger head uses a different method to direct the light towards the paper. Furthermore, the light is being projected over a larger 10x10 area (100 sq in) instead of 5x5 (25 sq in).

In practice, I've noticed that my 10x10 durst usually requires a slightly longer exposure for the same negative.

 

[DrPhil]

Oh, almost forgot.

Durst pro USA has a 5000 watt head that is supposed to work well with azo. It fit 10x10 durst and devere enlargers.

http://www.durst-pro-usa.com/durstazo.htm

 

[lee]

It also is hideously expensive. Maybe 9k in US dollars.

lee\c

 

[Donald Miller]

Durst does have a 5000 watt lamp that is being produced by Philips Lighting in Belgium (OEM). The cost that was quoted by Durst Pro for the lamp only was $1,400.00. I am sure that much wattage would need a different power supply and contactor or relay to control the lamp (50 amps load @ 115 VAC). The complete 8X10 enlarger equipped with the Azo lamp is above $12,000.00.

The Durst lamp will work on both Azo and also conventional silver gelatin materials. I am not sure that the Azo lamp that Michael Smith mentioned has this capability. It may have...it may not, best to check it out.

For those who have enlarged on Azo with conventional variable contrast enlargers, I have not shared their experience. Perhaps it is because I develop the negatives for Azo to a much higher density range then a conventional negative. In fact negatives developed for conventional enlarging will print very flat on grade two Azo. The net density range for a negative for enlarging is typically 1.00-1.20 and grade two Azo will work better with a density range of 1.60.

I just returned from BC with three Durst enlargers and will get into this matter more completely in the weeks ahead.

 

[Donald Miller]

Don, so you got the 3 for 1 deal eh? That was a good deal, and I thought about it myself, but decided I would only end up wanting an 8x10 enlarger anyway. Are you planning some Ulesmann type multi-neg printing? What a luxury, to have three identical 5x7 enlargers. I suppose you could sell the two least appealing and pay for the best one with money left over for lots of big paper. Have fun!

Well, this package is not without some additional considerations/expenses. The lamps need to be upgraded since once the Opal bulbs are gone then no more are available. I am looking into converting these to an Azo enlarger if I can come up with a 3,000 watt lamp with the right emission spectrum. I will talk with Philips Lighting next week.

However from the Ebay ad it sounded as if only 5 condensors came with the enlargers but there were in fact 9 condensors. I figure that this is just another project that provided me with an excuse to visit BC. At the very worst, I could sell this off in parts and clear the expenditure.

 

[Ole]

Don, any "spare" condensors for Durst 138s can find a good home with me here in Norway

 

[Donald Miller]

Don, any "spare" condensors for Durst 138s can find a good home with me here in Norway

Ole,

What specifically are you looking for? I did not inventory what was included in condensors other then to know that there are 240's, 200's, 150's, and 85's...but I don't recall at the moment how many of each that were included. If I have any spares in the focal length(s) that you want I will certainly keep you in mind.