Moersch anyone?

[CraigK]

I noticed that 8 Elm Photo in Toronto (www.eightelmphoto.com) stocks Moersch photo chemicals .

Anyone familiar with the developers (sepia, warm etc.)? They also have an Amidol dev.

 

[Ole]

I have tried the Amidol and the Lith. Both very nice developers, although the two-bath Amidol/Catechol takes a little getting used to.

Moersch also has some .pdf's on his website detailing how to get the colour you want - i mix my own chemicals from his recipes if needed

 

[ann]

Some of these products are on my "project" list. Would be interested to find out what your results might be. (hopefully sometime this year)

 

[Black Dog]

You can get these products from Retro Photographic in the UK-see their ad in B&W magazine.

 

[efikim]

Is there any advantage to the Moersch Lith developer over the Fotospeed or Forte Lith developers, which appear to be considerbaly cheaper here in the UK.

 

[roy]

You can get these products from Retro Photographic in the UK

...........who are also members of this forum.

 

[Ole]

Is there any advantage to the Moersch Lith developer over the Fotospeed or Forte Lith developers, which appear to be considerbaly cheaper here in the UK.

Dunno - I'm still learning (and testing). MACO (=fotospeed) does not give good results with Forte lith paper, but is outstanding with Forte Museum weight and (old) New Oriental Seagull VC FB.

Will test the Moersch Lith soon. Results will be posted in the "Tales From the Experimental Darkroom"-thread.

 

[efikim]

Thanks Ole,

Are you sure that Maco and Fotospeed lith developers are the same? They have different descriptions in Tim Rudman's book.

 

[Ole]

Are you sure that Maco and Fotospeed lith developers are the same? They have different descriptions in Tim Rudman's book.

That should teach me to check before I type: MACO is LaborPartner, Fotospeed is different. The Fotospeed test kit is really nice, but the paper included with it isn't good with MACO lith developer. Still haven't tried it in other chemicals.

 

[efikim]

Thanks Ole,
I have used the Fotospeed developer with the original Kentmere Kentona in the past, with good results. I was less impressed with its performance with the current Kentona paper though. I think I'll get some other papers to try first, before trying a different developer.

 

[Francesco]

I just recently purchased the Amidol Plus Kit (with the Catechol 2nd bath) out of curiosity for what exactly those other "additives" or "finishers" are that come with the kit. Not to mention the catechol second bath. Has anyone tried this kit with Azo and what are your experiences? More importantly, how does this kit work? The translated instructions are a little vague.

 

[Ole]

The "Finisher Brown" is probably a potassium bromide solution, the "Finisher Blue" is probably Benzotriazol.

The first developer (Amidol) is very, very soft-working. Develop until the hihglights are just a little pale. A quick rinse in water, then into the second dreveloper (Catechol).

I tried it (out of curiosity) without finisher first: The paper went mid-grey immiediately in the second developer. Poured in a clunk of blue, tried again: Very nice result.

I have not tried it with Azo, but it is a different formulation to the one suggested for that.

PS: The translated instructions aren't really vague, just badly translated. It all makes sense in German - even the English instructions make sense when translated to German!

 

[Francesco]

(LOL) Tusen tack Ole. I ordered some Azo and will try a few sheets with it to see how it reacts.