moersch SE5/suitable paper

question for lith printers with experience using wolfgang's chemistry. i am pondering the idea of changing lith developers and wonder which available papers work best with the SE5 developer....currently i am using fomabrom variant IV with arista or fotospeed LD20 but i would like to have proper paper on hand when i get the new developer. i have heard it lasts alot longer and therefore can do more prints than anything else so i am curious to try it. if this is true, it seems that it would be more economical in the long run. any help would be much appreciated.

thanks,
marianne

Hi Marianne,

I would maybe suggest using the fomabrom variant IV first to see how it compares...you might like it. I haven't used that particular paper, so can't help you there, but I've had the most success with the Foma MG papers (131, 132, 542, 532). However, my prints have a lot more colour than yours do (that being said, I haven't had a chance to tone mine yet, so am not sure of the differences between toned and untoned). My avatar picture is a good example of a SE5 and Foma 132 combination (high dilution and warm developer combo).

(sorry, at the moment I don't have access to my scanner, so can't scan some of my other prints to show the effect better).

Actually, you might try this (there was a url link here which no longer exists) on page 22 for a couple of other examples: the first post is the old 542 chamois and SE5, the second is 132 and SE5. Most of my dilutions run between 1+25 and 1+35.

Marianne: I have had good luck with Foma 131: nearly identical prints with Fotospeed and Moersch developers. In fact, when I had to switch to Moersch because Fotospeed was/is out of stock, I mixed the Moersch not like his directions but the same way I was mixing Fotospeed.

Fotospeed is more economical for the way I print than Moersch. But I tend to only print a single negative during a session and get the results I want in 5 or so prints. I seldom, if ever, make so many prints during a session that my developer dies before I am done. When the Moersch I am currently using is gone I will probably buy Fotospeed simply because it is less expensive.

BTW, are you stopping by the Birchwood this year?

Dan

Marianne, I get good results with SE5Lith and SE5Lith+Omega with Fomatone MG, ADOX Fineprint Classic, Kentmere Kentona and some old Forte Polywarmtone RC. I was less successful with the Fomabrom but that is definitely because I tried not hard enough.

Cheers
Ruediger

thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. dan, i have used fotospeed ALOT but as you said, it was out of stock for awhile..perhaps i will try it again but go with some fomatone MG...

moose, i always have my developer VERY warm..almost HOT, but lately, the fomabrom paper will start to ummm kinda peel apart at the edges and i am wondering if it is from the length of time it spends in hot developer..does the fomatone ever do this in the hot developer?

rst, i have some old forte fortezo and i bet it would work too if the fpwt gives a good result...

thanks one and all...

oh, dan, i have reservations at birchwood for the 25th and 26th but am pondering canceling the friday date to save some $$ and just come early on saturday morning, shooting at the cool indian cemetery north of the birchwood (i cant remember the name) and then checking in on sat afternoon...you are coming that weekend?

Marianne, I've gone as high as 35 C in the past with Fomatone but haven't noticed any separation on my prints, and that's with development times ranging from 3-12 minutes. The one thing though is that I had no way to maintain developer temperature, so it cooled as the session went on, which changed the nature of the prints as I went. However, now I usually have developer temps in the 25 C range (same development times). I found that keeping it at a lower warmer temperature I could get more consistency -- being able to print up to 10 prints at virtually the same times and mostly the same colour for the whole session.

Replenishment also makes sessions last longer -- usually after 10 prints or so I remove a litre of developer and add a litre of fresh developer and I can keep going for several more hours with that combination. It's not something that I usually do, but when I was living in France I only had access to a public darkroom once a week and would have 10-12 hour sessions in there (probably a good 6-8 hours of printing and developing) and I would only need to replenish once with the Moersch developer (the only one I could buy in France at the time).

I too print with warm developer: 30 to 35 c and have never had a problem with Fomatone 131 coming apart. My times are usually 4 to 8 minutes depending on how used the developer is.

Regarding replenishment, I seldom run that many prints through a session. But one time at the end of a session when a print just would not develop enough, I added more A and B solutions directly to the developer just to see what would happen. The print was still in the tray and it created a really cool effect. My next print was perfect, leading me to believe that I had made an important photographic discovery and would join the ranks of famous innovators. Tim Rudman disabused me of that notion, telling me it would work for a short time, but that bromide (?) would soon build up and affect the results.

Marianne, I had originally reserved a room at the Birchwood from Wednesday through Saturday. When things changed I almost cancelled, then thought of cutting the number of days down to save money. Now I've pretty much decided to shoot my way north on Wednesday, then on Thursday or Friday make a long day trip into the UP, and still have Saturday to hang out at the B-wood. I still may cancel Wednesday night and come up Thursday.

I guess I had better make up my mind, time is running short!
See you there.