New Fomatone lith results

[Mark Fisher]

A few nights ago I tried to duplicate the results I used to get with the old Fomatone emulsion. The good news is that it did lith. There wasn't as much color or infectous development, but it was still decent. It really liths fast....definitely do it with room temp developer. I experimented a bit with different approaches and the best I found was to use Moersch developer at 1:1:50 or so at room temp and use a Moersch Omega afterbath at 1:100 (I think a saturated Amonium carbonate solution would also work). then selenium tone it. The result is the reasonably fine grained (for lith), detailed lith that Fomatone was known for. What was missing was the yellow/orange highlights (usually toned those back anyway) and the bluish shadows. I miss those cold shadows. I have a couple of really lousy scans attached. The scanner picked up the Velvet paper finish with a blue tint, but you should get the idea.

 

[naaldvoerder]

This is good news!
Does it show convincing infectieus developement in your trails?

thanks

 

[Dan Henderson]

Some of my experience with new Fomatone is like yours, Mark, others different. I think it liths a little slower than old Fomatone, at least at the 25 to 30c temps that I use. The color is about the same, but I like softer, more muted colors anyway. When I get a nice clay color in the highlights I am happy. I would not describe the infectious development as "convincing" like the old stuff was, and the shadows don't seem quite as gritty, but as Mark said, it does lith, and an experienced eye will know right away that it is a lith print.

 

[f/stopblues]

Are those streaks in the sky also on the negative our straight prints? I was getting similar looking streaks with Fomabrom in the lighter areas but never could find a consistent cause for them.

 

[mr rusty]

I have no experience with the old stuff as I have only just started with Lith. I find Foma much softer than Slavich unibrom, which comes up exceptionally contrasty. This is 131 in Moersch easylith @ 1:40 and 20ish degrees. Very quickly selenium toned so the toning isn't uniform which I quite like.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[mooseontheloose]

Thanks for the info Mark. I still have a few boxes of the old Foma in the freezer, and was afraid of what the new Foma might offer, but I actually prefer the muted colours, so I'm looking forward to trying it!

 

[TheToadMen]

Are we talking about Fomatone 131 & 132 paper?
http://www.silverprint.co.uk/ProductByGroup.asp?PrGrp=1121

I've never done lith printing but I surely would like to try it.

 

[rbender]

Thanks for the info Mark! I just bought a new package of 123 and will give it a try soon. Looks like you got some nice stuff in Iceland Keep them coming.

 

[WHof]

Track down a copy of Tim Rudman's March 13, 2013 "Lith Printing Materials; New guide and updated products listing." He gives a pretty detailed description of how and why Fomatone recently changed and how to try to deal with it.

 

[Mark Fisher]

The paper is Fomatone 133 which is their semi-matte finish. The streaks in the sky weren't on the neg. I decided a long time ago to enjoy the unexpected with lith....sometimes the "flaws" work in the image. I thought that the image came up reasonably fast...similar to the old Fomatone. I thought that Tim's newsletter said that the paper didn't have true lith behavior. From my experience it definitely has infectious development, but as Dan mentioned, it isn't as gritty and not as "convincing". The only papers I am aware of with more "lithy" behavior are Slavich and Fomabrom. Both of them are very gritty and difficult (not impossible) to get any meaningful midtones. For me, that leaves Fomatone and Ilford Warmtone so I am very happy to find that Fomatone can work. I really hope Adox gets the Forte Polywarmtone resurrected, though!