New run of Lodima paper

Michael A. Smith · Jan 14, 2013

LODIMA gelatin silver chloride paper is a contact speed printing paper. We have received many requests for LODIMA paper with higher contrast. And in response to your requests we are about to order a new run of LODIMA paper with higher contrastthink of it as either a grade 3 with more contrast or as a grade 4.

The normal quantity we must order is 10,000 square metersthe equivalent of just shy of 2,000 boxes of 100-sheets of 8x10. That is a huge quantity.

We have been told by the manufacturer that if we get our order in by March 15 they will make the paper for us even at a quantity less than 10,000 square meters.

If we can order 10,000 square meters the price will be pretty much the same as the paper from the last run. In smaller quantities the price will be higher. We were told it could be as much as 25 Euros ($33.50) higher for a box of 8x10 100-sheets. So we are hoping to get as many orders as possible to keep the already high price as low as we can.

At this time, place your order by number of boxes in the sizes you want. As before, we can have paper made in the following sizes:
8x1025, 100, and 250 sheet boxes
8x20-100 sheets
12x20-100 sheets
11x14-100 sheets
9x11-100 sheets
10x12-100 sheets
14x17-100 sheets
16x20-50 sheets
20x24-50 sheets

If there are orders for only a couple of boxes in any one size we may not be able to supply that size.

At this time, we do not need checks or credit card information. We just need your orders. If we have sufficient orders, we will ask for those things after March 15. As before, we will not deposit checks nor charge credit cards until we need to pay for the paper.

We will be testing the paper for contrast and if it does not have significantly greater contrast that all previous runs of LODIMA paper, we will not order it.

We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. If interested email to us at michaelandpaula@michaelandpaula.com

Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee

Nikonic · Jan 14, 2013

Who is the manufacturer?

Peter Schrager · Jan 14, 2013

The paper is made in Europe somewhere to Michael and Paula's specs...this is more of a service and an act of love rather then some "I'm gonna make money off APUGERS"...understand that this the ONLY azo type paper available in the world....ask anyone who has tried his paper what it does. Or better yet buy a box for yourself

Photo Engineer · Jan 14, 2013

Or come to a workshop and learn how to make it yourself. :}

PE

tkamiya · Jan 14, 2013

Peter Schrager said:
ask anyone who has tried his paper what it does

Would you be so kind to give me/us a brief summary of what it does and why it's so special? I realize I can search and go though hundreds of posts but a brief summary would be nice for those who have not experienced one or be familiar with it already. If it sounds like a nice addition for my DR, I might even join in and get me a box or two.

No, I don't want to try to make it.

Nikonic · Jan 14, 2013

Peter Schrager said:
The paper is made in Europe somewhere to Michael and Paula's specs...this is more of a service and an act of love rather then some "I'm gonna make money off APUGERS"...understand that this the ONLY azo type paper available in the world....ask anyone who has tried his paper what it does. Or better yet buy a box for yourself

Yes, I know. I have posted a few times over on their lodima support forum. Under a different name though. I just read somewhere that they had purchased the old manufacturing vessels and equipment themselves, so I didn't know there was a corporation involved.

rorye · Jan 14, 2013

I'm sure there will be more specific answers but to me it's a delicious Azo type chloride contact paper, typically processed in Amidol, giving rich warm tones. Personally I like it in Ilford WT developer although that may be sacraligeous. It's graded, it's slow and it's beautiful.
Alas if I was on the East Coast I'd take Ron's workshop in a heartbeat!

Nikonic · Jan 14, 2013

tkamiya said:
Would you be so kind to give me/us a brief summary of what it does and why it's so special? I realize I can search and go though hundreds of posts but a brief summary would be nice for those who have not experienced one or be familiar with it already. If it sounds like a nice addition for my DR, I might even join in and get me a box or two.

No, I don't want to try to make it.

I have never tried it myself, but, when used with high density negatives it apparently gives a tonal range closer to platinum, but with the gloss and sharpness of a silver print. It also responds well to toning. Again, have not tried it.

removed account4 · Jan 14, 2013

Nikonic said:
Yes, I know. I have posted a few times over on their lodima support forum. Under a different name though. I just read somewhere that they had purchased the old manufacturing vessels and equipment themselves, so I didn't know there was a corporation involved.

... GOOD FOR THEM !
imagine how hard it will be in 5 or 10 years to have this paper made, if the place it had been made for 10years prior
fell on hard times, closed-shop... and the equipment went to the scrap heap.

megzdad81 · Jan 14, 2013

I was priviledged to attend one of Michael and Paula's workshops, and they are as sincere as daylight. They are artists first, and they are in it for the love of the art and the joy of making a contact print that takes your breath away. For the effort and the risk they must take to get this paper made, they have my welcome to make a little money for the effort.

Now I have to go see how much is in my bank account, and why it's so hard to find 5x7 film at a decent price.

silvergrahm · Jan 15, 2013

Shouldn't this go in the announcements or vendor section?

Michael A. Smith · Jan 19, 2013

Lodima is a silver chloride contact printing paper. It is not suitable for enlarging because it is very slow. Therefore, it is posted in the Contact Printing Forum where all of the Lodima paper posts have been made for many years and before that, where most all of my posts were made beginning when APUG first began.

SIlver chloride paper has a longer gray scale than any enlarging paper.There is simply more separation in the mid tones, which give prints mad eon silver chloride paper a glow that is virtually unachievable with enlarging paper. Also,the blacks have a higher Dmax--are blacker than the blacks on enlarging paper. All of Edward Weston's silver prints were on silver chloride paper. And Ansel Adams most beautiful printsthose from the late 1930s and early 194os were printed on silver chloride paper.

Alfred Stieglitz once said, "If you show people the imperfect next to the perfect, people will see the difference at once. But if you show the imperfect alone people are only too apt to be satisfied with it."

In this context, silver chloride paper is the perfect paper; enlarging paper is the imperfect.

When I began making contact prints I used enlarging paper. It was not until eight years later that I began to use silver chloride paperAzo, which was the only silver chloride paper then available. A few years after that, I reprinted all of my prints that had been on enlarging paper onto Azo. The difference was like day and night. I destroyed almost all of the prints that had been printed on enlarging paper--the Azo prints wee so much betterand they were so much easier to make. Of the hundreds of prints I reprinted, there was only one where the print on elarging paper was more beautiful.

If you make contact prints and care about print quality you will want to at least try to print on a good silver chloride paper.

Michael A. Smith

Bob Carnie · Jan 19, 2013

I have to disagree.
I have seen both papers in the same room and both glow equally, not to say lodima is a bad paper I suspect its great but so is Ilford Warmtone

Michael A. Smith · Jan 20, 2013

Ilford Warmtone is an excellent paper, probably the best of the enlarging papers, but if the same negative were properly printed on Lodima and the Ilford I believe the difference would be evident to anyone who cares about these things.

Michael A. Smith

silvergrahm · Jan 21, 2013

Smell that? Smells like snake oil. I'm sure it's a great paper but it is no exaggeration to say that for years michael and paula have said printing on AZO is akin to a religious, transcendent experience. Gotta invoke the ancestors, too, Stieglitz, ansel, they'll all pony up and testify. And of course all the tech specs about how great it is, about how it bends light and time space itself to create a portal into a realm of infinite tonalities and deep wells of Dmax that have been known to, it's been said, entrance gallery patrons for hours in rapturous ecstasy.. And of course the sob story. The poor photographers who risk everything to save the magic machines that make a magic paper.

Its great marketing, I'll give you that.

OH. And I've seen prints by M&P themselves. Lived in PA for a bit. Really really great stuff. Absolutely. But, well, see carnies post.

Bob Carnie · Jan 21, 2013

I care and I believe both papers are outstanding and personal preference takes over as to choice.
Bob Carnie

Michael A. Smith said:
Ilford Warmtone is an excellent paper, probably the best of the enlarging papers, but if the same negative were properly printed on Lodima and the Ilford I believe the difference would be evident to anyone who cares about these things.

Michael A. Smith

andrew.roos · Jan 21, 2013

silvergrahm said:
Smell that? Smells like snake oil.

Actually, no. The term "snake oil" suggests a worthless preparation fraudulently peddled. Michael's enthusiasm for his paper seems to be the honest opinion of an artist and connoisseur of fine prints, with which you are free to disagree. There is a huge difference.

c6h6o3 · Jan 21, 2013

Lodima is terrific contact speed paper, although the grade 2 Lodima on which I recently printed was faster than the same grade of Azo when developed in amidol. Much faster. In some cases I had to cut exposure time by a factor of 10 when switching from grade 2 Azo to grade 2 Lodima on the same negative. It wasn't as fast as enlarging paper, but was very difficult to control with such short exposure times. The next time I print with it I will use a lower wattage bulb rather than my usual 300 watt R40 combination photoflood/space heater.

I have quite a good supply of Azo, which lasts for all intents and purposes forever. As much as I've been printing lately it will probably last longer than I will. So I can continue to contact print for many years even if nobody produces any more contact speed paper. However, I intend to buy some Lodima because it's just right for some very high contrast negatives which I have been unable to print acceptably on Azo. That is, if the formulation of this next batch is same as what I've already got. I'll just have to take my chances on that.

What I do know is that a lot of printers have made great prints with Lodima paper and it is therefore a good product even if perhaps over zealously promoted. However, IMO to accuse Michael Smith of disingenuousness seems a bit, well, disingenuous.

DREW WILEY · Jan 21, 2013

A great chef can make a fine dish out of ordinary chicken and not just pheasant. And as far as speed goes, I've enlarged directly onto old-school Azo without issues. You just need a fast lens and
strong halogen light source. I've owned color mural enlargers that would probably do it in seconds.
That being said, contact prints having a somewhat different tonality to them. Whether or not one
needs a chloride paper or could do better with one of the superb VC papers avail today is a matter
of nuance and personal taste. Let's just be grateful for having choices.

David · Jan 24, 2013

gee silvergrahm, nothing like a little grace and class to enhance your opinion (not)

StigHagen · Feb 9, 2013

For me it is very hard to go back to using an enlarging paper after trying Lodima. There is a big difference in my eyes, and my friends, who are not into photography notice it as well. They think the quality of my work have increased after using Lodima. I also find contact printing extremely rewarding, and can't find myself going back to enlarging anymore, maybe only for some small projects. TRY IT!!!

New run of Lodima paper

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