Paper for negatives intended for AZO

henrysamson · Jun 26, 2008

Hi All,

I am down to the last of my azo. If any of you have any suggestions regarding commercially available paper you have used successfully as a substitute for azo I am interested in hearing about it as I will soon be looking for a substitute (unless Lodima arrives soon). My negatives print well on azo as they were developed with that paper in mind. I use Efke Pl100 developed in Pyrocat HD.

Thanks!

Henry

c6h6o3 · Jun 26, 2008

Try this. It's enlarging paper so you'll have to get a dim bulb and diffuse it even further, but I've seen some breathtaking prints made on this paper by printers such as yourself who have run out of Azo.

Tim Boehm · Jun 26, 2008

I've tried every graded paper I can find and nothing really compares IMHO. However, EMAKS, Slavich and Kentona are good papers but I feel certain they might have too much contrast for your negs. If you're a praying kinda guy, pray that Lodima makes it. I've already decided to make albumens and photogravures, see http://www.photogravure.com/
Check out Cy DECOSSE and Charles BANKART's work at that site. Albumen and photogravure require a diffent mind set, but I've seen some really impressive stuff made with those 2 methods. Good luck.

c6h6o3 · Jun 26, 2008

Tim Boehm said:
I've tried every graded paper I can find and nothing really compares IMHO. However, EMAKS, Slavich and Kentona are good papers but I feel certain they might have too much contrast for your negs.

I've seen prints on Kentona that are just as good as the finest Azo prints. Seriously. You control contrast with water bath and increased development time.

pkrentz · Jun 27, 2008

Azo paper

I have some azo paper for sale. Pat

Tim Boehm · Jun 27, 2008

My pyrocat negs that are exposed and developed for azo are usually too constrasty for Kentona, sometimes work on EMAKS 2and have never worked on Slavich 2. All 3 are good papers, and yes, Kentona is probably the best of the 3 IMO. I've also tried Berrger's Art Contact 2 paper; it's also good, no longer made, but it's no azo. However, I got some from Berrger USA about 8 months ago, and they may still have some, but I'm not sure about that. I've just never seen any paper that has azo's long, but not flat, range, bold blacks that hold detail, and at the same time, have such a delicate look. I wish there was a comparable paper, but I just haven't seen it. Some of MAS's recent posts indicate Lodima may be ready this year.

michael9793 · Jul 6, 2008

I have turned to Oriental Seagul printing my 8x20's. I use Ansco 130 which I have now had for a year and only add new when the bottle gets down. I use 1:2. between grades and changing the concentration from stock to 1:4 you can get good control

michael andersen

Alex Hawley · Jul 6, 2008

You can also use one of the Ilford MG papers, regular or warmtone. I've done it with success. Also allows using the VC filters for contrast control.

Tim Boehm · Jul 7, 2008

I've just exposed/processed some TXP pyrocat HD negs intended for Kentona. I developed the Kentona several ways:

One was in Ansco 130 1:1 and also 2:1 for 3 minutes.

Another ways were Ansco 130 1:1 and 2:1 for 2 minutes and then in a water bath for various times.
As c6h6o3 said, its contrast can be controlled. While I still prefer Azo, Kentona is beautiful.
As Michael said above, it can be diluted even more and produce nice prints.
I prefer gold toning because of its blue/black shift. Kentona has a slight shift but it had to be toned for an hour.
By the way, Emaks and Slavich tone well in gold.

Paper for negatives intended for AZO

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