Scored AZO

jonw · Sep 23, 2006

Well, being a believer that it is never too late to join a party, I was able to recently acquire several boxes of AZO and now will attempt some contact printing. I was advised by the seller that these boxes came from the last batch of AZO made by Kodak in Rochester. They have an expiration date of March 2006. In discussing with a fellow apugger, I was advised that there is slow and fast AZO and that the older AZO had better qualities.
Does anyone know if the following lot number of AZO [AZO F2s glossy (lot: 405127 -01950T)] is the old or newer AZO which Kodak stopped making?

donbga · Sep 23, 2006

jonw said:
Well, being a believer that it is never too late to join a party, I was able to recently acquire several boxes of AZO and now will attempt some contact printing. I was advised by the seller that these boxes came from the last batch of AZO made by Kodak in Rochester. They have an expiration date of March 2006. In discussing with a fellow apugger, I was advised that there is slow and fast AZO and that the older AZO had better qualities.
Does anyone know if the following lot number of AZO [AZO F2s glossy (lot: 405127 -01950T)] is the old or newer AZO which Kodak stopped making?

I have no idea about slow or fast, for the most part it really won't matter. What you may find is that if it is a later batch, which I think it is, it will be much softer than previous batches of AZO grade 2.

colivet · Sep 24, 2006

Softer and somewhat slower than the previous AZO 2. No big deal. I heard Michael saying that increasing development to 1.5 or 2 min, instead of the usual 1 min does the trick.
Get the paper wet and tell us how it went!

c6h6o3 · Sep 24, 2006

colivet said:
Softer and somewhat slower than the previous AZO 2. No big deal. I heard Michael saying that increasing development to 1.5 or 2 min, instead of the usual 1 min does the trick.
Get the paper wet and tell us how it went!

I haven't found it to be any slower, but it's definitely softer. The newer grade 3, on the other hand, is a lot slower but all the contrast is there.

Black Dog · Sep 24, 2006

Where did you score that AZO dude?

jonw · Sep 24, 2006

Black Dog said:
Where did you score that AZO dude?

I found it in my local photography store. The owner advised me it came from the last batch sold old/made in Rochester!?!?!? I had been debating on purchasing it for a few months...picked up 3 boxes and then just recently purchased the last 3 boxes. I have only seen one azo print up close, one I purchased from Alex Hawley. The more I enjoy his 8x10 print (Thanks again Alex), I decided to purchase all the AZO paper my local analog store had to offer.

I still need the chemicals and to setup a place to make the prints etc, but that too will come, albeit with the change of the seasons, probably sooner than later.

Jon

Scott Peters · Sep 24, 2006

It's is softer. Personally, I need a very contrasty negative along with up to 4 minuntes in amidol to get it to 'work'. So, you may need to 'underexpose' a little when printing and develop longer. Try 3-4 minutes. You will see the contrast improve and you can get very nice results. A contrasty neg definitely helps.

Alex Hawley · Sep 24, 2006

Scott Peters said:
It's is softer. Personally, I need a very contrasty negative along with up to 4 minuntes in amidol to get it to 'work'. So, you may need to 'underexpose' a little when printing and develop longer. Try 3-4 minutes. You will see the contrast improve and you can get very nice results. A contrasty neg definitely helps.

That's a good tip Scott. I forgot about that one. A lot of us were hung up on no more than two minutes developing, but doing as Scott says certainly works to raise the paper's contrast.

Jim Fitzgerald · Sep 24, 2006

Scott Peters said:
It's is softer. Personally, I need a very contrasty negative along with up to 4 minuntes in amidol to get it to 'work'. So, you may need to 'underexpose' a little when printing and develop longer. Try 3-4 minutes. You will see the contrast improve and you can get very nice results. A contrasty neg definitely helps.

Scott, I've had some luck with the new Azo grade-2 developed in Neutol WA 1-5 for up to 5 min's. You do need to adjust your exposure. I know Michael has experimented with this combo. Just wish I could find some grade-3. I missed out on some Grade-4 on that place we all visit. Not able to be at my computer at the end.

Jim

matt miller · Sep 24, 2006

Jim Fitzgerald said:
Scott, I've had some luck with the new Azo grade-2 developed in Neutol WA 1-5 for up to 5 min's. You do need to adjust your exposure. I know Michael has experimented with this combo. Just wish I could find some grade-3. I missed out on some Grade-4 on that place we all visit. Not able to be at my computer at the end.

Jim

I have lots of negatives that print very well on the new grade 2. I always forget which grade I'm supposed to develop for one minute and which is two minutes, so I always develop both for 2 minutes. Well, that's what I used to do. I just ran out of grade 2 last week. I know M&P have grade 2 in 20x24, but if anyone else has some in 8x10 that they would be willing to sell, I'll take it.

Scott Peters · Sep 25, 2006

I prefer grade 3, at least the newer grade 3 over the newer grade 2. But, with contrasty negs and long development, you can get very nice results with the newer grade 2. have not tried it in neutol..thanks for the tip. Hoping M&P will get new paper in soon.

Scored AZO

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