Tips for Amidol

I've just ordered some Moersch two-bath Amidol paper developer as I like the idea of two stop contrast control. Anyone got any tips for how to get best results with Amidol?

I'm generally using Foma Fomatone and Chamois papers or Kentmere Kentona. Has anyone got any experience of Amidol with these papers?

I've read of staining issues with Amidol and odd colours appearing. Any tips for avoiding these issues?

Thanks

Barry

I've never used that particular Amidol, but rather mix my own to Michael Smiths formula. With this formula, you can have your tray of developer and a waterbath right next to it, to bring the contrast down if to hard.

With using this formula with Foma Fomatone Chamois paper, it gave me a real yucky pee yellow colored print. I find this paper looked better when developed in a cheep stock developer, like Clayton ect. I'm sure the formula could have been tweeked to give better image tone with amidol, however I did not feel like experimenting at the time.

The only problem I've had with amidol staining (the print, not your skin or nails!) is a slight pink case over the whole paper. It's most visable when viewing the back. This was due to bad amidol, however the print could be washed for an extended time and the pink would be removed.

Regards,

Ryan McIntosh
www.RyanMcIntosh.net

If you get pink prints it may also be a pH issue. I think Anchell discusses this in _The Darkroom Cookbook_. I've wondered if it might be possible to use "bad" amidol by adjusting the pH of the formula, but now that I have 3 Kg from the Chinese amidol order, I'm in no hurry to experiment.

The technique that works for me with waterbath development is to pull the print as soon as the image emerges and let it sit in the waterbath for the remainder of the development time. Usually it's about 1/3 in the developer and 2/3 in the water.

sodium sulfite has a large buffering capacity so it really isn't possible to change the ph of the solution unless you make major changes to the formula.

http://simmonsphotos.com/Articles/AmidolFilm.html

At the end there is a discussion about using this formula for papers.

bwakel said:

I'm generally using Foma Fomatone and Chamois papers or Kentmere Kentona. Has anyone got any experience of Amidol with these papers?

Click to expand...

With Kentona, reduce contrast with water bath. Increase contrast by increasing development time - up to 4 minutes; adjust exposure accordingly. This applies to M.A. Smith's amidol formula only, as it's the only one I've ever used.