New Contact Printing Paper

[Wayne]

I didn't see this mentioned here but since its mostly of LF interest: Adox is introducing a new silver chloride contact printing paper

http://www.apug.org/forum/index.php?threads/new-silver-chloride-contact-printing-paper.135244/

[Willie]

Nice to see. Look forward to results compared to Lodima and Azo - the current standard for many of us.

[bob carnie]

Me too , a timely new product for my lab.

Nice to see. Look forward to results compared to Lodima and Azo - the current standard for many of us.

[Tin Can]

Sounds great but shipping is very expensive, 50 sheets 11x14 is 35 EU to USA.

[jose angel]

"The speed is about 8 stops lower than MCC but therefore it is extremely finegrained and yields a superior resolution... "
Is it true? I have never tried "true" contact printing materials. Does it happen with Azo or Lodima?


Sounds great but shipping is very expensive, 50 sheets 11x14 is 35 EU to USA.
You`re lucky, still cheaper in the US than in EU. I cannot get why this things have to be more expensive in the place where they are made. A mystery.

[chromemax]

28 euros for 1000 Km from Berlin to Milan and 35 euros for 7000 km form Berlin to Chicago... really a mystery.
I hope to find this new paper from an italian seller with a bit less mysterious shipping fee, because Adox papers are very good and this one worth a try

[Michael R]

Is it true?


Yes and no. While a finer grained emulsion can potentially yield higher resolution, paper resolution is a moot point. What chloride contact printing papers can offer are an addition to the tonal palette we have at our disposal. They can have different curve shapes than other fixed grade materials, and can respond differently to both developers and toners (depending on how the emulsion is made).

Nice to see this exciting announcement from Adox. Lodima is a wonderful contact paper in my experience, but always nice to have additional options.

[Roger Cole]

Sounds great but shipping is very expensive, 50 sheets 11x14 is 35 EU to USA.

Hopefully Freestyle will carry it as they do other Adox papers and products.

[Tin Can]

Hopefully Freestyle will carry it as they do other Adox papers and products.

That will be nice.

[Duolab123]

I bought quite a bit of the Fomalux. It really is a nice paper. I sent an e-mail to Foma a couple years back telling them how pleased I was with Fomalux paper. The response was basically, if people buy it we will keep making it.
One thing that most people don't do anymore is to make 4x5 and medium format contact prints for display. You look at the work of Louis Hines and the original prints that have been reproduced in the literature are frequently quite small. Geo. Eastman House has his archives. I love contact prints there is nothing that equals emulsion to emulsion.(almost sounds kinda naughty)
Problem is so much less darkroom work these days. It would be nice if the Holga craze and the Fuji Instax craze could somehow morph into amateurs making wallet and 4x5 contacts. Boy I wish some nut would make a folding postcard camera and film to go with it, sounds like a job for Elon Musk :)

[jose angel]

(Thanks Michael).
________

The response was basically, if people buy it we will keep making it.
Right. I`d love to buy it.
But they should also think on european customers (I`m referring to distributors). Maybe they should re-consider their shipping policy. I regularly receive German materials at work (actually, everything); in some cases shippings costs are free (if the buy exceed a reasonable amount, which is far less the price of 50 sheets), and if not, never more than a standard postal service. I think some companies also subsidizes the cost of their sendings.
Sometimes I think they don`t sell because they don`t want to sell.

[alexmuir]

I bought quite a bit of the Fomalux. It really is a nice paper. I sent an e-mail to Foma a couple years back telling them how pleased I was with Fomalux paper. The response was basically, if people buy it we will keep making it.
One thing that most people don't do anymore is to make 4x5 and medium format contact prints for display. You look at the work of Louis Hines and the original prints that have been reproduced in the literature are frequently quite small. Geo. Eastman House has his archives. I love contact prints there is nothing that equals emulsion to emulsion.(almost sounds kinda naughty)
Problem is so much less darkroom work these days. It would be nice if the Holga craze and the Fuji Instax craze could somehow morph into amateurs making wallet and 4x5 contacts. Boy I wish some nut would make a folding postcard camera and film to go with it, sounds like a job for Elon Musk :)

I have some Fomalux, both the current FB type, and the older RC type. I am interested in making 4x5 contact prints as finished works. I am new to LF, and so far I have struggled to produce satisfactory contacts on these, or enlarging papers. I'm used to making smaller format negatives for enlargement. Is there a different style/quality of negative required for a satisfactory contact? I have been using my diffusion enlarger as the light source. I am also interested in the new paper, and will certainly try it. It would be great if one of the manufacturers produced a contact paper in the proper dimensions for 4x5. I found that cutting down the 8x10 Fomalux FB paper with a sharp guillotine lead to damage on the emulsion surface. A rotary cutter would probably be a better, but more expensive option.
Alex

[MartinP]

Jose, which country are you in? It sounds as though we're spoiled in NL -- I can get Fomalux and most other products next-day delivery for 6,95 / 10,95 euros (under 2kg, under 5kg) from the distributor here. Sizes or products that need ordering from CZ add about four days to the time. Any end-of-life statement concerning Fomalux, coming via Adox, seems a bit vague as it is still on the Foma website! The wider the choice of materials are, the better (within economic common-sense of course), so well done Adox for their efforts with their contact-paper.

For Germany, Austria and Slovakia I think there is now a Foma shopping/shipping service direct from CZ, link (www.fomaobchod.cz).

[jose angel]

Martin, I think Germany neighbors belong to a "low cost" shipping group, while all the rest are penalized with a 2-3x extra charge. Portugal, Spain (here I am), Italy etc. "enjoy" a fixed minimum of 28eur for whatever they buy. Funny, Ireland or UK pay the same as in NL. Cannot understand why, I have received several shipments from Germany this month, the -most- expensive was a big box for 16,99eur.
If I order a ridiculously sized, lightweight aluminum step-up filter ring adapter at Fotoimpex, the shipment is 28 euros. It`s a nonsense.

[MartinP]

That price sounds as though they use parcel-shipment for everything, instead of the normal postal services! From your local national-distributor (instead of Fotoimpex or Maco) you 'should' be able to pay less than seven euros for up to 10kg** -- or maybe Spain has different rates for internal post?

Edit: **I just checked the post rates for here and it's 6,95 for up to 10kg, so perhaps I was thinking of international-post earlier, when I mentioned 10,95.

[peter schrager]

Alex I just use a scissors to cut the paper. .the emulsion is delicate so the way you are cutting is making the edges ragged. You cannot enlarge onto these papers..use a 200 or 300 watt tungsten bulb and contact print...make a much stronger negative with a Pyro developer
I use 2:2:100 solution with Pyro cat mc and then develop by inspection..d76 straight for at least 40% more development time works well too...it's really a system that Integrates with all the pieces. .there is information here apug and the azo forum..just use google. If you need more help feel free to contact me

[alexmuir]

Thanks, Peter. That is the kind of advice I need. I will try a more dense negative, and exposure as you describe.
Alex

[Thom Bennett]

alexmuir this applies to all silver chloride contact printing papers: http://www.michaelandpaula.com/mp/azoamidol.html.

[alexmuir]

alexmuir this applies to all silver chloride contact printing papers: http://www.michaelandpaula.com/mp/azoamidol.html.

Thanks for this link. It is very helpful and I have kept a copy for future reference. I am going to make some new negatives tomorrow to try out the suggestions in this thread.
Alex.