has AZO died?

[Jack_5762]

Spent the last two days contact printing 8x10 on AZO. Haven't used it seriously in 20 years and like all things after that amount of time it has changed. I was printing in Dektol and Amidol ( 6gr. amidol 30 gr. sod sul. .6 gr bromide.) The prints still have a nice greenish color that I like. The problem is in the toning. Tried selenium in various dilutions 1-10 to 1- 100 and have been unable to achieve that definate split. Took out prints from the past and there is no comparison. I'm talking about the Olivia Parkerish subtle selenium in the Low zones with an added intensity of silver in the high zones. What I'm getting is a very bland overall murky chocolate. Very unattractive. An archive search was not beneficial. Has the emulsion changed . Have they killed it like they killed Portriga Rapid?

[David A. Goldfarb]

Try asking on the Azo forum at www.michaelandpaula.com.

I find that Azo has a definite tipping point from when Dmax increases to when it goes purple-brown. If you use KRST 1:15 and an acid fixer, it's around 3 minutes, and with an alkaline fixer around 1 minute. Since I switched to TF-4 I started using KRST 1:20 to get a longer toning time--1.5 to 2 minutes usually.

Developer will also affect the color. I was getting a more purplish tone when I let it go too long in the toner after developing in Dektol or Agfa Neutol-WA, but not so much after switching to Michael Smith's amidol formula.

[clay harmon]

The newer Azo does not split tone like the old stuff. But it sounds like it will soon ALL be old Azo, since Kodak has discontinued its black and white papers!