New Azo, M&P Amidol, and water bath

[Jim Rice]

I'm beginning to make my first contact prints and my first negative (fp4+ rotary processed in Pyrocat HD 1:1:100) must be a little beefy. At 4:00 mins I blown highlights. At 0:30+0:30 I get no DMax on test strips (exposing through a B+F neg). I got pretty close to what I'm after at 2:00+2:00. I'm thinking my next stab should be 1:30+2:30. As my printing sessions are few and far between I would appreciate any insight into squeezing a little less contrast from this neg. I'm using "new" Azo in Grade 2. Thanks

[Dan Schmidt]

I use the new G2 azo extensively, but I don't understand your notation are those exposure times, negative development or print development times?

but for reference:

I shuffle develop FP4+ in pyrocat hd 2:2:10, normal development is something like 10-12 mins (I develop by inspection).

my negs come out contrasty, but not bullet proof

My standard azo paper development is 30 sec amidol, 30 sec water bath. I know it should be longer, but this works well for me.

You would be well advised to photograph a scene with normal contrast onto 4-6negatives. Develop each neg an increasing amount of time, then print each and figure out what you like best.

[Sal Santamaura]

I can't help with the Pyrocat HD question, but will comment about Canadian grade 2 Azo. Unlike most posters, I don't find it needs negatives of high contrast. I develop it in Neutol WA for 3 minutes. The negatives which match that paper/developer combination for me are FP4 Plus developed in Perceptol 1:1 to a Contrast Index of 0.51. This refers to a typical front-lit scene in sun with good detail from Zone III to VII.

[John Bowen]

Jim,

Welcome to Azo. My standard development time for Canadian Grade 2 Azo in MAS Amidol is 2 minutes. If I want to REDUCE the contrast I will start with 1:30 Amidol, 0:30 waterbath. If that doesn't do it, I adjust depending on if I want a little more or less developoment. I keep the total time for developer and water bath at 2 minutes for the Canadian Grade 2 Azo.

For Old grade 2, grade3 and grade 4 I keep the combined developer/water bath time to 1 minute.

I develop my Canadian Grade 2 prints for 3 or 4 minutes only if I want to INCREASE the print contrast.

I hope this helps. You might want to consider posting Azo questions on the Azo forum. Those folks are just a wealth of knowledge and you just might get Michael to share his wisdom with you.

[N Dhananjay]

Canadian Azo has a slightly more pronounced shoulder but the negative density range that it accomodates is not terribly different. What this means is that the shadows tend to have a little less contrast. I've found increased development time helped - I typically use 1.5 to 2 mins, and others have reported good results with times as long as 4 mins. Another difference from the older Azo is that theprint color is a little more neutral and does not change dramatically with increased development time. Old Azo would go blue black with longer deelopment times, but the new stuff stays fairly neutral. Cheers, DJ

[buze]

Hmm 'new' Azo ? I never tried it, when I got interested the word was that it was no longer available... Is it available 'new' again ?

[John Bowen]

"New" Azo is the last produced, made in Canada, Expiration date 03/06 Grade 2 Azo. We refer to it as "New" or "Canadian" Grade 2 Azo, because it has a different set of characteristics than the "old," made in Rochester, Grade 2 Azo.

Any truly New silver chloride paper will be Michael Smith's Lodima. That paper is still at least a few months away.