Amidol

[Tony Lakin]

Hi
I have been given an old brown bottle labeled 'Amidol' it contains about 100 grams of small black crystals which may have a slight red tinge to them, can anyone advise if these really are Amidol and if so could they be used to make up some print developer, all the info I can fin on the internet describe Amidol as a fine white powder.
Any help would be greatly appreciated:) :confused:

Tony

[Gene McCluney]

I believe Amidol turns black over time, but from what I have read, may still be used in developer formulas. Some Amidol is dark when fresh. I have also read that some Amidol leaves a sediment when mixed, which should be filtered out before use.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Fresh amidol should be green. Most amidol is black or grey. Amidol kept dry in the bottle lasts a very long time. Try the formulas recommended at www.michaelandpaula.com. With papers that respond well to amidol, like Azo and Efke Emaks, you can get excellent results.

[Tony Lakin]

Thanks guys I'll give it a go, incidentally Amidol is very expensive in the UK and when I tried to order some from the photographers formulary they told me that it is illegal to ship Amidol outside the US, I have not tried another supplier in the US.
Regards
Tony

[Bill_1856]

The stuff seems to last forever chemically, although the color changes.

[Merg Ross]

Amidol turns black with age, but still performs well. I am working through a batch that was purchased over fifty years ago. Be sure to filter the solution before use.

[Tony Lakin]

Thanks again to everyone, the Amodol I have looks the same as Mergs sample, I look forward to mixing some up and trying it.

[Jim Ewins]

As a powder it can be toxic - handle with care. Michael & Paula should have suggestions

[David A. Goldfarb]

Handle with gloves, and avoid breathing it. It's a good idea to wear at least a dust mask when handling the powder. Amidol also stains everything. After measuring it, you may notice little black spots around the weighing area. Wipe them up right away, before they stain. If you put your hands in amidol developer, you'll get black fingernails like Edward Weston and Paul Strand. I use tongs for smaller prints, gloves for larger ones.

[Nathan Potter]

David, years ago I accidentally spilled some Amidol on my Massachusetts darkroom floor and didn't get it completely cleaned up. My daughters cat ended up with black feet and I ended up with perfect paw prints on the vinyl darkroom floor.

It is toxic to inhale so the dust mask is very advisable if the stuff is finely ground or there is a bit of residual fine dusty powder present.

Nate Potter

[Merg Ross]

Aside from staining trays and fingernails, Amidol is also a known carcinogen. That said, with a little care and common sense, it can be used with relative safety. Try it, you may like it, or even prefer it. However, there are alternatives.

[Allen in Montreal]

Aside from staining trays and fingernails, Amidol is also a known carcinogen. That said, with a little care and common sense, it can be used with relative safety. Try it, you may like it, or even prefer it. However, there are alternatives.

Forgive my rusty old brain, but what are the best alternatives to Amidol.

I recall seeing an old photograph of one of the great fotogs of yesteryear working on a print, and his finger nails were jet black! No too desirable.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Amidol isn't quite like anything else, because it develops from the bottom up, rather than the top down, and it is probably the most powerful developing agent that we typically use. Aside from being the developer of choice for three Westons, Strand, Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee and others, I suspect it was an ingredient in the Type 55 developer.

The bottom-up effect makes amidol particularly useful for water bath development, because you could move the developer to the water bath without worrying too much about washing the developer off the surface.

Not all papers seem to benefit from amidol. Anchell attributes this to emulsion hardening in modern papers, but some papers like Efke Emaks and Azo work well in amidol.

Sandy King did a comparison a while back of amidol to Ansco 130 with Azo and showed that both could achieve approximately the same tonal scale, but water bath processing worked better with amidol than with 130. Lately I've been experimenting with Emaks in Ansco 130, and I'd say the same about that paper, just based on my visual impressions. I haven't compared step tablets or densitometer readings. Maybe Ansco 130 gives cleaner whites with Emaks and amidol gives deeper blacks, but those can be tweaked with either developer.

[Merg Ross]

Allen, there is no "best" alternative to Amidol. However, there are other formulae that will produce beautiful prints; not like the Westons' prints, because the papers that they preferred no longer exist.

For the available choices of papers, I prefer a P/Q (Phenidone/Hydroquinone) custom formula. Glycin developers, with modification, can also produce excellent prints with some of the currently available papers. Experimentation is essential, there is no magic bullet.

[D. Bryant]

[


Sandy King did a comparison a while back of amidol to Ansco 130 with Azo and showed that both could achieve approximately the same tonal scale, but water bath processing worked better with amidol than with 130.

I beleive Dhananjay Nayakanakuppam was first to point this out in article he wrote, "AZO", on the Unblinking Eye website.

http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Azo/azo1.html

Don Bryant

[Tony Lakin]

Hi again
I need a little more info, in any formulae for Amidol developer do I use the same weight of the crystaline form of Amidol as the powdered form? if there is a difference would Ed Westons formula be based on crystals or powder? maybe Merg could answer this for me.
Thanks again:) :) :)
Regards
Tony

[Merg Ross]

Tony, the crystaline form and weight will work for any of the Weston formulae (Brett,Cole or Edward).

[Allen in Montreal]

Allen, there is no "best" alternative to Amidol. However, there are other formulae that will produce beautiful prints; not like the Westons' prints, because the papers that they preferred no longer exist.

For the available choices of papers, I prefer a P/Q (Phenidone/Hydroquinone) custom formula. Glycin developers, with modification, can also produce excellent prints with some of the currently available papers. Experimentation is essential, there is no magic bullet.

Thank you Merg, I suppose I could have been more direct in my question, in my case, the question at hand is, I have one old box of 100 sheets of 8x10 Azo in my freezer, if I am going to play around a little while I use this one box up, do I try the amidol for the experince of having used it and understood it in its glory, its faults and health risks, or do I just go to the best plan B for this one box that trails behind?

Thank you,

Allen

[CantikFotos]

Thanks guys I'll give it a go, incidentally Amidol is very expensive in the UK and when I tried to order some from the photographers formulary they told me that it is illegal to ship Amidol outside the US, I have not tried another supplier in the US.
Regards
Tony

Hi Tony, I just got off the phone with the people at Artcraft Chemicals in New York:

http://www.artcraftchemicals.com/

and they said they have no problem at all with shipping Amidol to the UK. Hope this helps.

Corey

[Tony Lakin]

Thanks Merg thats a great help and thanks to Corey for the info on shipping Amidol to the UK and thanks to everyone else who have contributed answers and guidance.
Regards
Tony

[Merg Ross]

Hi Allen, by all means give the Azo a try with Amidol. For comparison, and an alternative, Ansco 130 would be a good choice. When you compare prints made with the two developers, take a look at the blacks; that is where you are most likely to see a difference (depending on the negative).

Amidol, like all chemicals, should be used with care in respect to skin contact and inhalation. It will stain trays, but that is not a real concern (to me). You are not working with nitroglycerin, just use the usual precautions!

I look forward to hearing about your results.