Re: amodol

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From: Richard Knoppow (dickburk@ix.netcom.com)
Date: 05/02/03-01:48:18 PM Z


----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Bryant" <dsbryant@mindspring.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: amodol

Angelica,

If you are looking to get blue or blue/black tones with
silver gelatin paper there are probably easier and less
expensive developers or toners that can be used. Amidol is
pretty expensive, about $0.50 a gram. I've tried Maxum
Muir's blue/black developer and it works very well although
I didn't care for the look myself. You can also use gold
toners to get a blue tone through out the print, however it
may be as or more expensive than amidol. It works very well
too.

One other way to get bluish prints is to make contact prints
with AZO paper and use a phenidone based developer. Again I
didn't like the results very much but it may be what you are
looking for.

I'm sure others on the list may have suggestions.

Good luck,

Don

P.S. If you want the formula for Maxum Muir's blue-black
developer or the blue tone gold toner let me know and I can
e-mail those to you.

> I´ve been recommended to try a developer called amodol,
it´s darkblue
(instead of black) and for best result choose prints there
the motives are
against the light. But my attempts have failed.../Angelica

----------
>Från: JUAN MIGUEL JUSDADO <jusdado@teleline.es>
>Till: FOTOALTERNATIVA LISTA CORREO
<alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
>Ämne:
>Datum: ons 30 apr 2003 07.13
>

> Does somebody know a solvent of the "nitrobenzimidazol" to
produce blue
> tones in a developer?.
>
> Pardon for my English, text translated by computer.
>
   Amidol is useful for neutral black tones on neutral
papers which sometimes look greenish with standard
developers of the Dektol type.
   Phenidone based developers, like Ilford Bromophen, also
tend toward neutral or cold (bluish) image color.
   Adding Benzotriazole to a developer like Dektol also
tends to shif the color toward blue or neutral where bromide
tends to shift it towards yellow.
   While Amidol will develop in a slightly acid solution it
is normally used in a low pH alkaline solution, sulfite
being the alkali. It shares its ability to develop in
neutral or slightly acid condition with Metol.
   The Kodak D-51 developer posted in this thread is a stock
solution requiring dilution for use. A more conventional
formula is:
Agfa-Ansco 113
Amidol 6.6 grams
Sodium Sulfite, dessicated 44.0 grams
Potassium Bromide 0.55 grams
Water to make 1.0 liter
 Use full strength

As pointed out elswhere Amidol oxidizes rapidly. The life of
the mixed developer is several hours.
  The amount of bromide can be increased to double the value
given above.
  Other variations of Amidol developer contain citic acid,
which seems to act as a preservative and Benzotriazole,
which is an effective anti fog agent and a blue or cold tone
agent.
  The quantities of the ingredients are not at all critical;
published Amidol formulas vary all over the place. For
instance, the Dassonville Amidol formula has only 17 grams
of Sulfite in it.
  Both Benzotriazole and 6-nitrobenzimidazole can be
dissolved in Isopropyl alcohol. Benzotriazole is a better
anti foggant in high pH paper developers and is easier to
obtain. It has low solubility in water but is used in such
small quantity that a 0.2% stock solution is quite
satisfactory. The alcohol is not needed at this low
concentration.
Micheal Smith and Paula Chamlee have worked with Amidol
extensively and have worked out a good formula with longer
than usual life, which is posted on their web site.
  Good Amidol should be white or light gray. It turns brown
and then black when oxidized.
  Because it is so expensive I suggest trying a Phenidone
paper developer first.
  Because the image color is mostly a property of the
emulsion a true blue-black must be obtained by toning. About
the only paper I know of which produced such an image color
on direct development was Kodak Velox, long ago
discontinued. Azo is a neutral tone paper.
  A gold toner will produce a cold black on neutral paper
and a gray-blue on warm tone paper. Gold is somewhat
expensive but Gold toners are also very effective in
protecting silver images.
  For many papers which look greenish after development a
light toning in Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner will move the
image color toward neutral. This was a standard practice for
Ansel Adams.
  KRST is easy to obtain, at least in comparison to Amidol,
and worth a try. It also acts to protect the image.
  Enough non alt stuff.

---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@ix.netcom.com

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