Lith Paper

[robertmgray]

Hey, I'm getting started with Lith development and I was wondering if any of the new Oriental Seagull papers would lith. Is the new Grade 2 lithable?

[Slixtiesix]

I don´t know about the Oriental papers but Fomatone classig MG is supposed to be THE lith paper from what I´ve read.

[Dan Henderson]

Tim Rudman's list of papers that are "lithable" does not include Oriental papers. I echo Slixtiesix's recommendation. If you are just starting with lith, don't complicate things by using a paper that may not respond to lith treatment. Begin with a reliable paper like Fomatone Classic. This will help you gain a good foundation of the process from which you can experiment with other papers.

[Mark Fisher]

I'll third this....fomatone is by far the easiest to lith. If the Oriental paper is the warmtone version, there is a good chance it will work. I have some old Oriental (maybe 4 or 5 years old) and the warmtone version liths pretty well. The neutral version doesn't work at all. I thought I heard that they changed the warmtone version and it is suspiciously like Fomatone.

[Travis Nunn]

As with all things lith, and as has been reiterated here on APUG many times, you really need to try for yourself. Buy a small pack of the paper and try it. It may lith, but you may not like the way it liths.

[robertmgray]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the input. You guys are right as always, I shouldn't be getting picky with papers before I actually learn the lith process I suppose. I'll start with the fomatone classic 132 like I initially set out for. Just to get a final suggestion from those of you that have experimented with different papers and developers, I'm trying to get more of a black and white image rather than a lot of color; besides the characteristics of the paper is this pretty simple to do by decreasing the dilution of the developer?

[Dan Henderson]

Fomatone is going to give you the most color of any paper that I know of. Depending on developer dilution it starts off less colorful and gains color as the developer gets more bromide released from earlier development. But I have never had any paper/developer combination produce what I would call "more of a black and white image," save one: Slavich Unibrom paper. Gritty, blacks, pretty neutral highlights and midtones.

[Mark Fisher]

There are two ways to go: Fomatone toned with selenium to completion or Slavich Unibrom. Slavich is tougher to work with the the quality control isn't alway there. Here is an example of fomatone with heavy selenium and here is an example of Slavich Unibrom. Just for fun, here is Fomatone with gold toning. Fomatone with fresh developer (little or no old brown) is warm but not all that colorful. Fomatone is pretty amazing in that it can be toned to just about any look except really grainy and gritty.....that is what Slavich is for

[mike c]

Add Emaks graded paper to that to,it is pretty gritty .

[robertmgray]

Wow, yeah Slavich is pretty gritty, I could find myself using that for certain negatives. Mark, your liths look great by the way. Emaks looking damn gritty too, thanks Mike.

I think I'll start with the fomatone and maybe try some selenium toning later.