Grade 3 AZO Exposure

[Digidurst]

Hey ya'll

Is it normal for grade 3 AZO to require more exposure time than grade 2??

[User Removed]

Hey ya'll

Is it normal for grade 3 AZO to require more exposure time than grade 2??

Hmmmm...I believe so, yes.

Is it a problem or a big deal?

[Alex Hawley]

Is it normal for grade 3 AZO to require more exposure time than grade 2??

Yep, it sure is. Two to three stops more exposure.

[Digidurst]

Hmmmm...I believe so, yes.

Is it a problem or a big deal?

Not at all... I'm just new to the stuff and thought it was odd. I increased the exposure (using the same negative) but the shadows blocked up. Guess I would need to dodge (or is it burn? I always get the terms mixed up but you know what I mean!) certain areas to keep that from happening? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the quick clarification!!

[Donald Miller]

Not at all... I'm just new to the stuff and thought it was odd. I increased the exposure (using the same negative) but the shadows blocked up. Guess I would need to dodge (or is it burn? I always get the terms mixed up but you know what I mean!) certain areas to keep that from happening? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the quick clarification!!

What you term as your shadows blocking up may be a result of the exposure scale of the grade three Azo being shorter then the density range of your camera negative. What about the highlight values? It is normal to base print exposure on the highlight values and the shadow values on the contrast grade of the paper.

If you have tried grade two Azo and found the print to be flat, then you could try water bath development (provided you are using Amidol).

[c6h6o3]

Hey ya'll

Is it normal for grade 3 AZO to require more exposure time than grade 2??

Yes. Always has been.

[User Removed]

So I assume you have both grade 2 AZO and grade 3 AZO. If the print is too flat on Grade 2, and too contrasty on Grade 3, you can use a water bath developer to hold your shadow detail and bring in your highlights. That is, only if you are using Amidol developer (which I suggest you do if you are printing with AZO.)

A few things you can do- Print your image normally how you are on G-3, and while the print is in the developer you pull out the print when the shadows are developed to your liking, you then place the print in a still tray of water and the highlights will continue to develop, but the development will stop in the shadows.

You can also expose the image for the shadows and see where your highlights are falling at. Then see how much exposure is needed to get the highlights where you like and burn those small sections in. You could also do the opposite, and expose for the highlights, then dodge out the shadow are for a few seconds.

What format are you shooting? What Film and film developer are you using? What paper developer are you using?

[Digidurst]

Very good tips - thank you!

As this is APUG and I respect the non-digital approach that this site endorses, I will only say that my negs were created digitally and leave it at that.

I'm not using Amidol currently but might switch to it in the future. Instead, I am using Edwald ultra black and I'm happy with the results I am getting with grade 2 AZO. I'll post an example of my latest success as soon as possible.

However, I have a question based on switching to Amidol. McPhotoX, you mention pulling the print once I'm happy with the shadows. Under safelight conditions, I can't really see if my shadows are at the density I would prefer. So, how do you overcome that problem?

Thanks again for everyone's help as I begin my journey with AZO!

[User Removed]

Use a brighter safelight! Simple! When working in the darkroom, I have one large room light, one small safelight over the developer tray, and another over by my light box. My darkroom is probably 3x brighter then your normal darkroom. My reason? Well, AZO is not as sensitive to light as regular enlarging paper, so more light in your darkroom will not fog it.

A few months ago my friend mixed his Amidol incorrectly (but we did not know), so when we used it, it turned the paper pure black! We thought the paper got fogged so we threw the stack of paper away in the trash, keeping the box and bag. We then turned on the regular room lights for about 5 minutes, then realized it may have been the developer! We remixed the developer and then remember the open paper sitting in the trashcan (That was just exposed to 5 minutes of roomlight!). We grabbed it out of the trashcan, threw the top sheet into the developer...... NO FOG!!!!!!! The paper sat out in the room for over 5 minutes, and did not even fog under normal room light conditions!

So, what I am trying to say is...just get another safelight to place over your developer tray. You will be able to see your print better when developing and know when to pull it out.

About your digital negatives...I think its great! Being the only AZO printer at my local college, I tried to incourage all the students making digital negatives for Alt. Processes...to try them on AZO. No one seemed interested. If your getting decent prints from a digital negative...on grade TWO, you are doing great. Seems like most people cannot even enought contrast and density to print on grade THREE! You must be doing something right!

Ryan McIntosh

[User Removed]

I also forgot to say that you should really give Amidol a try. What type of tones are you looking for in your image? Do you like warm tone, cool tone? I tend to prefer a neutral/cool tone, but using Amidol you can swing both ways. Amidol will give you better blacks then Edwal UB also.

I believe I tried Edwal UB at one point, and it gave me a VERY blue, charcoal looking print. For some stuff it was pleasing, but I could not get a very strong black like Amidol.