michael-kielgmxnet
Hello everyone,
I tried out the Adx MC Lith paper for the first time at the weekend. As it’s designed for lith prints, I naturally used it for that purpose. My experience with it has been somewhat mixed; here’s a brief review:
The test strips, which I developed beforehand (to determine the development time) in Adotol Konstant, showed no fog whatsoever, contrary to the description in the shop. Nor was there any greying in the highlights.
My first attempt was with Moersch SE5 at a dilution of 1+15, with a capful of Starter D (bromide). The exposure was four times that determined from the test strips. The result was somewhat disappointing. The development takes quite a long time and the deep shadows only emerge quite late; you really need a fair amount of patience. The colour saturation was also rather subdued.
The next attempt was then with more light (+1 stop) and a stronger dilution (1+20), as well as another capful of Lith D.
The result was a bit more colourful and looked more like a Lith print. However, it is a long way from the example in the shop. Those rich brown and orange tones didn’t appear at all. In terms of colour, the whole thing looks more like a print developed with a very warm tone. If you look closely, you can see the Lith effect (subtle grain) in the shadows.
I’ll post a scan here when I get the chance.
Has anyone else used this paper and can share their experiences? I’d be particularly interested to know if there’s a ‘trick’ to achieving more colour in lith printing.
Best regards,
Michael
Tom-W
Hi Michael,
It’s great that you’re sharing your experiences with the paper!
I’ve tried it too and had problems with the darkroom lighting right from the start.
In my darkroom, I have Ilford lights fitted with 904 filters – dark brown.
I’ve tested these with all Ilford papers, and they also work for the ADOX MCC (at least 16 minutes without fogging).
With this light (development time approx. 12 minutes), the white border was noticeably fogged.
I also used Moersch Lith developer and Lith Omega as a second bath.
I have now sent an enquiry to Foto-Impex regarding the Duka lighting.
A conventional fog test cannot be carried out, as the paper becomes fogged immediately in standard paper developer
(tested in Moersch SE-4).
As I only sent the enquiry recently, I have not yet received a reply.
I haven’t yet been able to carry out the logical next test with red lab light due to time constraints.
Theoretically, chemical fogging is of course also possible, but I know too little about that.
I found the achievable lith effect and image tone very beautiful and also distinct.
Furthermore, I was (positive) surprised that it is a heavyweight paper (this could also have been stated on the packet).
You hardly find any photographic papers of this quality anymore.
All in all, a very positive experience, apart from the fog issue, which will likely be resolved in the next attempt using red Duka light
.
But the most important question is: is this a one-off in the 20x25cm format, or will there be more of it?
Regards,
Thomas
Urnes
You could try increasing the developer temperature. You’ll need at least 24°C for lith, and it needs to be constant, not dropping. The processing times will then be in the range of 20–25 minutes (at least with conventional lith developers like Easylith). If you go up to 30°C, you can speed the whole process up, but the density will then spread incredibly quickly from 5–7 minutes onwards, making the image very graphic. Otherwise, for colour, use a homeopathic concentration and apply heavy overexposure (so perhaps add another stop after all).
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This isn’t specifically about the paper or the SE 5. But perhaps it helps a little anyway.
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Regards, Sven.
