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  #1  
Old 18th June 2021, 01:30 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Default Personal use of Moersch Easy lith kits?

As the title says, I'm looking for feedback from anyone who has used Moersch's Easy Lith kits.

I've been trying out a few home mixed lith formulas with varied success with a mixture of papers, so the next step I felt was to buy some known lithable paper (Fomatone 132 FB) and one of the lith kits, in a small kit, to try.

Feedback about dilutions and papers that you've used and a picture or two would be good.

Any home mixed formulas (preferably formaldehyde free) are also welcome, as long as they do give a decent lith look.

Many thanks,

Terry S
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Old 18th June 2021, 05:20 PM
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Uwe Pilz Uwe Pilz is offline
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I have it and I use it a lot. Fomabrom works well. I mostly use 12 mL + 12 mL givin 1 L. This gives creamy highlights and beautiful colours. But the developing times are quite long 15 minutes or more. If you love harsher images you should take more developer. I put some examples in the gallery.
Because I have only exposure prints (30x40cm²) I cannot scan it. You see a photograph with a digital camera.

Last edited by Uwe Pilz; 18th June 2021 at 05:29 PM.
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Old 19th June 2021, 11:49 AM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Uwe Pilz View Post
I have it and I use it a lot. I put some examples in the gallery.
Many thanks for the reply and pictures Uwe,much appreciated.

I like that your pictures show the range of tones that can be achieved with lith printing.

Uwe's prints in the gallery can be seen here:

http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...php/photo/2880

Terry S
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Old 19th June 2021, 12:54 PM
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Uwe Pilz Uwe Pilz is offline
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Dear Terry, I forgot to emntion that continuous agaition is necessary. Ia you might know, Lith print develop where they are already developed. Without agitation, tiny differences grow and you get a blotchy image.
Beside this, no part of the photo in the developer should have contact with air for more than one or two seconds. The reason is the same: Air oxides the developer in the gelatine and at this areas you get a very stark development.

It is easy to get scrap but hard to get evenly developed print.
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Old 20th June 2021, 02:06 PM
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Hi Uwe,
Many thanks for the image of the prints. Very helpful.
Frank
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Old 21st June 2021, 12:27 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Well, with no other formulas forth coming, I'm going into the darkroom today, with one home mixed concentrated lith developer I made up yesterday. It needs to be diluted at 1:5 immediately before use. It'll be interesting to see how it works, especially with a usually guaranteed lithable paper.

Whatever happens, I shall report back.

I'll will then be mixing another formula that looks interesting, (both come from one of Tim Rudman's lith books) as I've seen pictures in the book, processed in it. I'll be mixing some of this formula immediately before another session soon, as this one is not concentrated and to be diluted, but at working strength. As with a lot of lith formulas, once mixed they have a very short tray life of up to two hours - if you're lucky! This is one of the reasons that I also want to try the 'Easy Lith' out, as it's reputed to have up to a ten(!) hour tray life. I'm therefore wondering, as my sessions are never that long, if it's possible to bottle it up and give it a spray of argon gas and then use it a day or two later... Something else to try, to find out!

Terry S
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Old 21st June 2021, 03:57 PM
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Uwe Pilz Uwe Pilz is offline
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> to a ten(!) hour tray life

no, no, no. Not in the dilution I mentioned.

I had paper which needs around one hour in the developer. But after that, it is dead. Even after half an hour it is not worth giving a fresh print in.

There is no magic in Moersch Lith. But is a good formual and may be bought ready for use.
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Old 22nd June 2021, 11:29 AM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Uwe Pilz View Post
> to a ten(!) hour tray life

no, no, no. Not in the dilution I mentioned.
I too thought ten hours sounded like a lot Uwe, so I googled it. Looking, there are quite a few people saying that they get this length of tray time, although they don't state the dilution used or the amount of paper that they manage to get out of it before it fails.

Some even say that it's quoted as such on the Moersch website, so I can see me going there to look next.

As for my trial of a new home mixed lith formula yesterday, well, the prints that were produced were not lith like at all. It says to dilute at 1:5, which I did, along with a mix of 1:8, but I think even the latter is not diluted enough from the prints produced. For the next session I'll start with !:15 and then 1:25 if that doesn't help anything.

I'll scan and upload some of the prints made so far soon.

Terry S
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Old 7th January 2022, 09:18 PM
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Terry, did you get a chance to try the Moersch Easy Lith kit yet?

I've done my first ever lith session this week using the Moersch kit with great result.
But with a yield of about 3 prints (9 1/2 x 12") per liter of diluted developer I foresee things can get a little expensive quite fast...

So now I'm wondering whether to buy the Easy Lith kit in bigger volume or try to mix my own developer.
Easiest formula to obtain materials for would be Ansco 70 / Ilford ID-13. Plus it's formaldehyde free, what I'd prefer as my makeshift darkroom has mediocre ventilation while it's blacked out. (I do have an activated carbon respirator on order with 3M 6006 filters which I'll use but I don't want to need to rely on that)

Compared to Easy Lith, DIY Ansco 70 would give me 5 to 10 times the amount of developer for the same price.
But I've read mixed results about Ansco 70, from "not a lith developer" to "works great!"...
So now I'm confused about what to do...

Any ideas on this (or another DIY) developer?
Does it give good lith results, and what is its working tray and shelf life (mixed a and b concentrates stored separately ofcourse)?
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Old 8th January 2022, 04:57 AM
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I experimented with my own formula from raw chemicals. Eventual, I had success. But the effort was not worth it. I like the moersch developer very much. It works with every paper which is lith-able without problems. Hard to reach this with own experiments.

Normally I work with 12 ml + 22 mL to give 1 litre or, 24 mL + 24 mL to give a litre. In this solution I can only process one print. The next one has very long development time.

I have a tray with less grroves, which needs few solution. I found that 0,5 litres are sufficient for a 30x40 print. Even in the strong version this is about 1€. The paper costs much more.
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