bob_herbst

I have used a 210mm Super Angulon on my 12x20 camera. At infinity, there is slight vignetting in the corners. Anything closer will cover adequately without vignetting in the corners. Be aware there is significant distortion at the edges because of the extreme wide angle of view for the 12x20 format. You will have to take care to center the lens vertically relative to the ground glass.

I encountered the same problem for my 12x20 platinum prints when I not only wanted to put them on my web site but needed high quality images for submission to galleries, etc. Echoing Sam's point, forget on looking for a scanner for large prints and use a digital camera on a copy stand. The lighting setup may be tricky depending on your print media (glossy, matte, silver, platinum, etc.)but with proper lighting and filtration, you will get very good images which can then easily be adjusted for color balance, contrast, etc. in Photoshop. All of the 12x20 platinum prints on my web site were done this way. The Azo prints up there now were done with a fairly crude setup and lighting which prompted me to get a good copy stand and lights. As time permits, I am re-shooting all of the images on the copy stand. For web graphics resolution (72dpi), a 3.3 megapixel camera is more than enough - 5 or 6 megapixel is required for high quality images for gallery submission.

Please help us save Azo from Kodak extinction. See Michael and

Paula's posting below from 6/2/03. I personally ordered 5 boxes of

20x24 today. You can help out too by placing your order now with

Michael and Paula. Thank you.

 

Bob Herbst

 

Azo status

 

You may have heard that Azo Grade 3 was discontinued. It was, but

with the help of all Azo users it can be saved.

 

June 2, 2003

 

 

AZO GRADE 3: STATUS REPORT: Good news, with a slight catch.

 

 

We finally received definitive word from the "powers that be" at

Kodak regarding the status of Azo Grade 3 in all sizes.

 

 

First, the good news: The good news is that Kodak has told us they

will continue to manufacture Azo! It is truly amazing that Paula and

I, with the help of your good letters and emails, which we forwarded

on to them, were able to convince the Eastman Kodak Company to

continue to manufacture a product that had been discontinued. They

told me that they believed this was the first time something like

this had ever happened.

 

 

Now the slight catch: Kodak has told us they will only do this if we

buy all of the remaining stock at this time! This significant

quantity is an amount that is more than double our normal yearly

order. If we purchase all of the remaining stock, they have agreed to

give us last year's prices and thus, we will not have to raise the

price to you. If we cannot buy all of the remaining stock, the price

of all Grade 3 will immediately be significantly higher, as it is all

now a "special order."

 

 

Next year, when we reorder, and a new master roll is manufactured, it

is likely the price will go up, perhaps significantly. But for now,

because Kodak's price to us will stay the same (provided we buy this

whole roll), our price to you can stay the same. This also means that

beginning now, when we buy all of the current remaining supply, it is

likely we will be the only supplier of this product, worldwide.

 

 

In order to place our large order with Kodak at this time and to keep

Azo alive, we need your help. No, we are not asking for donations.

What we are asking, however, is that you place your orders NOW for

Grade 3 (and for Grade 2 for that matter, as we must place our yearly

order for that, too, at this time). If we do not receive enough

orders, it is possible that we will not be able to make this

purchase.

 

 

Here is what we have in current stock:

 

 

Grade 3: We have only a very few boxes of 20x24 on hand. Currently we

are out of stock for Grade 3 8x10 in both 100-sheet and 500-sheet

sizes.

 

 

Grade 2: We have only a very few boxes of 8x10 in both 100-sheet and

500-sheet boxes on hand, and we are out of stock for Grade 2 in

20x24.

 

 

Therefore, we are eager to place our new order with Kodak immediately

and to fill your requests for any amount you may be ordering.

 

 

PLEASE PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW. We will not cash your check or process

your credit card until we are ready to make shipments, but at this

time we do need your order--perhaps even your total expected order

for the forthcoming year if at all possible.

 

 

We will calculate shipping and handling and tell you the amount

either for writing a check or for crediting your credit card. We

happily accept all major credit cards, as do all merchants, but at

this time, when this particularly large order must be placed, if you

could make payment by check it would be most helpful and appreciated.

When orders are charged to credit cards we must pay a percentage of

sales to the credit card company, and those 3% charges do add up.

Thank you.

 

 

Were we wealthy we would just do this ourselves, but we simply

cannot. We thank you in advance for helping us keep Azo Grade 3 in

production, and Azo Grade 2, as well. Were there only one grade of

Azo remaining, this beautiful paper certainly would not last long.

 

Please contact us at michaelandpaula@michaelandpaula.com.

 

 

With many thanks for helping us keep Azo alive,

 

 

Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee

I just received two lenses and shutters back from Steve last week and am in shock. He was a wonderful man, a fine craftsman, and will be missed dearly. Rest in peace, dear friend.

 

Bob Herbst