Dry Plates... What can I do with these??

Jim Moore

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Oct 24, 2003

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952

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Iowa

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Large Format

• Feb 9, 2006

• #1

I won a box of HALOID paper on eBay and there was a delay in shipping it so the seller threw in 2 unopened boxes of Photographic Dry Plates as a bonus.

They are from the Hammer Dry Plate & Film Company. The box says:

OPAL : Hammer Plates : 3-1/4 x 4-1/4

Can someone tell me how these are exposed and developed?

Thanks!

Jim

 

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Michel Hardy-Vallée

Membership Council

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Montréal, QC

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• Feb 9, 2006

• #2

Dry plates were the subsequent step to wet-plate collodion process. They were slower than wet-plates but amateurs bought them in trove because of the easier handling. That said, you'll probably need a specific holder, as these are glass plates, and not film.

 

matt miller

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Feb 11, 2004

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• Feb 9, 2006

• #3

If you get a proper holder, Jim, I've got a 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 camera that you're welcome to use. Or, if you need an old holder or two to modify, I've got some extras you can have.

 

removed account4

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• Feb 9, 2006

• #4

hi jim

dry plates might have been around asa 1-5 ...
they were often orthochromatic and my guess is they could
be processed in paper developer ( under a safelight ) ...

if you don't want to expose them in your camera, you can enlarge onto them, as you would photo paper.

good luck!

john

 

athanasius80

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Dec 22, 2004

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Huntington B

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• Feb 9, 2006

• #5

Those are Hammer dry plates from St. Louis, MO. Best guess for age is 1930s-1950s. They're probably very expired now, but the boxes are cool, and the size works for quarter plate negatives and stereopticon slides, so maybe you do something fun with them.
Good luck.

 

Donald Qualls

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• Feb 10, 2006

• #6

If those are from the 50s, they're probably panchromatic, and likely have (had) and ISO equivalent of 25 or perhaps even 50.

I used to have some 3x4 adapter frames that fit my 9x12 cm plate camera holders, but I haven't been able to find them since moving to North Carolina -- don't recall if I gave them to someone, traded them, or just forgot which box they wound up in.