Dry Plates?

[CraigK]

Anyone know if dry plates are still available in these days of postprocessedpixelpoop?

I've got an old plate camera on the way and would like to try a plate or two if I can get my hands on some factory-fresh ones.

Speaking of plates, I made enlargements from a couple of old glass 4x5 negs found at a flea market. The images are remarkable in 11x14.

 

[Neal]

You can try making your own with Liquid Light or some similar product.

Neal Wydra

 

[rogueish]

If you can't find new(er) ones, there's a book called Primitive Photography that goes into making your own. If you need info on the book PM me and I'll dig out the ISBN, author (Greene?) and publisher, later this evening.

 

[Aggie]

rogueish please post the info here. I also picked up a old book from the turn of last century on how to make your own negatives with lots of good info. I need to post some of those recipes.

 

[removed account4]

a while ago ole posted the name of a company that is selling dry plates. kodak made tmax 100 plates they cost something like $100 a box of 25.

i have made and used dry plates using liquid light. it isn't too hard and is kind of fun. you can also use the forumla i posted for a silver bromide emulsion, sub your glass and coat the emulsion onto plates. the recipe that i posted here : (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

is pretty much what liquid light is - a slow, traditional silver bromide emulsion.
there is also step by step info on how to coat plates here: http://www.alternativephotography.com/process_dryplate.html

good luck!
john

 

[rogueish]

rogueish please post the info here.

Sorry Aggie
Didn't get to check APUG last night and missed your post. Got caught up in doing renos around the house. Will pull it out tonight. Do you want the book info, or the dry/wet plate info?

 

[Ole]

Photographoc plates are still made by Slavich. I know that our friends at Dead Link Removed were importing some for a "market trial", but I don't know what came out of that. Unfortunately they didn't import any of "my" sizes (9x12, 13x18, 18x24 - all in cm).

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I e-mailed them to see if they were planning to import 5x7" plates, which would have been my preference, but alas they were not, but I just got some 5x7"-to-4x5" plate holder converters, so maybe I'll try some if they are available.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Okay, I just checked over there. Ole, there's a typo in your link. That should be www.retrophotographic.com. It looks like Retrophotographic is now partnering with Fotoimpex.de, so maybe J&C could help us out here.

 

[Ole]

Thanks David, I guess I shouldn't try to type with a cat on my lap. I'm sure he thinks so, at least.

 

[jandc]

Okay, I just checked over there. Ole, there's a typo in your link. That should be www.retrophotographic.com. It looks like Retrophotographic is now partnering with Fotoimpex.de, so maybe J&C could help us out here.

We can get plates. The question is what is the total interest in these? What quantities and sizes? Is this a one time special order or something worth stocking? Let me know.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'm not sure about the others, but I'd like to try them, and if they are photographically interesting and not absurdly expensive like the T-Max plates were, I'd probably order more. I'd mainly be interested in 5x7", but if only 4x5" were available, I'd take 4x5" for a trial.

The attractions for me would be--ultimate film flatness and the ability to contact print with only the plate and the paper in a frame rather than using a glass/film/paper sandwich. On the other hand, if the tonality of the emulsion is unattractive, then they wouldn't be worth the trouble to me.

Currently my capacity to use these would be 16 5x7" or 4x5" plates at a shoot, so I don't see it becoming a high-volume operation for me. I have a 12-shot 5x7" plate magazine and 2 5x7" plate holders, and I have 5x7-to-4x5 adapters that I can use in them. I also have 4x5" and 5x7" hangers that can be used for processing film or plates in deep tanks.

 

[mark]

I would be interested in 5x7 as well to see what they are like. I have printed from 100 year old plates and really liked what I saw. What I did not like was the fragility of them. Expense would be a big issue as well.

 

[TracyStorer]

5"x7" Dry Plates

I would also like to try some 5x7 plates. Re-ordering will depend on my results. I don't think I'm interested in anything smaller though.

 

[Ole]

Umf. I think all my plate holders are in cm sizes - I'll check my Linhof Universal 13x18 to see if 5x7" would fit (and stay in place)...

 

[Aggie]

I can do 4x5, 5x7, and 6 1/2 x 8 1/2. I can even split some with Tracey since we are close in the bay area.

 

[kwmullet]

This discussion has piqued my interest. Can someone talk a little about why they're attracted to plates, or at least provide an RTFM pointer to a useful thread here or elsewhere?

Thanks,

-KwM-

 

[mark]

Film in holders does not guarantee ultimate film flatness. Glass plates, it is assumed do.

I printed 100 year old glass plates as part of my job in college there was something unique about them. Hard to explain what it was. It was also nice to contact print them without using the printing frame.

 

[SkipA]

John, I'd like to try a small quantity of them, perhaps 10 to start, in 4x5 or 5x7. I don't have glass plate holders yet, so I'd want to know what stocks you'd be willing to import before I do that. Sounds like 5x7 is mentioned most in this thread.

Even if I discover that I like using them, I don't see myself ever using them a lot.

 

[Whiteymorange]

Even if I discover that I like using them, I don't see myself ever using them a lot.[/QUOTE]

I'd try a few as well - 4x5 and or 5x7. I seem to be accumulating old cameras and the flatness of the plates would be a great help. I admit to scanning a few 100 year old plates from my wife's great-grandfather's Rochester recently for a project I'm doing and marveling at the response of the scanner to the colors in the old silver. I inadvertently scanned in RGB instead of grayscale. Printing them in the darkroom was great, but the scanned images were even better (he says, despite the risk of banishment.)

Whitey

 

[rogueish]

rogueish please post the info here. I also picked up a old book from the turn of last century on how to make your own negatives with lots of good info. I need to post some of those recipes.

Sorry thought this book had glass plate process in it . It does not , but, as requested...
Primitive Photography
A Guide to Making Cameras,Lenses,and Calotypes
Alan Greens Focal Press www.focalpress.com
ISBN 0-240-80461-9
here in Canada it was "special order" but in the US it may be more available.
Table of Contents (short version)
1 The Film holder pages 1-34
2 The Camera body pages 37-76
3 The Lens pages 81-131
4 Calotype Paper Negatives pages 139-170 lists both wet paper process and dry waxed paper process.
5 Salt Prints by Development pages 181-203
includes source of suppliers (appears to be all U.S. based) and a 3 paged bibliography.
Let me know if you need more.

 

[k_jupiter]

John,

My vote goes for 4x5, 3x4 or most importantly 9x12. I have plate holders and cameras to shoot them with in all three sizes. I wish I had a 5x7 but that's going to wait till I hit the lottery. As far as quantity, probably 25 to 50 a year.

tim in san jose

 

[removed account4]

john -

would the plates you would import be an ortho or pan emulsion?

- john

 

[Landrum]

If you look at Kodak Publication F4016 that was updated February 2004, http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f4016/f4016.jhtml
you will notice that Kodak still manufactures these plates. It's midnight right know so I can't call my Kodak rep to get the specifics, but I will tomorrow. It might have to come from a Kodak Graphic Arts dealer, this stuff is used in scientific applications, but who knows it might be a special order. The name of the film is Kodak T-Max 100 Professional Plate.

I have a Kodak product catalog that lists U.S. only catalog numbers.

4x5 36 plates per package, 0.040 thickness Cat no. 161 6101
4x5 36 plates per package, 0.060 thickness Cat no. 825 9160
5x7 12 plates per package, 0.040 thickness Cat no. 812 4307
8x10 12 plates per package, 0.040 thickness Cat no. 829 1387
8x10 12 plates per package, 0.060 thickness Cat no. 837 8135
14x14 12 plates per package, 0.040 thickness Cat no. 826 7023

6.5cm x 9cm 36 plates per package, 0.060 thickness Cat no. 183 4258
9cm x 12cm 36 plates per package, 0.040 thickness Cat no. 804 6856
9cm x 12cm 36 plates per package, 0.060 thickness Cat no. 814 5179

Good Luck Greg Landrum

 

[jandc]

john -

would the plates you would import be an ortho or pan emulsion?

- john

The plates are panchromatic.

I just got a quote from Slavich. They are willing to make sizes other than 4x5 and 5x7, 9x12, 13x18 etc are all possible. In small quantities they quoted 4x5 25 to a box at 180 Euro's ($235) plus shipping from Russia. 5x7 is over 300 Euros ($390). Smaller size boxes are possible but this gives the price per plate.

This is my cost for these. In quantity the price goes down a bit. So the next question, is anyone willing to pay these kind of prices for plates?