Exposure question for Polaroid 55

Fintan · May 12, 2006

I've got my first box of Polaorid 55 and hope to use it this weekend [weather permitting] opening a new chapter for me.

As I understand it, 55 negs are ISO 32.

Can anyone familiar with this film give some advice with regard to exposing it for good negs?

David H. Bebbington · May 12, 2006

EI 25 gives me a good neg, while EI 80 seems to be about right for a good print!

Regards,

David

David A. Goldfarb · May 12, 2006

I rate the neg at 40 and the print at 80.

Pinholemaster · May 12, 2006

Test, your meter may be different than mine. Your lens' aperture and shutter may not have variation that my lens' does.

Start with 25 ISO, then move up a 1/3, and again, and again.

The only true way to know is do it yourself.

David H. Bebbington · May 12, 2006

Cleaning 55 P/N Negatives

I use two clearing buckets in two sinks and Heico Perma Wash. I also wear nitrate gloves because the developing chemicals can be harmful and it helps not to scratch the delicate negatives. I seperate the negative and positive within 30 seconds of development time and soak the negative in a 1-2 minute bath of 75 ml of Perma Wash mixed with three liters of water (the purple chemicals quickly disappear), and then a final rinse of clean water for about 1 minute. I hang the negatives using film clips and wait for them to air dry.

With respect, this makes it sound as if your negatives go straight from development (by internal gel chemicals) to water with Perma Wash and then plain water without any treatment in a sulfite solution. Is this what you meant?

Lachlan Young · May 12, 2006

David H. Bebbington said:
Cleaning 55 P/N Negatives

I use two clearing buckets in two sinks and Heico Perma Wash. I also wear nitrate gloves because the developing chemicals can be harmful and it helps not to scratch the delicate negatives. I seperate the negative and positive within 30 seconds of development time and soak the negative in a 1-2 minute bath of 75 ml of Perma Wash mixed with three liters of water (the purple chemicals quickly disappear), and then a final rinse of clean water for about 1 minute. I hang the negatives using film clips and wait for them to air dry.

With respect, this makes it sound as if your negatives go straight from development (by internal gel chemicals) to water with Perma Wash and then plain water without any treatment in a sulfite solution. Is this what you meant?

Isn't Perma Wash/hypo clear just sodium sulphite and a few other chemicals anyway?

Lachlan

p krentz · May 12, 2006

St.Ansel, wrote a very good book on Polaroid materials with lots of advice and procedures, I don't remember (old timer's) the name but you could check with your libriary and find it. Pat

JLP · May 12, 2006

Very interested in trying the 55 to and have a question a little of the thread.
Will the Polaroid 55 work in the Fuji Quickload (4X5) or is it propriritary to the Polaroid 545?
Thanks.

Lachlan Young · May 12, 2006

JLP said:
Very interested in trying the 55 to and have a question a little of the thread.
Will the Polaroid 55 work in the Fuji Quickload (4X5) or is it propriritary to the Polaroid 545?
Thanks.

You can use quickloads in a polaroid 545 but not vice versa as the 545 has the special rollers needed to crack the pod of chemicals and devlop the film.

Hope this helps,

Lachlan

JLP · May 12, 2006

Had a feeling that this would be the case. Thanks Lachlan.
Back to ebay i guess.

jan

drpsilver · May 13, 2006

12 May 2006

When shooting Polaroid Type 55 I use an EI of 25 to get a good negative. I usually am not that interested in the print so I have little experience there. I have been told that the negative material in Type 55 is either Panatomic-X (EI 32) or a close relative.

When I am in the field, and do not what to carry around sodium sulfite, I use cool water to clear the negatives. I use a Yankee 4x5 sheet film holder in a 1 gallon bucket. It keeps the negs away from each other, and allows them to clear (the water becomes dark purple). When I get home they get washed, passed through Phot-Flo, and hung to dry.

The book referred to by Krentz is "Polaroid Land Photography". Unfortunately it is out-of-print, but should be available at the Library.

Good luck shooting Type 55.

Regards,
Darwin

cdholden · May 13, 2006

Several of you carry water or water + solution to clear the negs. Does 55 work like the others (I have only used 54) in that you can expose it and just wait until you get home to develop it? Or does 55 need to be soaked/cleared immediately? Assuming confidence in getting the shot, it seems much easier to handle developing once you get home, rather than dealing with a bucket of water in addition to your other photo gear in the field.
Chris

Alex Hawley · May 13, 2006

cdholden said:
Several of you carry water or water + solution to clear the negs. Does 55 work like the others (I have only used 54) in that you can expose it and just wait until you get home to develop it? Or does 55 need to be soaked/cleared immediately? Assuming confidence in getting the shot, it seems much easier to handle developing once you get home, rather than dealing with a bucket of water in addition to your other photo gear in the field.
Chris

That's the way I do it. Its a lot easier developing it at home than fooling around with containers of water in the field.

markbb · May 13, 2006

JLP said:
Had a feeling that this would be the case. Thanks Lachlan.
Back to ebay i guess.

jan

go here (http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/Large accessories.htm#Readysteady) on the Robert White site for a recent comparison of Kodak's readyload, Fuji's quickload and polaroid's film and holders.

cdholden · May 13, 2006

markbb said:
go here (http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/Large%20accessories.htm#Readysteady) on the Robert White site for a recent comparison of Kodak's readyload, Fuji's quickload and polaroid's film and holders.

for purposes of comparison, you can include the 545 family (545, 545i, 545 pro) in place of where it says 545 pro. they all basically function the same. the pro just has a small lcd screen that includes thermometer and timer. the 545/545i models are counting on you to provide the information for wait/developing times. the 545i is just a newer version of the old 545.
chris

Lachlan Young · May 13, 2006

cdholden said:
for purposes of comparison, you can include the 545 family (545, 545i, 545 pro) in place of where it says 545 pro. they all basically function the same. the pro just has a small lcd screen that includes thermometer and timer. the 545/545i models are counting on you to provide the information for wait/developing times. the 545i is just a newer version of the old 545.
chris

The 545 is AFAIK the best made of the lot - it is all metal unlike the more recent ones made from 'engineering plastic' - not that there's anything wrong with this just that a 545 is likely to last longest under harsh conditions. The 545 also has its instructions printed on the back so you have no real excuse for making mistakes!

Lachlan

Fintan · May 14, 2006

thanks for all the replies

JLP · May 15, 2006

Sounds like i made the right choice, just picked up a "like new" 545 on ebay for 29.95

Thanks again. Look forward to give the 55 a try. Have seen some beautiful images made on this film

Exposure question for Polaroid 55

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