Glass plates

cliveh

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I have recently been looking at a series of photographs taken on glass plates which are very impressive. Glass plates have optimum dimensional stability (dead flat) and I wondered how many people on APUG still use these and contact print the results. I take my hat off to such a form of perfect image making.
 

DannL.

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I'm a relative newcomer to the scene, but have been coating and using plates for 8x10, half-plate, and 4x5. It is great fun. Everyone should do it. Now that the weather is warming up a bit, I'll want to start coating for the 5x7. Plates and paper negative is about all I can stand these days. I stepped back from using film a while back, finding it just "too sterile" for my liking.

Just curious . . . I assume you are referring to negatives on glass? I contact print those now, but have just configured a 5x7 for enlarging plates. I expect some interesting results there.
 
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cliveh

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Correct, negative on glass.
 

DannL.

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Are you considering diving into the pool?
 

miha

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Hi Clive have you checked prices on glass plates lately? 10 pieces for €113, and they are small - 65x90 mm Hats off indeed!
 
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cliveh

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miha said:
Hi Clive have you checked prices on glass plates lately? 10 pieces for €113, and they are small - 65x90 mm Hats off indeed!
Click to expand...

No, I can't afford it.
 

DannL.

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miha said:
Hi Clive have you checked prices on glass plates lately? 10 pieces for €113, and they are small - 65x90 mm Hats off indeed!
Click to expand...

Oh wow! That's definitively not the way I've gone about it. I purchase those inexpensive black-plastic picture frames at thrift stores. The frames where the glass pops into the front, and the only part of the frame that is seen is the black edge. Those frames have 2mm glass that is perfect for all four of my cameras and their holders. For the odd sizes (4x5, half-plate) I just cut the glass to the correct size. It's quite inexpensive glass-wise, if you're are coating your own plates.

I'll bet Clive is talking about commercially made pre-coated plates. If that is so, I couldn't go there myself. Maybe in my next life.
 
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cliveh

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Correct, I was.
 

DannL.

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ntenny

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I've shot a few very-old-stock plates from eBay, with *some* success---but of course they tend to be extremely fogged, and those I've found are emulsions with no reliable developing information, so it's an extremely dicey proposition. Often the results are too fogged for conventional printing, but allow a scanner to pick out some information, which would be off-topic for me to mention so I won't.

-NT
 
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cliveh

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Is this just a dream idea, but were Kodachrome glass plates ever available?
 

snapguy

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some day

I would not be that much surprised if some day film, as we know it -- a film emulsion on flexible stuff like celluloid -- will not be available and the only film photogs will be glass plate users. I hope I am wrong. But I could, I think, adapt my old film roll cameras to glass plates.
 

Photo Engineer

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Clive, the answer is NO!

Snapguy, I have speculated that this might be correct several times here on APUG.

PE
 

dwross

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Well, good grief. If you can coat emulsion on a glass plate, you can coat it on film. Film isn't going anywhere.
 

DannL.

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Poof!
 
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DannL.

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Photo Engineer

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Well, it did serve a purpose everywhere it popped up. It was on Kodachrome threads, but offered nothing extra here IMHO. You cna post it if you wish.

PE
 

DREW WILEY

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Film base is probably the weakest link to all of this. You can't just coat any emulsion on any kind of plastic, at least at industrial volume.
And that comment about celluloid?? That would be interesting... someone introducing a new "Non-Safety" film. Hate to disappoint you, but that
plug was already pulled almost a century ago.
 

Curt

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Glass plate negatives were something I steered away from in the past because they were a total mystery to me. Last November I attended a Carbon Transfer workshop at the George Eastman House where we were given a choice of vintage glass plates from the archives to print. At first I was disoriented about using glass. I half expected to hear a crunch as I closed the print frame and slid the springs in place. Not only that but I decided to go for broke and transfer to glass. My first experience with glass plate negatives and carbon transfer to glass was like a dream. All the stars aligned that day! I'd really like to take an emulsion class at the George Eastman House. Education is the best way to dispel fears.
 
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Curt

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Photo Engineer said:
Well Curt, they have several scheduled this year.


PE
Click to expand...

I know and I'm not getting any younger! There's no better place to learn than the George Eastman House. Thanks!
 

rwhb12

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Home made glass plates

I can certainly endorse the GEH course - I am still fired up nearly a year later!

But the biggest problem I have had is finding glass in a thickness to match the plate holders for the Zeiss Ikon camera I have. I am in the UK and have followed a number of leads for 1.4 - 1.7mm glass to no avail. I have now purchased two 10 x 8 cameras hoping to find plate holders to suit standard 2mm glass. Hopefully I maybe getting close.

Russ
 

Simon Howers

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I make 6x9 and Quarter Plate glass plates for my Zeiss Ikon and Erneman cameras. I use Newcastle Optical for 1.5mm plates. www.newcastleoptical.co.uk (ring them for a quote - ask for Peter Gibson). As a guide, sodalime glass quarter plates are £3.00 each finished and packed . That sounds expensive until you realise that you can reuse a plate indefinitely until you get an image you want to keep. 2mm glass is much cheaper because it is widely used in picture framing. I get scrap 2mm glass cut by my local friendly framer for free to fit my Whole Plate and 10x8 cameras.
 
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