I need to be schooled on paper negatives...

[Sagelike]

Okidoke.

Gonna finally start working with the pinhole camera that I purchased a couple months back.

I'm not going to use film when I could use photographic paper.
But I'm unclear on a couple of things.

Are the exposures the same as it would be if I were was using film? If different what exposure times would I be using for paper (emulsion to the pinhole)? An online resource on this would be fine also.

When developing is the developing process the same as if I were making a print? Or do I need to keep the paper negative in the developer, stop, etc. longer.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Whiteymorange]

The f295.org site is a great place to start when going with pinhole photography. The paper negatives will take a far longer exposure than most film, since most paper is sensitive only to blue and green light and the rating system for paper is quite different from that of film. You might try starting with an ASA rating of 6 on your light meter and work from there, but more experienced pinholers will undoubtedly jump in here and expand on that if I am in error. The actual exposure time depends on the size of the hole as well. This page might help. Development of the paper remains the same.

 

[fschifano]

There is also the option of using a direct positive paper. Freestyle sells it here: http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=&pid=1000002921. It comes in RC and fiber base support, matte or glossy finish in several sizes. Someone has recently written, either here or on photo.net, that it can be difficult to work with because of it's extremely narrow latitude and high contrast. I don't know, but it seems to me that the problem is the same as you have with any direct positive material. There is no chance to make corrections during printing. If you've worked with transparency films you'll know exactly what I mean and you'll know how to handle the challenges too.

If you want to use regular enlarging paper, then you might want to consider getting some graded paper. Daylight, especially mid day during summer months, is highly biased towards blue. Blue light and variable contrast papers = high contrast, and that's something you don't want in a negative. If you do use variable contrast paper, then place a yellow filter over the pinhole for a softer contrast range.

 

[keithwms]

Sagelike, the paper will be much more contrasty. And it will probably be ISO ~5 or so, and with hardly and red sensitivity. So you need to read up on these issues. You might read up on preflashing as well.

 

[Sagelike]

'ppreciate the help guys.

From what it looks like this might be more in depth than using film, developing myself and then printing from there.

Gonna look into it though.

 

[rwyoung]

You can do wonderful stuff with paper negatives. Nearly ortho response, no red. And if you use multicontrast paper instead of graded, it gets even more confusing.

If you haven't already purchased the paper I would suggest using some #2 grade RC paper (Freestyle Arista.Edu.Ultra for example). Or what you might have on hand. If you are going to use multigrade, consider fitting a #8 yellow filter to the INSIDE of the camera. This helps cut down a bit on the wild contrast swings you get with MG paper. Inside because if it is outside, you get to focus all the crud stuck to the filter!

Since paper is cheap it is easy to do some personal EI tests. Start with ISO 2 and do a progression 2,4,6,8,10,12. If you are using sheet film holders, you can easily get two tests per sheet. Then either contact print or scan to find your personal EI. You might also want to do an EI test for both "Sunny-16" conditions and open-shade conditions if you are using multigrade (blue light sensitivity).

Or, just say screw it and slap in a sheet, call it ISO 8 and take some shots! Not much reciprocity failure in paper as film until you get past a minute or two exposures.